When William Hadraba ‘21 was 2 years old, his mom put a fishing rod in his hand. Since then, he has not stopped fishing. At LT, Hadraba joined the fishing club his freshman year and started to compete in fishing competitions for the school. In the last two years, he has become even more involved in the club.

As a freshman and sophomore, Hadraba’s time was occupied as a player on the LT baseball team. He didn’t have time to fish any other competitions besides the LT sectionals, he said. However, his junior year he quit baseball and prioritized the fishing club.

“I wanted to build the club up and get more people fishing,” Hadraba said.

This year he registered himself along with Jacob Muth ‘21, Humzah Ali ‘21 and Patrick Monahan ‘23 as a bass fishing club team. This allowed the club to fish four more tournaments as part of the Illinois Bass Association, Hadraba said. 

One competition the team participated in was the Illinois Bass Nation state series. This competition took place on May 1 on the Des Plaines River. In this competition, Hadraba and Muth placed third out of 29 boats with their heaviest five fish weighing almost 11 pounds total, Hadraba said. The $90 check they won was given to the club. Hadraba and Muth also advanced to the state competition scheduled for June 5 and 6.

After meeting Hadraba last summer, Muth started competing in the competition circuit.

“I have always wanted to tournament fish,” Muth said. “Being a part of the fishing team has been a great opportunity for me to compete in a sport for LT.” 

Hadraba and Muth were able to compete in 12 competitions last year, Hadraba said. At the high school level, they have competed in five competitions this year. Some of the tournaments were the IHSA sectionals where they placed seventh out of 15 teams and the Illinois and Coaches state Tournament where they placed 11th out of 50 boats.

Hadraba also increased the amount of business sponsors for the club. Last year, the fishing club had 10 sponsors but this year they have 13, Hadraba said. Sponsors such as Shimano, Tackle Warehouse, and Yamamoto Fishing Company have allowed the team to get new jerseys among other equipment. Bass Pro Shops awarded the club a $500 grant after Hadraba talked to the company about receiving a possible donation, fishing club sponsor Scott Walker said. 

“William’s drive, determination and knowledge of bass fishing is why he has done such a phenomenal job with the club and team,” Walker said.

The $500 grant was spent on fishing poles, tackle boxes and tackle for the students in the fishing club who do not have the equipment, Walker said. 

Next year, Hadraba plans to fish the college circuit tournaments. He plans to be a part of the Baylor University fishing team. 

In terms of the future of the LT fishing team, Hadraba hopes the team will continue on.

“Patrick is the only one left, so I hope he can recruit more people for the competition circuit,” Hadraba said.