[Early Summer]
Date: June 24, 2022
Venue: Lake L, a small flatland reservoir
Water: 82 degrees, stained
Weather: Partly cloudy, high 92
Pro: KJ Queen, 25, Catawba, N.C. Queen qualified for the Elite Series in 2021 via the Eastern Opens. He was a standout college angler, qualifying for five B.A.S.S. and five FLW college championships. His Queen Tackle online fishing store sells custom jigs and other tackle items.
Boat: Gambler 22 with 250-horsepower Mercury outboard; Minn Kota trolling motor; Humminbird, Lowrance and Garmin electronics; and twin Power-Pole shallow-water anchors
is a training ground for many young Elite Series standouts, including North Carolina’s KJ Queen. And no college team has chalked up more victories than Queen’s alma mater, Tennessee’s Bethel University. “When I was competing on my high school bass fishing team in North Carolina, I dreamed of one day being a professional angler,” Queen recalls. “Then I learned about this little college in Tennessee that was actually offering bass fishing scholarships! I applied for a Bethel scholarship and was fortunate enough to get one.” Queen started attending Bethel in 2015, and the timing couldn’t have been better. “The college is located close to Kentucky Lake, and our team fished nearly every day after classes. It was like bass fishing boot camp — my training was hardcore and intensive. Our coach [Garry Mason, a Kentucky Lake guide] made sure we gained experience locating and catching bass in every conceivable water and weather condition. We were a national powerhouse among college teams. It was awesome competing against big colleges like Auburn or
