Fishing tour altered student’s life
The pandemic created a life path for a young angler that set out to catch the state fish in all 50 states.
In 2021, Luke Konson and Daniel Balserak faced delayed entry into Clemson University because of the coronavirus pandemic. The two are from the Beltway area of northern Virginia, and both are avid anglers. Not wanting to pay full tuition to take only online classes for several months, they outfitted a Toyota Sienna and took the open road to America’s lakes, streams and rivers to catch all 50 state fish in their respective states.
Their research revealed that nobody had ever been recognized for doing it.
They succeeded, mostly. Arkansas tripped them up. Our state does not have an official fish. Every time the legislature thinks about designating one, it always turns into a needless fight that causes the media to castigate legislators for wasting time on something so frivolous instead of addressing more important concerns.
We grow a lot of catfish here, so the catfish industry lobbies hard for the Pride of the Pond, the tasty channel catfish. Pride of the Pond is a registered brand based in Tunica, Miss. Arkansas prefers to disassociate from Mississippi for most things, but catfish get a lot of love everywhere.
Largemouth bass is the most sought-after game fish in Arkansas. The modern bass tournament and the Bass Angler Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S.) were born on Beaver Lake in 1967. Like the catfish, the largemouth bass lives in almost every habitable drop of water, so the largemouth gets a lot of support from the recreational fishing sector. The inevitable clash between the agricultural fish industry and the recreational fishing industry creates an inevitable and irreconcilable clash, and when the crappie lovers get involved, the thing degenerates into a full-participation brawl.
We do have an official primitive fish, however, the fearsome but lovable alligator gar. Ironically, the alligator gar once attracted big game anglers from around the world.
Unfortunately, they always killed their fish. River by river, they wrecked all of our best alligator gar fisheries within decades.
Alligator gar are rebounding, and dedicated gator gar anglers catch them at will these days, except for Konson and Balserak. They sought gator gar all over South Arkansas, but their prey eluded them. It was a community affair, too. Local guys from DeWitt to Marianna to West Memphis tried to help them, but Konson and Balserak fished at a time when alligator gar are not active.
While here, former Gov. Asa Hutchinson hosted Konson and Balserak at the Governor’s Mansion. Jay Grelen, a speech writer for Hutchinson and author of the defunct “Sweet Tea” column in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, gave them two big jugs of sweet tea. Konson said it was the best and sweetest he ever tasted.
The late Meredith Oakley, the Democrat-Gazette’s venerated political editor, was not a fan of Sweet Tea or sweet tea. She hated the drink and once ranted about how she resented Grelen’s imposing the love of sweet tea as an illegitimate litmus test for Southern authenticity. As I recall, Oakley unleashed her barrage in an email to the entire bewildered Democrat-Gazette staff.
Konson and Balserak couldn’t catch an alligator gar in Arkansas, so you know what they did? They caught one in Texas and claimed victory.
No, sir. That does not fly. Arkansas divorced Texas when our flagship university moved its athletic program from the Southwest Conference to the SEC. Now, our two worst in-laws have married back into the family.
Konson admitted this transgression sheepishly when we chatted with him on Monday. He said he intends to return to Arkansas and catch a proper “Sweet Tea” alligator gar and, in his words, “remove the asterisk from his record.”
In the meantime, Konson transferred to the University of Montana. He loves Montana’s trout fishing, and he said he loves all of the job opportunities in outdoor recreation available in the Missoula area. He also works as a fishing guide in Alaska during the summer. He said he intends to write a book about his “Fish All 50” adventure.
Balserak is studying engineering at Clemson. South Carolinians pronounce it with a “p.” Clempson.