The 2024 Student Angler Federation (SAF) Alabama Open Challenge Tournament was held 14 September 2024, at Lewis Smith Lake, Cullman, AL. The tournament launched out of Smith Lake Park, Cullman, AL.  The tournament was conducted on the tail end of hurricane/tropical storm Francine which meant that there was plenty of rain. On tournament morning wind was mild but there were several heavy downpours of rain. The lake level was rising, and debris was flooding. All were advised to be cautious during their boating on the lake waters.

The team of Drew Turnbull-Caleb Miller of Evangel Lightning Bass Fishing Team captured first place with a five fish limit pushing the scales to 14.09. Second place team was Thomas Turnbull-Levi Higdon of Evangel Lightning Bass Fishing Team with 13.04. Seth Lash-Sawyer Lash of Mortimer Jordan Bass Club were third with 12.06; Gray Chapman-Gunner Anderson of Satsuma High School Fishing Team were fourth with 12.03. Finishing in sixth place was Caston Carden-Sawyer Sheffield of Shelby County High School Wildcats with 11.15. The team of Pearce Parker-Kaylie Pearce of West Point Fishing Warriors were sixth place 11.00. Colbe Sellers-Andrew Bradford of West Point Fishing Warriors were seventh place with 10.14.  Big fish of the tournament was Seth Lash-Sawyer Lash of Mortimer Jordan Bass Club with 3.09.

The top six finishing teams qualified for the 2025 High School National Tournament. Congratulations to the top six teams, Drew Turnbull-Caleb Miller; Thomas Turnbull-Levi Higdon; Seth Lash-Sawyer Lash; Gray Chapman-Gunner Anderson; Caston Carden-Sawyer Sheffield and Pearce Parker-Kaylie Pearce

The Ontario SAF qualifier was held on Saturday August 10th, 2024. It was a windy day on the Bay of Quinte, and a tough bite but our teams persevered and came up with decent weights to compete.

Team of Evan Wager and Sidney Marshall came in with the Big Bag 12.98 lbs to take 1st place to Qualify for the 2025 National Championship.

Evan Erwin and Rhys Erwin had a bag of 9.0 lbs to take 2nd place

Connor Boates and Kaileb Nadon had a bag of 4.1 lbs for 3rd place

What a terrific day of fishing with awesome competition! From the sounds of it, everyone started kind of slow with the dark skies and rain but as the day progressed and the skies lightened, the bite seemed to get better for many. The more the kids persevered and stuck with it, the bigger the catch seemed to get and all the way to the very end with some catching them within minutes of the cut off. Awesome job to everyone for working hard and sticking with it. Absolutely Superb that there were no dead fish brought to the scale, all alive and very healthy and thank you everyone for releasing your fish right where you were supposed to, fantastic! A special congratulations goes out to our champions. From the High School division, Brayden Luciano and Brody Gould with boat Captain Shane Gagnon! They had to work hard for it and were able to bring in 19 lbs 6 ounces for the win. Great job guys!

Another special congratulations to Jessica Hogue and Emily Ireland with boat captain Larry Hogue at the Junior level! Again, having to work the entire day for it they were able to bring in 14lbs 6 ounces for the win. Awesome job! Both teams now have the opportunity (if they chose to do so) to represent Maine in the 2025 National Championship! A huge thank you to all our sponsors, family and friends and our adult TBF clubs and members who help to make these opportunities possible. We sincerely appreciate everything, none of this happens without you, a total team effort. A special thank you to the Lakeside Lodge and Marina for allowing us to use their property and docks to host this event. Super nice people and a beautiful place on a beautiful lake, thank you!