WALSTONBURG, N.C. — Samantha Gay experienced a season of firsts this year in B.A.S.S. Nation tournaments.The 34-year-old elementary school technology assistant fished as a co-angler in her first North Carolina B.A.S.S. Nation tournament in May during the North Carolina B.A.S.S. Nation Western Qualifier on High Rock Lake. During the North Carolina B.A.S.S. Nation Wildcard Qualifier Oct. 28-29, she fished Lake Norman for the first time, caught spotted bass for the first time and experienced catching bass for the first time in 15 to 25 feet of water. Gay finished second in the co-angler division of the Wildcard Qualifier to qualify as the first female member of the North Carolina B.A.S.S. Nation state team.
After fishing on farm ponds most of her life, Gay developed an interest in bass fishing three years ago.
"I would go fishing with my boyfriend at the time, and he was always using artificial lures and I would always have earthworms and crickets with me," she said. "He would always catch bigger bass than me, so I wanted to take it up another notch to catch bigger fish."
Gay said she learned a lot about competitive bass fishing from a family friend when she fished with him in a Neuse River team tournament trail. She expanded her tournament fishing knowledge by joining the Pitt County Bassmasters this year.
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