There has been a lot of chatter around the world of tournament fishing in recent weeks, and like many things in this day and age a lion share of the attention has been given to drama and negativity. It’s not something to be proud of, but pessimistic points of view often drown out the overwhelming good that permeates throughout bass fishing and time in the outdoors with people we care about.
Thankfully, the 2024 Strike King Bassmaster College Series National Championship has served as a great reminder of all the positivity surrounding our pastime. To put it simply, college fishing has a pureness to it that is palpable. These anglers take competition seriously, but egos and personal-agendas are overshadowed by an obvious love of the game.
You could spin around 360 degrees at this event and anywhere you look there is something to smile about and a hopeful story to tell. Enter Hunter Sales, the 27-year-old Head Coach for the Carson-Newman Eagle Anglers fishing team, whose story qualifies as deserving more attention than doom or gloom.
Sales graduated from Carson-Newman in 2018 after helping start and compete as a part of the university’s first fishing team, as a senior in college. After having a great experience in college fishing, Sales didn’t waste a minute and was hired on as the full-time coach for his alma mater after graduating with a degree in Business-Management with an MBA in Marketing. He bleeds orange and blue and when his hands aren’t clapping for one of his anglers, he is likely throwing up the Eagles talon.
“There are 1,000 high-paying careers I feel like I could have pursued but I wouldn’t trade all the money in the world for the relationships I’ve been able to make with our anglers over the last six years,” Sales said. “It’s truly humbling to be able to do life with this team and to hopefully have a positive mark on the kids in their journeys. To be there when things are good, and when they’re bad. I try to assist them in any way I can, but it starts with helping them fall in love with the sport the same way I did.”
The Carson-Newman Eagles under Sales tutelage have established themselves as one of the power-houses of college fishing along with schools like Bethel University, Auburn, Emmanuel College, University of Montevallo and McKendree University to name a few. Carson-Newman’s success continues this week on Lake Hartwell as the team of Drake Hemby and Ewing Minor started the final day in eighth place, just a few pounds behind the leaders.
Sales is ecstatic for these guys to have a chance at the National Championship and the College Series Classic Bracket, and is happily missing a day of practice for his own professional level tournament so he can be here and support his team. On top of coaching, Sales continues to pursue his own fishing dreams, competing at a high level in the National Professional Fishing League and in Bassmaster Opens.
“After weigh-in concludes I’ll start on the 12-hour trek up to Saginaw Bay for my own tournament,” Sales said. “I’ll spend the first official day of practice in my Tundra burning up the highway, but there is nowhere else I’d rather be. Drake and Ewing are hammers and it wouldn’t surprise me one bit to see them have a good day and shoot up the leaderboard. Anything can happen with only twelve boats on the water!”
Within two minutes of talking to Sales it is plain to see his passion and heart for supporting not only his team, but all college anglers and the sport as a whole. He shows up early and stays late, he listens to his teams while also giving advice when they need. And while Sales deserves the spotlight, his story is not entirely unique, as there are dozens of inspiring coaches, parents, and family members at this event displaying more wholesomeness than a 90s Disney movie.
Their dedication is commendable and an indication that the future is bright. Like a song on the radio that snaps you out of your mood and changes the trajectory of your day, people like Hunter Sales and the College Series National Championship reminds us there is a lot more good than bad in bass fishing.
