Furthermore, neither of the two had ever competed in a fishing tournament, though both had a large body of recreational fishing experience. Cominsky fished often in the summers with his family at a camp in the Adirondacks, and Boy was exposed to the sport through his family’s hunting and fishing business.

After researching upcoming tournaments, Cominsky identified the Big Bass Bash as the first in which the Harvard Fishing Club would attempt to compete. The club’s immediate challenge was now to figure out a way to get there, and more importantly, how to pay for it.

With the help of leads obtained through his parents, Cominsky contacted the marketing departments of various outdoor companies and pitched to them a sponsorship and marketing program he had devised.

Ultimately, Cominsky and Boy’s efforts raised $2000 for the club, mostly from donors with ties to the outdoors, like Ferris Industries, a commercial mowing company, and Deer Breeders Gazette, a deer farming publication started by Boy’s mother, Donna. Portable Shade, a company that sells outdoor canopies, donated the team’s jerseys.

But according to Harvard club by-laws, the Harvard logo cannot be displayed alongside those of non-Harvard-affiliated companies, making perhaps the most notable aspect of the team conspicuously absent from their tournament gear.

“No one knows we’re from Harvard, besides the fact that we say we’re from Harvard,” Cominsky said. “But it’s more space to sell.”

HOOK, LINE, AND SINKER

Their story caught the interest of Blandford, the tournament organizer, who also served as the liaison for Cominsky in working through the logistics of starting the club, gaining membership to the Association of Collegiate Anglers, and subsequently making the trip to Texas.

Blandford provided the two with a video camera to document their jour

ney and a cameraman in their boat during the competition to film the action. The footage will air later this summer as part of the 2012 BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship Television Series on the NBC Sports Outdoors channel.

Given that they do not charge a fee for entry into tournaments and only a nominal charge for membership in the ACA, Blandford and his organization were disposed to facilitate the development of a club-level initiative like the Harvard Fishing Club.

“Growing the sport is what I’m in charge of here,” Blandford said. “One of the ways to do that is to serve as a resource for programs that want to get things started. I get probably three to four inquiries a week about how to start a college fishing club, and those are things I prioritize on my task list.”

Though competitive bass fishing is overwhelmingly the domain of the South, the sport’s reach is expanding northward. The 2012 Northern College Bass Series, organized by fishing clubs at Penn State University and the University at Buffalo, features four events north of the Mason-Dixon line, including three in New York.

Though collegiate bass fishing has yet to penetrate New England—only three schools from the region, Harvard, Vermont Technical College, and Castleton State College (VT), are represented in the ACA’s 132-team national rankings—Blandford believes that the idea is not out of the question.

“College bass fishing is probably the fastest-growing section of the fishing industry,” Blandford said. “[Fishing is] such a pervasive thing that people enjoy. I’m proud we can get some recognition for a school like Harvard that comes out and does well.”