On 05/18/2013, 19 High School Fishing Teams arrived at Gill’s Creek Marina on beautiful Smith Mountain Lake in Wirtz VA for the mandatory registration. As the teams registered, many talked about having good days of practice with 14-15 lbs bags of fish. On Saturday during practice, the sun disappeared and the rain set in and the bite changed. On Sunday, 5/19/2013, all the teams blasted off at safelight in search of a limit of 5 keepers. With an overcast sky, the anglers had a decent morning until around 11am when the steady rain set in again. As the anglers returned to the marina, the rain was still coming down. As the anglers headed to the holding tanks, the rain stopped and the sun popped out. When the scales opened, the anglers proved that the rain didn’t stop the show as many smallmouth and largemouth were weighed in. The team of Brandon Newberry and Hayden Justus of Honaker High School took 1st Place with 5 fish that weighed 13.1 lbs. The team of Richard Wellhouse and Jordan Mazza of Potomac Falls High School had 2nd Place with 5 fish that weighed 11.13 lbs and 3rd Place went to the team of Nathan Wood and John Smith of Patrick County HS with a 5 fish limit that weighed 10.11 lbs. Big bass of the tournament was caught by Nathan Wood and John Smith and was a 3.10 lb largemouth. For more pictures and standings, check out Virginia TBF Youth on facebook.
