The CDH Fishing Team Makes a Splash
Greta Cunningham ‘23, Communications Apprentice
July 12, 2022
For Sam Laughlin ’23, the Cretin-Derham Hall Fishing Team's first season is more than the excitement of summer mornings on the lake: it’s the realization of four years’ hard work.
""This team would not exist without Sam Laughlin, and I am infinitely grateful for his hard work and persistence, which has very clearly paid off,” said Andrew Ek ’25, a member of the team. 
As a ninth grader, Laughlin initially planned to start a CDH Fishing Club before learning about competitive opportunities with the Minnesota Bass Fishing League. He spent the rest of his high school career, now a rising senior, working to establish a CDH team to meet the league's standards.
“Competitive bass fishing is among the fastest growing team sports in the country. There are literally hundreds of students that compete across the state,” said Tim Laughlin ’90, parent of Sam Laughlin ’23 and a team coach. “We participate in one of 10 conferences and the number continues to rise.”
CDH required five boats and 10 members, thus, five teams of two anglers, for the team to be established. So, in addition to recruiting students, Sam Laughlin needed to find five community members — “boat captains” — willing to donate vessels for each tournament, a challenge working from a relatively land locked area.
“It's been great to see how the team has embraced and responded to their boat captains. Seeing the relationships they’ve built has been pretty special.” said Coach Laughlin.
It’s a unique way to cultivate intergenerational connection in the CDH community. Captains and coaches help prepare the teams by “pre-fishing” before tournaments where students acquaint themselves with the lake and fish populations they’ll later assess competitively. However, once the tournament begins, it’s all up to the students.
“This league is ruled, governed, and run by the student-anglers. The students are literally the competitor, coach, and captain all at once when they get out on the water. As boat captains or coaches, we are not allowed to provide any guidance once the tournament begins,” said Coach Laughlin. “That’s why this team provides students with an opportunity to not only compete as a team, but to take on leadership and growth opportunities beyond the classroom.”
Inherently, the team’s story provides a lesson in the power of student initiative for all its members, but anglers have also had their own realizations about the competitive skills that will help them on and off the lake.
“What I have learned is applicable to numerous areas of my life as a student at CDH. Learn from your mistakes; don’t expect a different result from the same action. Stay level headed; don’t be too high when you’re doing well, and certainly don’t be too low when you’re doing poorly because all it takes is one cast to make an insurmountable difference,” said Ek.
So far, the team has completed two of the three season tournaments, first on East and West Rush Lake and then on Crossing and Pokegama Lake. During tournaments, teams fish for six hours from 6 am to noon. At the end of the fishing period, teams submit up to five large or smallmouth bass to be weighed.
“The goal is five fish, but sometimes teams don't catch anything. I am proud that all of our teams have had catches. At our last tournament, we had teams place second (Sam Laughlin ’23 and Andrew Ek ’25) and seventh place (Max Laughlin ’24 and Gabe Zilka ’24)” explained Sam. “Finally getting this team going has been incredible. I wasn't sure this was going to happen at CDH, so to actually go out and place was really cool.”
In order to qualify for the State Tournament, teams must be ranked among the top nine teams in the conference
“There is no question that the Raiders are known for top tier performance when it comes to athletic and academic competition. Why not add fishing to that list?” said Ek. “We have a few boats that have a very good chance of making state. This is our first year and such a good performance is unprecedented for a debuting team.”
All the anglers are excited by the possibilities this first season has opened for the team.
“In addition to making it to state, I’d just really like to see this team continue,” said Sam. “My hope is that this is active at CDH for years to come after I graduate.”
Many schools send upwards of 20 teams to tournaments. Now that the group is established, CDH hopes to continue growing.
“It’s a fantastic, non-traditional option that offers an extremely high level of competition for so many of our students - male and female,” said Coach Laughlin. “We've already shown in a very short period that we can compete with some of the largest and most successful teams in the state. There is no reason we can't be among the best.”
As most CDH students hail from relatively urban areas, the fishing team is distinct from other CDH sports and activities in that it offers students an escape into the natural world.
“It's been a long journey to get here, so it’s an amazing thing to see the smiles on their faces when they come in after a day of fishing with a full bag of bass,” said Coach Laughlin. “I can't think of a better way to spend a summer day than with your CDH friends on the water.”
Sam recognized this important opportunity in his inspiration for creating the team. “I really enjoy the outdoors and I wanted to share that. I know there are lots of others here who have the same passion,” he reflected.
The team, currently of 10 students, certainly has cherished the chance to merge their love of nature with their eagerness to compete.
“This is a great group of kids and to see their competitive spirit come alive has been nothing short of amazing,” said Coach Laughlin, “There aren’t many sports like it.”