The word from the water on the final practice day of the 2008 Under Armour College Bass National Championship is that conditions are tough on Lake Maumelle. If there is one thing to be mentioned about these collegiate anglers, however, it’s that they know how to sandbag as well as the Elite Series pros they admire.

Despite the event’s last-minute relocation from the Arkansas River to Lake Maumelle due to dangerous water levels, there’s no doubt that some hard-working teams have found good groups of fish to bring to the stage.

One of those teams is the defending champions from Virginia Tech, Scott Wiley and Charlie Machek.

“It’s kind of scary,” said Wiley after another successful day on Lake Maumelle. “It makes you more nervous when you have a good practice.”

Many anglers often go into an event confident after having a good practice, only to catch a few keepers or a small limit. Wiley and Machek have come up with a foolproof plan to prevent such a collapse.

“We’ve been quoting ‘Dumb and Dumber’ all day,” said Wiley. “There is never a dull moment with Charlie in the boat.”

What’s the connection between a comedic masterpiece and catching bass?

Apparently it’s good luck for the Virginia Tech squad.

“Last year we sang Taylor Swift’s ‘Our Song,’” said Wiley. “‘Dumb and Dumber’ quotes will be this year’s good look charm.”

Even if the tournament proves to be as tough as some competitors have predicted, there have already been plenty of interesting and bizarre memories made here this week.

Take the University of Illinois’ T.J. Lane and Marshall Lachecki.  After arriving for an early practice day Sunday, the Illini team was met with a massive storm system that moved in unexpectedly.

While fishing on the west end of Lake Maumelle, Lane noticed a wall of rain moving across the lake towards them.

“We tried hiding under a bridge, but the wind got so strong it just blew us right out,” said Lane.  “We ended up finding a protected area and just taking it [the rain].”

The worst part was that Lane had forgotten his rain gear back in his truck.

“I was the only one with rain gear, so I was sitting pretty,” said Lachecki with a smile.

Lachecki would eventually get his comeuppance on the ride back to the ramp.

The lightning had gotten so bad that the team decided to head in early, but on the way back in they were met with waves that were four to five feet high.  With waves that big, their boat was taking water over the sides constantly.

“My inflatable life vest exploded on me,” Lachecki said. “I couldn’t move my arms or get it off.  It wasn’t a fun ride back.”

The storm also got the best of the Pittsburg State team of Will Skucius and Sam Walker, although in a much different way.

The team decided to stop for food at Subway after getting off the lake.  Unfortunately, it was after 9:30 p.m. and Subway was closed.  They fatefully opted for McDonald’s, where they both ordered McNuggets.

It was a beautiful night after the storm passed through, so Skucius and Walker decided to camp out at the boat ramp, which consisted of them opening the car window and propping pillows up to sleep on.

“First, the marina lights were right in our faces,” said Walker. “But we were able to use our pillows to block the glare and still get to sleep.”

Soon a more difficult problem presented itself to the collegiate anglers.  The marina alarm sounded over the intercom at five minute intervals, disturbing the few hours of sleep they had left. In their dream-like state, Skucius and Walker thought the intercom alarm was communicating with them.

“We thought we heard it calling our boat check number,” said Skucius. “But we couldn’t tell.”

Whether the intercom haunting them was a result of a bad batch of McNuggets or just because they were so tired, the two anglers will never know, but they eventually grew used to the noise and were able to sleep until 4:30 a.m. and the start of the next day of practice.

Look for more interesting stories as the week progresses and 54 schools from across the country vie for the title of 2008 Under Armour College Bass National Champions.

Weigh-ins begin Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. at the Academy Sports and Outdoors in Little Rock, Ark., and will be streaming live from www.CollegeBass.com and www.ESPNOutdoors.com.