We learned early that QB James Vandenberg is an angler.

After taking his first unsteady steps in the spotlight filling in for injured Stanzi during a 17-10 loss to Northwestern, the 6-foot-3, 212-pounder sneaked out of town that Saturday night to the Bass Pro Shop in Altoona. His 20th birthday was in a couple of weeks and his dad, Toby, wanted to get the birthday present out of the way because they knew the next couple of weeks as starter were going to be nutty.

While trying on a pair of waders, the sales person asked if he was at the Iowa game.

“So I was up in Bass Pro Shop trying some waders on, some hunting waders. The guy was like, ‘Did you go to the (Iowa) game today?’ I was like, ‘Yeah,’ ” Vandenberg said. “And he said, ‘Did it look as rough in person as it did on TV?’ And I said, ‘You have no idea.’ ”

KCRG’s John Campbell made a recent fishing trip with Vandenberg and Travis Mueller of Swisher. Three hours of fishing yielded . . . one white bass. You have to hope Vandenberg has a little better percentage next fall.

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Here is how it’s done:

That’s the 35-inch northern I bagged in northern Wisconsin last week.

OK, OK, I put a lot more than three hours into it. I have to say, I’m jealous of that largemouth bass James nabbed. The catfish? Eww, unless it was a flathead. I do like respect that James is a river angler who seems to do just fine from the shore.