SLIPPERY ROCK — Cody Neal and Nathan Quince were angling for a big finish.

They found it in Florida.

Both graduating seniors and members of the Slippery Rock University fishing team, Evans City resident Neal and Imperial resident Quince decided to fish together at the FLW Collegiate Fishing National Championships recently at Harrison Chain Lake in Leesburg, Fla.

“We were pretty much the only two remaining members of the team,” Neal said. “Two years ago, we had 22 on the Slippery Rock team, but a lot of them didn't have their own boats and eventually dropped off.

“Nathan has a boat and so do I. So when we competed in tournaments, he would take a teammate out with him and I'd take one with me. We fished together maybe three times.”

The two were good friends throughout college and figured they would close their careers together at the collegiate nationals.

They qualified by placing third at a tournament on Chesapeake Bay late last spring. The FLW Nationals were last weekend.

Neal and Quince wound up placing fourth out of 162 two-person teams at the national event. They won $3,000.

That was the highest finish of any SRU team in the program's 10-year history.

And it was a complete surprise.

“We did a practice round the day before and caught only three fish,” Quince said. “We weren't exactly confident going out on the tournament's first day. Then we caught 17 fish in the first round.”

Each day of the three-day bass tournament had a five-fish limit for weighing purposes.

“The goal was to catch the biggest set of five bass you could,” Neal said.

Neal and Quince wound up weighing in 13 bass with a total weight of 48 pounds, 14 ounces. Christopher Harrison and Ethan Legare of Stephen F. Austin won the tournament — and $27,000 — with 15 bass weighing 56 pounds, 5 ounces. Teams from Sam Houston State and Bethel University took second and third, respectively.

While on the water, they joined forces with fellow competitors from the University of Pittsburgh.

“One of my good friends, Harry Colberg, is on the Pitt team and we knew each other was going to this tournament,” Quince said. “Our teams decided to help each other out, share resources and information.

“You need to team up like that to succeed in a competition of this magnitude. A lot of teams do that. If you try going it alone, it's really difficult.”

Neal agreed.

“Those guys really helped us,” Neal said. “There were teams from Florida fishing in this and they had their own cliques. You have to form them or you're at a real disadvantage.”

By placing among the top four nationally, Neal and Quince have qualified for the BFL All-America tournament on Lake Hartwell in South Carolina in April. First prize there is $100,000.

“It's like pro status, that tournament,” Neal said. “A lot of pros can't even qualify for it. We're pretty excited to go.”

Neal and Quince both work for the Field & Stream store in Cranberry Township. Neal works in fishing sales, Quince in the administration office.

Quince has hopes of turning pro in the bass fishing world down the road.

“It takes sponsorship and a lot of money,” he said. “It takes $1,800 just to enter one of those (pro) events. I'm hoping to build toward that.”

He and Neal are planning on fishing again together at some point.

“We'll get together some weekend, I'm sure,” Quince said.