Winona, Minnesota—a town filled with students and small lakes, surrounded by bluffs and the Mississippi River — but were you aware Winona State University has their very own fishing team? How about the fact that they are very successful? We got the chance to chat with one of the fishing team’s lead members and big catch (teehee, puns) Cade Laufenberg.
Cade grew up across the river in La Crosse, Wisconsin where his love for fishing began. At 4 years old his dad would take him fishing on the Mississippi River, and at age 12, the hopeful someday professional bass fisherman saved up his allowance along with his neighborhood lawn mowing earnings to buy a small 12 foot boat. Here’s where the hobby turned into a passion – he taught himself most of the fishing techniques he knows and uses today. Five years later, 17 year old Cade fished in a major competition in Detroit, Michigan where he took first place rewarding him a Ranger bass boat. Cade now explains, “That was a platform for me to begin my college fishing career and allowed me to grow exponentially as an angler. My passion and desire to one day become a pro still burns as bright as it did was I was in elementary school.” Fishing for Winona has brought him a little closer to achieving his ultimate goal and giving him opportunities and exposure than he ever thought was possible.
The Winona fishing club was established in 2010 by Alumni Zac Cassill; whom Cade had met via an internet fishing forum. Zac was responsible for convincing Cade to join Winona for college and compete with the fishing team. The WSU fishing team has qualified for every FLW College Fishing Conference Championship since they’ve existed, been to 5 national championships, won 2 conference championships, a 4th place in another, and numerous top 10 finishes in national, conference and regular season events. Currently, they are ranked number 1 in the nation over 600 college bass clubs on bassrankings.com. The 15 current members, and 60 technical members have all aided in the achievements of this club.
Check out the official Facebook page!