By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor

Isaac Payne is about to become a pioneer in bass-fishing circles. A month from now, he'll lead a team comprised entirely of women into an FLW College Series event at Lake Seminole.

The 33-year-old Payne coaches both the men's and women's teams at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Georgia. It's a full-time job for the former Marine as the school has elevated fishing to full varsity status.

Payne graduated from SCAD in 2015 following an 8-year stint in the Marine Corps (5 in the reserves and 3 on active duty) that included deployment to Afghanistan in 2009. He founded and served as president of the SCAD fishing program, which was a club-level sport prior to this year.

Hired in late summer of 2015, he had a full year to recruit before the Bees began varsity competition. To this point, he's enjoyed the job so much that he's thinking he might never leave it.

"What I'm really looking forward to is seeing this first class I recruited graduate – that's going to be a great feeling," he said. "I'm hoping that 3 years from now, seeing that will feel better than winning an Elite Series event.

"I definitely see myself doing this for as long as I'm able to help the kids on the team."

TV Anglers were Role Models

Payne was smitten by fishing but the time he was in kindergarten and became interested in catching bass on artificial baits by watching Bill Dance, Roland Martin and Jimmy Houston on TV. For many years, he fished out of a jonboat that he'd purchased for $100 and finally acquired his first bass boat at age 25.

He's competed in a lot of local and regional events around the Deep South and next year hopes to try his hand in at least one division of the Bassmaster Opens.

"It'll depend on what works around the (college) schedule," he said. "I won't be off competing if the team has something going on. I can use Oakley Big Bass tournaments and BFLs to fill the void."

He holds a bachelor of fine arts degree in industrial design – a field that he was drawn to because he enjoys making his own lures. He won a recent local derby on a prototype rattlebait that he created, which he said has similarities to both a Booyah One Knocker and the Lucky Craft LV series, but has functional variations and will be produced via a different manufacturing process.

Women Easy to Coach

The Bees women's team's roster consists of seven artist-athletes (which they're known as at SCAD). There's one junior carry-over from the club-level days and one transfer from another college, and the other five are freshmen that Payne hand-picked from the high school ranks.

The highest-profile member is Laura Ann Foshee, the granddaughter of Big Bite Baits owner Dennis Montgomery who made the inaugural Bassmaster High School All-American team in 2015. Foshee was the first female angler to ever receive a college scholarship.

Payne has found the women to be relatively easy to coach because of their willingness to simplify things.

"I guess I look at it like when I joined the Marines – I'd never fired a weapon before in my life, but I reached the expert level because I learned the right way the first time," he said. "Nobody had to un-teach me anything.

"The women are more like sponges and they want to learn more. They're willing to fish a worm, Texas- or Carolina-rigged, and keep it simple and they're not always wanting to throw a Magnum Spoon or just chase one particular bite.

"They've really worked hard," he continued, "and there have been times when we've had our men's and women's teams going against each other that the women have won."

Notable

> Payne has stressed to his women's team that their performance will be tracked by many interested observers this season. "There's going to be a lot of weight on their shoulders because a lot of eyes will be on them," he said. "There are quite a few all-women's colleges who think they might like to have a fishing team, and they'll be watching closely."

> In addition to their three fishing-oriented practice sessions per week, SCAD anglers also undergo physical training with Sam Carter, the school's strength and conditioning coach. "What we want them to have is good core muscle," Payne said. "That can make a big difference when you're standing on the boat for 8 hours and then standing in the weigh-in line after that – it's a lot of time on your feet."

> The ratio of female-to-male students at SCAD is approximately 2-to-1.