Outpeople: Spokane senior heading to college with bass fishing gear, boat

Nathan Portch of Spokane will be packing some unusual baggage when he heads to college this fall.

Instead of worrying about where to park his vehicle, the recent University High School graduate is going to have to a place to park his fishing boat.

Portch is one of two Northwest students offered a $5,000 annual scholarship to join the bass fishing team at Bethel University in McKenzie, Tennessee.

Portch is a two-time Washington state bass fishing tournament champion in high school and junior competitions. In 2014, he advanced through the regional competitions to the world junior championships in South Carolina.

The other student offered a Bethel scholarship is Cully Scroggins, Portch’s teammate in winning the Washington High School Bass Fishing Championship last year. Portch will be fishing again this weekend at the state high school competition at Lake Chelan.

Bethel, with an enrollment of 5,825, has been a top contender in the national collegiate bass fishing competition since the school set roots for a fishing program in 2009. It wasn’t the first school to offer bass fishing, but Bethel was the first to offer scholarships for student anglers.

“When we started in 2009 there was probably only about 125 or 130 colleges in America that had clubs that were fishing,” said Gary Mason, Bethel’s head bass fishing coach.

“Now there is probably over 300 and the sport has really grown and now the high school part of it is coming on strong.”

When contacted Tuesday, Portch was with his father, Jason, shopping for a boat.

“I’m looking forward to college bass fishing competition,” he said. “And hopefully, I’ll go beyond college with it. That’s the goal.”