(Editor’s note: Leading up to the 2012 National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship – slated for April 13-15 on Lake Murray in Columbia, S.C. – CollegeFishing.com will publish weekly, in-depth features stories of each of the 25 national championship team qualifiers. At stake in the tournament is a first-place prize package worth $100,000 as well as a chance for the winning team to compete in the 2012 Forrest Wood Cup.)
Class: Alumni
Major: Forestry and Natural Resources
Hometown: Oakland, Calif.
Other interests: Snowboarding, hiking and spear-fishing.
Class: Senior
Major: Environmental Management
Hometown: Whittier, Calif.
Other interests: Snowboarding.
Club Web site: facebook.com/pages/Cal-Poly-San-Luis-Obispo-Fishing-Team/
Q&A
CollegeFishing.com: How were you introduced to fishing?
Bean: We had a 75-year family tradition of taking a fishing trip to Three Lakes, Wisc., every June and that’s where I was first introduced to fishing. But once I came to college, I fished for bass from shore five days a week until I bought a boat.
Hellesen: I was introduced to fishing through my grandpa and dad on the trout streams in California and loved it from the beginning. The moment I got my driver’s license and could take myself fishing I spent every moment I could fishing duck ponds in Los Angeles, fine tuning my patience if nothing else. I talked to everyone with a rod in their hand on the bank to try to pick up any bit of knowledge from them and apply it to my fishing style.
CollegeFishing.com: What style/method of fishing are you most comfortable with?
Bean: My strengths include finesse fishing (drop-shotting Senkos), but also punching and flipping. I’ve also become adept recently at using the “Calabama rig.”
Hellesen: I like to think I am becoming a more well-rounded angler as time goes on, but my roots are definitely in the finesse game. Unfortunately that was really the only way to get bit in a 2-acre pond with 40 guys casting on it all day every day. Recently I have been doing my best to keep a spinning rod out of my hands, but there is always a time and place for that technique when all else fails.
CollegeFishing.com: What did it feel like to qualify for the 2011 FLW College Fishing National Championship? How do you plan to prepare for the big event?
Bean: It feels great to qualify for the FLW College Fishing National Championship for a second time. It affirms that I have developed into a confident and successful fisherman.
Hellesen: I was so excited to have another shot at it because last year was painful to miss the cut by less than a pound. Coming into this season I have been dead set on one thing – getting back to the FLW College Fishing National Championship for one last shot at a national title. Rally stashes assemble!
CollegeFishing.com: Tell us something interesting about yourself that most people wouldn’t know.
Bean: I had never met my “cousin” Miles Burghoff (my grandparents are his god parents) until the 2011 FLW College National Championship in which we competed against each other.
Hellesen: I ate an entire Thanksgiving feast with a spoon for no particular reason – I love a good challenge! Try cutting turkey with a spoon … it’s not that easy.