Pickett, Miller and Cowden help others catch fish as guides
College routines include poring over Chromebooks, working when possible, enjoying weekends and, oh, yeah, deciding one evening at the spur of the moment to drive 23 hours to fish a major bass tournament on a waterbody you’ve never fished before.
Northwestern State University’s Cole Pickett of Robeline and Ross Miller of Crowley, plus another NSU Fishing Team, did that Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024. The two teams towed their respective boats that night to the St. Lawrence River near Massena, N.Y., practiced Thursday through Saturday, then fished the Major League Fishing Abu Garcia College Fishing tournament on the St. Lawrence River.
Battling all odds, Pickett, 20, and Miller, 19, found the right-sized bass, relied on a power fishing pattern to catch dozens of them and finished sixth with 19 pounds, 1 ounce. Every bass they caught was a smallmouth, which they had never caught previously.
They drove to the derby with NSU anglers Dawson Cowden and Hunter Hamilton.
“Yeah, we went all the way up there. We were sitting with some buddies in the dorm room Tuesday and decided to go, left Tuesday. After we got there we hopped in a boat and fished Thursday morning,” said Miller, a Notre Dame High School grad who played football and baseball in addition to fishing high school derbies with Tripp Mixon.
Pickett, who graduated from Many High, and Miller, however, were scammed out of $500. Two of their boat’s trailer tires blew that night soon after driving past Many, then the call they made obviously went to a shyster. A good Samaritan in the area fixed them up.
A productive pattern
The Louisianans eventually got on a pattern that also works at Toledo Bend. They threw Carolina-rigged watermelon/red Ultra-Vibe Speed Craws to chunk boulders 40-feet deep in a strong current to pick off the smallies. They were power fishing with 20-pound fluorocarbon line while just about every other team fished dropshots on light line.
Pickett, who is majoring in electrical engineering and classified as a junior at NSU, enjoyed the trip immensely, as would anyone who boated about 200 fish with their buddy on the St. Lawrence River. He also noted they never turned on the boat’s forward facing sonar.
“It was fun,” Pickett said about tournament day. “Our smallest one was 3 ½. At the end of the day we lost a real big one, around 6 pounds.”
That was one of the last highlights Pickett, who’s now president of the NSU Fishing Team, shared with Miller, who fished with him 1 ½ years in collegiate bass tournaments before leaving NSU to attend trade school at South Louisiana Community College Acadian Campus in Crowley. They remain close friends and fishing buddies, as well as young fishing guides who help each other on Toledo Bend.
“Ross is like the brother I never had,” Pickett said.
As for his days on and off the water with his fishing buddy, Miller said, “I’m always going to miss it, for sure. For 1 ½ years I had my fun; traveled across the country, something I’ve always wanted to do. I’d say it was worth it. It was fun. We had some great times … a lot of memories that I’ll cherish.”
Looking ahead
Nevertheless, with another NSU Fishing Team season ahead of him, Pickett needed a tournament partner, so he paired with Cowden, who hails from Spring River. Pickett and Cowden left Jan. 18 to fish the Bassmaster College Series at Harris Chain in Florida on Jan. 22-23. They were 30th in a 231-boat field with 13 pounds. The fishing team duo planned to fish two more Bassmaster Series events, three Bassmaster Louisiana College Trail tournaments, the Association of Collegiate Anglers Championship on March 22 on Lake Hartwell and seven Major League Fishing events.
Pickett was hopeful he and Cowden would fare better at the recent Harris Chain tournament than he and Miller did in 2024. Going back to the weigh-in with a bragging-size limit in the livewell, the NSU bass anglers got stuck at a lock because of two party barges, which delayed the team several hours.
“It was a big learning experience,” Pickett said about that day in spring 2024.
Pickett, Miller and Cowden all shine as up-and-coming fishing guides at Toledo Bend. Not surprisingly, Toledo Bend is their favorite place to fish in March.
“I like finding where there is grass and hit where the light spots are on the bank,” Pickett said. “Early in the morning I’ll throw a white Chatterbait in the grass.”
Pickett added that later in the day he’ll offer a South African-colored soft plastic on a wacky rig in 4- to 5-foot depths in cloudy water or a watermelon/blue flake Fluke in clear water.
