College bass fishing can be a tricky endeavor. With the stress of limited income and maintaining good grades while chasing big bass throughout much of the country, it’s a lot to balance at one time. Staying on the proverbial grind is not an easy thing, but college angler Tyler Campbell figured out a way to keep everything in line while chasing his dream.
Coming off an impressive second-place finish representing Emmanuel University at the 2024 Bassmaster® Strike King College Series National Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops with his partner Parker Guy, the Martin, Ga. native is thankful he runs a Yamaha Outboard and took the time to register for the Yamaha Power Pay contingency program.
“I’ve seriously made thousands of dollars through the Power Pay program competing in college,” Campbell said. “That’s a lot of boat payments when you add it all together, and it only takes about 15 minutes to sign up for it. If you’re a college angler, you should be running a Yamaha and if have a qualified outboard, there is absolutely no reason not to sign up for this program.”
The reliability of his Yamaha 250-horsepower V6 V MAX SHO® also played a big role in his run-and-gun strategy on Lake Hartwell. Targeting very specific offshore brush piles with topwater lures was essential to his gameplan, and confidence in his equipment allowed him to fully execute his gameplan.
“I burned a full tank of gas almost every single day,” Campbell said. “I bet I cranked my Yamaha 200 times each day of competition looking for very specific brush piles. My current outboard is about 11 months old, and I already have 400 hours on it. I never give a second thought to motor problems because if you want to stay out of the shop, a Yamaha is the only way to go.”
Campbell recently graduated with honors (not to mention a 3.9 GPA with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Management) and the future proves to be bright with the young bass angler from rural Georgia.
“I’m doing guide trips full-time right now for the sole purpose of saving up enough money to fish every Bassmaster Open next year,” Campbell said. “And you can bet I’ll have a Yamaha on the back of my boat.”
There are dozens of collegiate, amateur and semi-pro tournament trails sanctioned by the Yamaha Power Pay program. But you do have to make sure you are registered to be eligible.
It’s free to sign up and anglers don’t have to place first in their tournament to cash in on the Power Pay money. To learn more, please visit https://yamahapowerpay.com/.
