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University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Mocs’ Hayes has fishing passion

By: John Frierson
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Standing on the bow of his family’s Triton fishing boat, Brent Hayes looked perfectly at home. If he were catching any fish, he’d no doubt look perfectly at peace.

But on a recent sunny Wednesday afternoon on Chickamauga Lake, neither the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga senior fullback nor teammate William Giles had so much as a nibble in two hours.

Launching cast after cast into the still water, a movement that’s as natural to him as walking, Hayes remained ever hopeful, always smiling. And why not? He was out fishing on a beautiful day with his good friend Giles, a fellow senior.

“I could come out here every day and I’d never get tired of it,” the 6-foot-2, 270-pound Hayes said. “I just love fishing; I love being out on the water. Most of the time, there’s no place I’d rather be. I don’t have to catch anything to enjoy the experience.”

It’s been that way for most of his life. His father, Ben Hayes, also an avid fisherman, can’t recall the first time he took Brent out with him, but he said his son was about 3 years old.

“He probably had a little Snoopy rod and reel,” Ben said. “All (four of) my children like going out, but he just took a special love to it. It didn’t matter if I was just going out for a couple of hours or if it was an overnight trip, he wanted to come along.

“He caught his first really big fish at Pickwick Lake. He caught a 6-pound smallmouth (bass) when he was 8 years old,” Ben said. “That was a real high-five moment. ... I’m 54 and I haven’t caught (a smallmouth) that big yet.”

These days, father and son often compete in tournaments — mostly small local Thursday night events called dogfights, but also in bigger tournaments. The last weekend in May, they took part in the two-day Triton Owners Tournament on Kentucky Lake, finishing 16th in a field of 339 teams.

Fishing and football have little in common other than the word “tackle,” and their respective definitions of that word are fascinatingly different. For Hayes, both sports feed his competitive fire.

For now, his top priority is the Mocs’ upcoming season, his last as a football player. After that, the former Central High School star wants to give professional fishing a try, starting out on the small bass tours. He hopes to move up to the higher levels that are sometimes seen on ESPN.

“I’m hoping to do something with it one day,” Hayes said. “It’s what I’ve wanted to do for a long time, so we’ll see.

“I love the competitiveness of football and fishing. There are people just as good and better than you, and you want to beat them every time — and that goes for both football and fishing.”

If he can’t make it as a pro, Hayes said he still would like a career in the fishing world, whether it’s as a sales rep for a boat or tackle company or a guide or whatever else will allow him to make a living and be involved in the sport.

Ben Hayes works for HiDef Media Group, based in Cleveland, which, among other things, works with several pro fishermen and fishing companies. So, Ben said, his son has seen “that there were more opportunities in the fishing industry beyond doing it professionally.”

In his four years at UTC, Hayes has been the unofficial team fishing guide, taking numerous players out with him when they have some free time.

“We’ve probably gone out about a dozen times,” Giles said. “When you go fishing with Brent, it’s easy to see that he knows what he’s talking about when it comes to fishing. You can tell he really studies it, and I think he’s definitely got a shot to make it once he’s done with school and can put a lot more time into it.”

And on that recent trip, Hayes, like any good guide, made sure the day wasn’t a total loss. After two hours of fruitless casts, he and Giles returned to the boat ramp at Harrison Bay State Park, loaded the boat on the trailer behind his truck and hustled over to another nearby lake. There the fish were biting.

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