Meet the Sun Devils

Arizona State heading to CF National Championship

Third place Arizona State's Joseph Jarrell and Mark Walker proudly display their catch. Photo by David A. Brown. Anglers: Joseph Jarrell, Mark Walker.

January 21, 2010 • Patrick Baker • Abu Garcia College Fishing

(Editor’s note: Leading up to the inaugural National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship, which will be held at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tenn., April 10-12, CollegeFishing.com will post semiweekly feature stories highlighting the 25 teams that qualified. At stake in the tournament is a prize package of $100,000 and a chance to compete in the 2010 Forrest Wood Cup.)

Name: Joseph Jarrell (pictured at left)

Class: sophomore

Major: Material Science Engineering

Hometown: Phoenix

Other interests: shooting, camping, rock climbing; I really enjoy everything about the outdoors

Name: Mark Walker (pictured at right)

Class: sophomore

Major: Chemical Engineering

Hometown: Anchorage, Alaska

Other interests: hockey, hunting and deep sea fishing in Alaska

Club Web site: www.asubft.webs.com

Q&A

CollegeFishing.com: How were you introduced to fishing?

Jarrell: I was born in Alabama and lived in Cherokee, about 30 minutes from the Mcfarland Park launch ramp at Pickwick. So, for as long as I can remember, I have been bass fishing with my dad and my family. My parents were actually fishing Pickwick a few months before I was born.

Walker: I first was introduced to fishing when I was 4 years old and went out on my dad’s commercial fishing boat in Alaska. And then, within the next year, I was introduced to trolling for salmon and halibut with rod and reel. Then, when I was a couple years older, my mom introduced me to stream fishing, where we fished for salmon and trout in Alaska. I was introduced to bass fishing by my partner, Joey Jarrell.

CollegeFishing.com: What style/method of fishing are you most comfortable with?

Jarrell: I love pitching heavy cover in shallow water, but I feel comfortable with almost any technique.

Walker: The most comfortable style of fishing for me is finesse-fishing or deep structure fishing.

CollegeFishing.com: What did it feel like to qualify for the inaugural National Championship? How do you plan to prepare for the big event?

Jarrell: It felt incredible to qualify for the National Championship; it was a realization that my goals and dreams for myself in this sport were more than just a possibility.

In preparation for this event, we plan on prefishing during spring break and doing lots of off-the-water research. Hopefully we will learn the water and find some potential spots for the official practice day and the tournament.

Walker: It feels great to qualify for the inaugural National Championship, but I know it’s going to be a challenging and fun tournament to fish in. For this tournament, my partner and I plan on gathering as much information from the Internet and magazines as we can before the tournament, and we also hope to go out to the lake and try to prefish beforehand.

CollegeFishing.com: Tell us something interesting about yourself that most people wouldn’t know.

Jarrell: Most people wouldn’t know that I built the engine in my first car. My dad and I used the 350 block that came with the car and put everything into it. So my first car was a 1979 Camaro with a 383 `stroker’ that I had built myself.

Also, most people wouldn’t know that, on the final day of the regional tournament, my girlfriend drove 12 hours from Arizona to give me a kiss. I saw her at the ramp right before we launched the boat. Thank you, Ally!!!

Walker: I was born on Easter.