It seems like the event which attracted more than a 100 kids from 41 schools was a resounding success, and not just for the winners – Exeter High School – but for the future of the sport in NH.

As reported in The New Hamphsire Union Ledger by reporter Larissa Mulkern, NHIAA Executive Director R. Patrick Corbin was taken aback by the level of interest and commitment from kids and organisers alike:

“This has far exceeded anything we anticipated,” said Corbin. “It’s been great. We’ve never introduced or sanctioned any activity or sport that has generated the interest than this has,” he said. “If we had enough boats, we could have had 1,000 students today,” said Corbin.

Read the full article HERE.

Under the guidance of boat captain Bill Robertson, they headed upriver toward the Tennessee state line and worked shallow, brushy cover.

“We thought we’d fish as far back into the brush as we could,” Robertson said. “It worked OK. We lost a few but probably caught 60 fish in the (two) days.”

They could weigh only five per day but had to finish strong to have a chance. Day 1 leaders Zach Warner and Ridge Porter of Muhlenberg County were models of consistency with catches of 16-3 and 16-4 to finish second at 32-7.

Source:  The Courier-Journal. Read the full report and full results HERE.

Congratulations to all in the state who worked so hard to bring this tournament about. There’s no stopping it now.

By classifying each of the activities as an “emerging activity,” MSHSAA says students can start competing on high school teams in the next school year.  After at least 50 schools in at least three of the state’s eight districts have teams, MSHSAA will poll those schools to see whether to add state championships in the next two-year cycle.

Source: KY3.com.

– with more than 10,000 high schoolers around the country taking part in varsity bass tournaments I think we can safely say … it done emerged already … but it’s always nice to get official sanction.

Several of the IHSA Sectional tournaments were delayed due to weather this season, as the 22 sectionals originally scheduled for April 19 were ultimately completed April 26. Fifty-two boats qualified at the sectional level for the state tournament and are slated to compete May 31-June 1.

“This feels great,” said Maldonado, who is a junior majoring in Management and fishing in his second career FLW College Fishing event. “This is my first year fishing for the Kansas State team. I transferred here because I knew that Nathan was coming here and we wanted to fish together for the Wildcats.”

“We’ve grown up together and been fishing with each other since we were five or six years old,” Maldonado continued. “Not many people can say that they’ve been fishing with the same guy for that long. This was pretty special.”

FULL REPORT

“I’ve had some pretty big tournament wins in the past,” said Joseph, the older brother who is a junior majoring in Accounting. “I’ve fished quite a few college events, and we even won a regional a few years ago. This one was special, though. I got to fish with my little brother, and it is pretty cool to be able to get the win.”

FULL REPORT

Marsh and Boe, who had to battle through state and regional conferences to compete, each won $5,000 in scholarship money to go with their trophies.

Go to HighSchoolFishing.org for a full report and links to comprehensive resources for high school anglers and administrators.

Rounding out the top 5:

3rd: Prince George High School, Prince George, Va., Ryan Drewery and Junior Roberts, five bass, 8-1

4th: Blair High School, Blair, Neb., Matthew Neiburg and Zach Madsen, four bass, 7-13

5th: Bandys High School, Catawba, N.C., K.J. Queen and Chelsey Queen, four bass, 7-2

Overall there were 23 bass weighing 43 pounds, 14 ounces, with three five-bass limits caught by the five teams.

Each FLW/TBF Federation High School Fishing team competes in their state championship event in one of five conferences – Central, Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Western. The top team from each state championship qualifies for one of five conference championships. The winning team from each conference championship advances to the national championship, held in conjunction with the FLW College Fishing National Championship.

And, just as in several other college tournaments this year, a monster double-figure bass put in an appearance at just the right time.

This report is from the ACA website, where you can find a full report, gallery, and details of the upcoming BoatUS National Championship.

Paris, Tennessee (April 20, 2013) – The Bethel University team of Cody Ross, Dewey Swims, Zach Parker, and Matthew Roberts set the bar high on Day One of the ACA Collegiate Bass Fishing Open and never looked back.  Anchored by Cody Ross’ 10.44 pound brute on the first day of competition, the Bethel Wildcats proved they know a thing or two about Kentucky Lake.  They backed up their day one catch with another six fish limit totaling 21.36 pounds on Saturday, giving them a total of 52.78 lbs. and more than enough for a victory.

Local knowledge and teamwork were the key to their win and their efforts resulted in over $2,000 in cash and prizes, including Cabela’s gift cards, cash, and new Temple Fork Outfitters rods for all four winning teammates.

According to Dewey Swims, “We all fish here a lot and we know the lake well, but our communication was important in this event.  We were staying in touch with each other sharing information and truly working as a team and that made the difference.”

READ MORE

It was barely nine ounces ahead of second place UNC Charlotte’s Shane Lehew and Adam Waters.

Clark and Preuett had only managed four fish on the last day of what turned out to be a tough tournament and were convinced they hadn’t quite done enough to take the title. Said Preuett:

“We knew we had a couple of good fish, but we were fishing for that fifth fish for like three hours. I told Brett that if we got that fifth fish, we could win this and if we didn’t, we weren’t going to win the title. We really thought we only had something like ten and a half pounds. Right now, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.” 

What they didn’t know was that each of the other four teams fishing the final day struggled too. Auburn’s Jordan Lee and Shane Powell once again showed their consistency with a top three finish bringing in 34 pounds 3 oz.

In addition to the prize package, Clark and Preuett also won places at this year’s $600,000 FLW Cup on the Red River in Louisiana … a river more or less in their backyard.

Can it get much better for a pair of college fishing buddies?

FLW’s CollegeFishing.com has extended coverage of the tournament, a photo gallery and full results HERE.

Cody Jackson and Trevor Salyers of Calloway County High School took first place in the Region 1 competition with a catch of 15 lbs 10 oz, securing their place in the KHSAA State Championship on Kentucky Lake later this month.

Runners up Mason Shelton and Austin Greene (Trigg County) and James Gibbs and Aidan Fitch (Marshall County) will join 11 other teams from Region 1  in the Championship.

For information about High School Fishing in Kentucky go HERE.

Chicago, IL – Dale Bowman of The Chicago Sun-Times is a great commentator on the Illinois high school fishing scene and recently previewed the upcoming season, which begins this Friday with Sectionals at 22 sites around the state. The State Championship is scheduled for May 3-4 at Carlyle Lake.

Despite the success of the program generally he notes that participation is flat this year at 229 teams. It’s probably just the tight economy, but he does end the piece on a positive note:

“What gives me the most faith in Illinois high school bass fishing are people such as Jim O’Neil and Nichole Mara, both of whom are on paths to become fishing professionals. Mara set the standard for young women in Illinois bass fishing. As a senior last year at Hinsdale Central, she caught a 5 lb 9 oz largemouth, the heaviest caught at state by a girl.

More important, both are helping to coach. O’Neil at Marist, his alma mater, and Mara at Hinsdale South.”

For information about  High School Fishing in Illinois go HERE.

Check out Nichole’s website at NicholeMara.com.