Meet the Tigers II

Peek and Rogers represent the second Auburn University team to qualify for the National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship

Rising two spots from fifth, Auburn's Richard Peek and Caleb Rodgers fished pockets in grass beds to catch their fish. Photo by David A. Brown. Anglers: Caleb Rodgers, Richard Peek.

February 15, 2010 • Gary Mortenson • 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: Richard Peek (pictured on left)

Class: Senior (I actually graduated in May of 2009)

Major: Criminal Justice/Criminology with a minor in Poultry Science

Hometown: Centre, Ala.

Other interests: I love being outdoors, whether it be hunting, fishing, or working on the farm. I also love playing sports, especially golf and baseball.

Name: Caleb Rodgers (pictured on right)

Class: Senior

Major: Civil Engineering

Hometown: Centre, Ala.

Other interests: Drums, Hunting, TV, Classic Cars, Music, Water sports, Golf, etc.

Club Web site: auburn.edu/student_info/bass_fishing/

Q&A

CollegeFishing.com: How were you introduced to fishing?

Peek: I was introduced to fishing by my grandfather and dad when I was very young. My dad says that my grandfather had me holding a fishing pole before I could walk. I started out much like most anglers today, catching brim, small bass, and catfish in our stocked farm ponds. It wasn’t until I was 8 years old or so that I started crappie fishing with my dad on Weiss Lake and began realizing the full potential of the sport of fishing. I began spending more and more time on the water (between football, baseball, and basketball practice that is) and my love for fishing grew and grew. I started fishing my first bass tournaments towards the end of high school and the rest is history. I owe it all to my late grandfather for getting me started in the sport and my dad for continuing to help and support me chase my dream of becoming a professional angler.

Rodgers: I began fishing around the age of 5 in south Florida. I fished with my dad and brother, in both freshwater and brackish water, catching all species of fish. I also fished with my grandfather on the Edisto River in South Carolina.

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

Peek: It’s hard for me to pick a specific style that suits me best. Growing up right on the banks of the Coosa and Tennessee rivers I learned to develop several different techniques. I love throwing big jigs and cranking out deep for giant spotted bass on Lake Jordan and Logan Martin, but at the same time I love ripping Rat-L-Traps and throwing frogs in the grass at Lake Guntersville for monster largemouths. I think the faster I can fish a lure the more I enjoy it, but it doesn’t bother me one bit to slow down and grind it out when the day gets tough.

Rodgers: I am most comfortable fishing shallow freshwater areas. I like swimming a jig or throwing a frog through any type of grass. There are some great spotted bass lakes in Alabama, but I like to stick with largemouth for the most part.

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

Peek: Qualifying for the National Championships is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. It puts me just one win away from my ultimate dream of fishing in the Forest Wood Cup. I can’t begin to describe how ecstatic I was when my partner and I won the first qualifier on Lake Okeechobee. Then, we went to the regional on Lake Monroe and managed to finish third and advance to the nationals. The pressure on me right now is almost unbearable. This one tournament has the potential to determine which route the rest of my life will take. With so much riding on finishing first, I cannot afford not to do everything in my ability to master the upcoming lake. This shouldn’t be too hard for me since I only live about two hours from the launch. I plan on spending every free weekend I have on the water and probably logging in close to 30 or more days on the lake before the tournament starts. There’s no need in fishing if you don’t think you can win.

Rodgers: Qualifying for the first-ever FLW National Guard College Fishing National Championship is amazing. The entire process of qualifying from initial tournaments to the regionals has really validated how great some of these college fishermen are. I am excited to be able to fish against the best college anglers in the world and I know that with Auburn having two teams in the mix we are going to have a great showing. Richard and I are going to spend a few weekends in Knoxville getting acclimated with the lake and come tournament weekend we will be ready.

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

Peek: Well most people don’t realize, except for my teammates, that I actually enjoy crappie fishing almost as much as I do bass fishing. I owe a lot of my success in bass fishing to the skills I learned with my dad while crappie fishing as a boy. I would love to have my own bass and crappie guide service to supplement my tournament fishing. If this was the case then even when I wasn’t fishing competitively I would still be on the water, and every angler knows that the more time you spend on the water the more you learn.

Rodgers: I didn’t bass fish competitively until I joined the fishing club at Auburn.