Your future, our focus
Taylor Shamo smiled as he considered the question.
“I wish,” he said.
A 6-foot-3 redshirt sophomore guard for the Northwest College men’s basketball team, Shamo, from Delta, Utah, will soon be out of eligibility.
He wants to continue his education at a four-year school, and doesn’t know if an opportunity exists for him to continue playing basketball.
But if he could he’d rather be offered a fishing scholarship.
“Not yet, unfortunately,” he said of having any such opportunity.
Shamo is a back-up for the Trappers’ 27-4 Region IX regular-season champions. Northwest hosted the league’s post-season tournament. Now their sights are set on the NJCAA tournament in Hutchinson, Kan.
Shamo is happy to extend his Northwest career as long as possible, but he is itching to get back on the water, too. Little brother Rhett, back in Utah, might be piling up the fish while Taylor is focused on hoops.
It could be said that Shamo is a two-sport athlete, but the only competition in his fishing world is a sibling rivalry.
Steamy hot summer weather or frigid winter weather, Shamo is a fisherman. He shrugs at the elements, or at least dresses for them.
He came to Northwest for school and basketball and both are nearing an end in Powell, but it’s a good bet he’ll be fishing for the rest of his life. If only to stay ahead of his bro.
In the water, under the ice, or in far away lands, if there are fish around Shamo will find them.
Conditions seemed perfect for ice fishing on a mid-January day at Upper Sunshine Reservoir in Meeteetse. The sun was out, the ice was glassy solid, and the wind was a mere whisper.
Equipped with an augur, a fish finder, a mix of reels and lures, Shamo was ready.
It seemed impossible for the various types of trout known to inhabit the water 17 feet down to elude him, yet they did. The fish weren’t biting and Shamo got skunked.
Not only did that take part of the pleasure out of the trip, but the shutout probably cost Shamo head-to-head standing against Rhett.
Beginning in 2014, the brothers decided to keep track of every fish they caught as a challenge. They fished in Alaska together. They fished in the Cayman Islands. They fished apart, too.
Of all things, Shamo had his scorecard total in his phone so he could rattle off names and numbers of fish. Included, among many species, were 15 catfish, 10 carp, nine cutthroat trout, 10 rainbows, six Atlantic cod, 17 pike, 10 char, 10 crappie and 78 perch.
Shamo’s grand total was 200 fish caught. He said that he and his brother were in a virtual tie, but admitted, “He got lucky. He won.”
Reached in Utah, Rhett, 17, was indignant at the suggestion the competition was even close.
“What?” Rhett said. “I caught way more than him. Like 245 fish.”
He mentioned catching a seven-foot-long striped marlin in Mexico, which alas went unweighed.
Neither Rhett nor Taylor are the slightest bit intimidated by winter weather. To them fishing in harsh weather just means more room to roam.
“It’s not that cold,” Rhett said. “Sometimes you freeze your butt off. But if you’re catching fish, you’re not cold.”
One thing Rhett can agree with Taylor on is that it would be nice if his school offered varsity fishing.
But even fish-o-phile Taylor can put fishing aside for these next days (or possibly weeks) of March in favor of basketball.
The Trappers have a 17-game winning streak and will start play Wednesday, March 18, in the national tournament.
“This has been really fun,” Shamo said of Northwest’s run. “It’s crazy.”
For Shamo, it’s March Madness now and fishing madness the rest of the year.