Meet the Ducks

University of Oregon heading to CF National Championship

Representing the Big O are University of Oregon's Ross Richards and Reed Frazier. Photo by David A. Brown. Anglers: Ross Richards, Reed Frazier.

February 9, 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: Reed Frazier

Class: junior

Major: Anthropology

Hometown: Mill Valley, Calif.

Other interests: ocean fishing, basketball

Name: Ross Richards

Class: junior

Major: Business Administration – Sports Marketing

Hometown: Yreka, Calif.

Other interests: hunting, outdoors, baseball

Club Web site: Oregonbassteam.com

Q&A

CollegeFishing.com: How were you introduced to fishing?

Frazier: I started fishing at a very young age with my older brother Spencer. We would go whenever possible, whether it was piers along the San Francisco bay or local watershed reservoirs for bass and trout. There is so much to learn in all aspects of fishing; having an older brother to explore with and show me the basics helped me grow as an angler. All those days of brotherly fishing competitions have even made the pressures of tournament fishing relaxing.

Richards: I can barely remember when I first began fishing. My dad started taking me out fishing for trout when I was 4. I slowly moved from streams to rivers and lakes and began bass fishing when I was 10.

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

Frazier: Growing up fishing mostly clear-water reservoirs, finesse-fishing has always been my primary technique and what I am most comfortable relying on. The tougher the tournament conditions, the more comfortable I feel.

Richards: I am most comfortable with finesse-fishing. Flipping around docks or drop-shotting have always been my go-to methods. In the end, though, whatever method catches the fish is usually my favorite.

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

Frazier: Qualifying for the National Championship was a dream come true, or should I say many dreams, as I surely had more than one leading up to the tournament. Ross and I are trying to figure out how to fly out and prefish during our spring break at the end of March. Until then we will study maps and talk to as many people as we can, while time on the water will be very valuable with the fish transitioning from all stages right around tournament time.

Richards: Qualifying for the National Championship still doesn’t seem like a reality. I never really even thought about nationals until we qualified. Once that happened, I was very excited to be able to go to Tennessee to fish against some of the best college bass anglers in the country. I plan to travel back to Knoxville to practice during spring break and get a feel for non-West Coast fishing.

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

Frazier: I can’t think of anything too crazy. I’ve played a variety of sports throughout my life, from hockey, lacrosse and swimming to basketball, soccer and tennis. When I wasn’t playing sports, I fished. I even lived on a houseboat for a couple years in an inlet just off of the San Francisco bay during high school. I’m not too sure how many people have caught a leopard shark while studying in their living room – but I recommend it.

Richards: There is not much that people don’t know about me. I love fishing for just about anything, although bass is my favorite. I had never competitively fished until my first year in college.