"Iron Fish Trophy"

AUBURN VS. ALABAMA
Billed as the "Iron Bowl of bass fishing," the inaugural Bassmaster College Classic is set for Saturday on Logan Martin Lake.

Three two-man teams from Auburn University and three from the University of Alabama will compete for the first "Iron Fish Trophy" and the right to go on to next year's event against a Louisiana university. The competition is a one-day, cumulative-weight event, team against team. Two anglers are assigned one boat, and each boat has a five-fish limit.

The six teams will weigh in their catches at 2:30 p.m. CT on a stage at the Toyota Tundra booth at the Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo in the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex in downtown Birmingham.

Logan Martin — a Coosa River impoundment like Lay Lake, where the Bassmaster Classic is taking place Feb. 19-21 — promises tough fishing, said the presidents of both the Auburn and Alabama teams.

Auburn senior Shaye Baker, the team captain and president of the school's fishing organization, predicted that the winning team will have to have 10 to 12 pounds per boat for a tournament total of 30 to 36 pounds.

He said his team is out for revenge — not for the Iron Bowl loss to Alabama in football this year, but for the fishing team's loss in an intercollegiate event last week.

"They won first place, so yeah, we have a little bit of a bad taste in our mouth, and we need to get back at them this weekend," Baker said. "It's going to be a rough tournament."

Baker said his team knows Logan Martin, but their one official practice day last Sunday was "cold and rough, just like on all the lakes here."

David Rogers, an Alabama senior studying environmental management, said the Auburn-Alabama school rivalry is driving his team.

"It doesn't matter if it's football, baseball or fishing," said Baker. "Going against your rival, you have a burning passion for what you're doing, and you want to come out with a victory." He said he's counting on the sunshine to warm the lake water come Saturday.

"I think the water temperature will go up a few degrees, and that will be the major factor, maybe turn on the fish in our spots," Rogers said.

The team captains will call meetings to discuss strategy. With three two-angler teams, each side has to map out which boat should cover which parts of the lake. That way duplication will be avoided, an important factor in a six-hour team event.

The winning team will be recognized Saturday on stage during the Bassmaster Classic weigh-in at the arena inside the BJCC. The event is free; doors open Saturday at 3 p.m. CT