If you’ve spent much time around college fishing, you know that many of the best stories never make it to the big stage or to media. These experiences, which mold into memories and, sometimes, legends, often happen on long road trips, fun fishing outings, team gatherings off the water or when teams pack six anglers into a hotel room.
To me these stories, which may or may not have specific details removed around certain company, embody college fishing and the players who make up this game.
Enter Lane Clark, who graduated from Erskine College in May with a degree in Business Administration. Lane qualified for the 2026 Strike King Bassmaster College Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops and, like many of his peers, is an excellent representative of college fishing.
Clark is respectful, punctual, hardworking, likes to have a good time, and he is half full of it. All the makings of an accomplished angler.
Clark, his partner, and two of their buddies from Emmanuel University planned to make the 21-hour drive from South Carolina to Walker, Minnesota a few days before official practice began to fun-fish and get out of the oppressive southern heat.
They left town on Monday, August 10th and all was going according to plan until they noticed fluids leaking near the rear of Clark’s 2023 Toyota Tundra during a gas stop. They took note, but it didn’t raise a concern until their next stop in Kentucky when they noticed the leak persisting.
His truck was performing as expected. He didn’t notice any issues in the ride while on the highway, but it was enough to make Clark uneasy. By this time, it was evening already and service departments were closed for the day.
After making some phone calls to Neil Paul and members of the Dynamic Sponsorships team, Clark and company decided to monitor the leak closely and continue their trip, with plans to stop for the night next to a Toyota dealership. The four friends drove until the wee hours of the morning and spent a few hours sleeping in their truck in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
They fell asleep that night worried they would lose multiple days off their trip and put a damper on what was intended to be an exclamation point at the end of Clark’s college fishing experience. When they woke up the next morning, those concerns were calmed.
“We were in the Markquart Toyota parking lot before the service department opened but you would have never known it,” Clark said. “The people there were incredible to work with. They got us in and immediately went to work to help us. I had one part that needed to be replaced, and they worked with other area dealerships to source the part and get us fixed up. We had my boat hooked up and were back on the road by 5:00pm.”
The boys drove to Mille Lacs that night and were on the water catching monster smallmouth the next morning. You gotta love it when a plan comes together.
What they worried might derail their whole trip simply became another chapter in the memory book. Clark said the crew made the most of their day in Eau Claire, including riding around four-deep in the Emmanuel team’s truck and unsuccessfully chasing fish around town.
Clark reported they spent the next five days before official practice fishing small lakes around Walker, Minnesota and caught more fish than they could count. They dialed in some of their approaches here in the North country before getting serious for the Championship, but mostly importantly they had fun and made the most of a week in mid-August.
If you travel enough, you’re bound to encounter unexpected issues, hazards, or setbacks. How you handle those moments, and the brands you choose to trust on these trips, often has a huge impact on how the journey moves forward. Clark said this experience made him even more grateful to be a Toyota owner.
“This is one of many reasons I am proud to drive a Toyota,” Clark posted on his social media pages. “So blessed to run into such incredible people all across this country doing what I love. It sure makes this journey a whole lot easier.”
Clark is well acquainted with towing a boat around the country with a Tundra. In his four-year college fishing career, he put nearly 140,000 miles on the 2017 Tundra he previously owned, before upgrading to a 2023 Tundra last April.
Clark and that truck won a pile of money through Toyota Bonus Bucks – College Series and this week he has his eyes on the $3,500 prize available to the highest finishing team towing their boat with a Toyota vehicle on Leech Lake.
On top of college events, Clark competed in select Toyota Series and BASS Nation tournaments throughout 2026. He has plans to continue fishing now that he’s graduated, including the Bassmaster Opens in 2027, but this week all his focus remains on the National Championship.
“Leech Lake has been a lot of fun but consistently catching quality fish has been tough for us,” Clark offered. “We’re catching more largemouth than smallmouth, but when you do catch a smallmouth, they tend to be big. No matter what happens this week I am going to leave everything I have on the water and try to enjoy every minute.”
Truck trouble could have easily shifted the tone of the trip. Instead, it became another story to tell and a reminder that some of the best college fishing memories happen far away from tournament launches or weigh-in stages.
