While clubs and sports such as student council, football, and basketball get the most attention and recognition on campus, one of Marcus’ most unique and successful teams tends to be overlooked – the Marcus Bass Fishing Team. With multiple top 20 finishes in state tournaments, it is quietly one of the school’s most successful organizations.
For junior Dylan Bean, joining the bass fishing team was an obvious choice. Many of Dylan’s evenings and weekends are spent in a familiar setting: on the water with a rod in hand, at a neighborhood pond or accompanied by hundreds of other boats on a lake.
“Fishing has always been a part of my life,” Bean said. “But I really started to take it seriously around middle school. Something about just being out there on the water and having time to yourself really draws me in.”
Dylan’s part time hobby soon became an obsession. As he was always looking for ways to upgrade his tackle box or figure out where on the water he should target fish.
The team regularly competes in Texas High School Bass Association tournaments against other schools in teams of two. These tournaments are won depending on the total weight of all the bass caught by a boat during a weekend. Bean competes alongside fellow junior Ryan Smith.
“I think my best tournament finish was a couple weeks ago when I got 14th out of 140,” Bean said. “I caught two and Ryan caught three, so we both had really good days on the water.”
Bean and Smith have been fishing as a duo for a little over a year now. The two met unsurprisingly through fishing. Since then the two have been dominant in tournaments together as both work off of each other in order to land their fish.
“I really enjoy my time on the water with Dylan,” Smith said. “We’re both really good at what we do.”
Currently the group only has a single team, but it is open for all students regardless if they own a boat or not. Unlike most other sports, the team doesn’t have a set coach and instead relies on multiple sponsors to stay afloat.
Joining the bass fishing team isn’t just about trying to win tournaments, though, as the sport itself allows for one to connect with the world around them and a constant need to adapt to the environment and make necessary changes.
