Butts, Rivers look back on journey to title, brace for uncertain future

Reprinted with permission by The Cullman Times.
By Jake Winfrey  
Joshua Butts and Justin Rivers took in every possible scene during their historic outing at Lake Barkley (Tenn.) last weekend.
The Wallace State angling tandem hauled in 15 pounds on the final day of competition — 42 pounds, 5 ounces overall — to collect the program’s first title since its inception three years ago.
Not only that, but the comeback triumph — Butts and Rivers were third entering Sunday — just so happened to take place at the B.A.S.S Carhartt College Wild Card, which notched them a coveted spot in the Bassmaster College Series National Championship July 9-11 at Lake DuBay (Wis.) as one of the top 13 teams in the showdown.
That’s surely something to celebrate.
The coronation, however, doesn’t begin to tell the complete story.
Most people at the weigh-ins only saw the product of a three-day event encapsulated by fishing savvy, hard work and a little luck — an amazing looking pair of championship plaques for the winning team.
Ask Butts or Rivers, though, and their journey to the top becomes even more incredible than one could possibly imagine.
The College Wild Card nearly went from surreal experience to letdown, thanks simply to the Murphy’s Law adage — anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.
In fact, the two encountered almost as many problems as it did bass at the annual tournament. A blown out trailer hub and an untimely trolling motor malfunction caused irksome issues. Butts even had to perform the most makeshift of operations on his 1989 Bumble Bee boat, fashioning a crude patch from some bait to plug a small leak in the hull.
Couple that with the death of his grandfather just two weeks prior and Butts couldn’t even begin to put into words the outcome.
“It was just one of those blessed experiences,” the 22-year-old welding major said. “I really just think it was meant to happen. To weigh-in with the pros and represent Wallace State like we did, it’s amazing. It’s really one of the greatest experiences of my life. I think my granddad was with us and watching over our boat.”
The tournament marked the first time either Butts or Rivers had fished with an ESPN camera boat tagging along. The former admitted he “was pretty dang nervous” throughout the ordeal but calmed down simply by giving himself a pep talk.
The message? Just fish and act like no one is watching us.
The result? Five championship bass in less than 30 minutes and higher weights than major colleges such as Alabama, LSU, Arkansas, Kentucky, South Alabama, East Carolina and Nebraska.
“We had a spot picked out before we started,” Butts said. “Five in that amount of time is real good. We even culled two fish.”
What makes the feat even more spectacular — and humbling — is the normal fact that two anglers hailing from Odenville and Addison can be just as effective as those given all the new state-of-the-art toys to secure funding, fish and sponsorships without so much as a second thought.
For Rivers, a 27-year-old industrial electronic major, the rags-to-riches part of the story hasn’t even allowed for the victory to become apparent just yet … and it might take a while, too.
“It’s really, really awesome,” he said. “I didn’t even think I’d get to go because of work or money. To go up there and beat those teams who, if I’m being honest, don’t have to worry about much is great. You can just look around and see $50,000 boats and $75,000 trucks. I’m doing school and farming. Joshua does landscape on the side to help pay for what we love to do.”
“The fish, though, they don’t know what we look like, what we use or where we’re from. We just go with it.”
Although the win certainly ranks up there on Rivers’ list of accolades, both he and Butts have been blown away by the sheer amount of support their families, friends and communties have offered since their return.
Between phone calls, text messages and social media offerings, Rivers hasn’t had any time to rest …. much less to respond to the well-wishers.
“I’m not much of a Facebook guy, but I think I had 40 notifications on my wall when I checked it,” he said. “All of them are congratulations for how we did. At the event, the Lee brothers (Jordan and Matt) just came over and congratulated us. Those are local Cullman boys. Heroes in our sport. I have dreamed of fishing like them since I was 5-years-old. To do well, then have the guys come up like that, it was awesome. Awesome.”
There’s still work to be done for Butts and Rivers, however. With just less than a month before the College Series National Championship, the duo isn’t even sure they’ll be able to make the trip.
They funded last weekend’s trip out of pocket — with a small amount coming from Wallace State — and will have to do the same if they wish for a chance at more glory.
According to Butts, he’d like to be able to upgrade the boat and trailer before making the nearly 14-hour trek to Wisconsin. He’s relying on his landscaping money and — he hopes — a few sponsors to help ease that cost moving forward.
“We’ve got a long way to go,” he said. “I’m excited about the chance, though. If we went up there and won, it’d mean everything.”
Added Rivers: “It’s a big deal. It’s like the national championship that happens in other sports. It’s going to be all over ESPN. We’re hoping to round out the funds and show everyone we have a fishing team. It’d be crazy to see how far we could go from being a nobody to watching how we do on national television.”
– Jake Winfrey can be reached at 256-734-2131, ext. 136, or jwinfrey@ cullmantimes.com.