Bears excel at fishing

I’ve never been much of a fisherman — too impatient, I suppose — but I’ve got enough outdoorsman in my blood to understand those who do. Two Baylor alums have made the news this year for their fishing exploits: Alton Jones won the Bassmaster Classic in February, while Charlie Pack was inducted into the Texas Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame earlier this month.

Jones (pictured at right) claimed the title at the world’s biggest bass-fishing tournament this spring, earning with it the $500,000 prize. Jones, who is very outgoing about his Christian faith, attended Baylor in the mid 1980s before beginning his career as a professional fisherman. His triumph even led Baylor men’s basketball coach Scott Drew — himself an avid fisher — to add Jones’ picture to a “wall of fame” at the Ferrell Center.

Pack, a 1960 graduate and three-year basketball letterwinner, hosts a weekly half-hour television show (“Fishing Country with Charlie Pack”) that airs in eastern and central Texas and western Louisiana. He also started the Tadpole Foundation, an organization aimed at giving every child a chance to go fishing. (The Waco Tribune-Herald ran a nice feature on Pack in May.)

Interestingly, after Jones won the Bassmaster Classic this year, he was invited by President George W. Bush to the White House, where the President noted that he had previously been introduced to Jones by none other than Charlie Pack. Small world!

Sic ’em, Baylor fishermen!