The Highland Rebels Fishing Team had a great turnout at its first annual Highland Invitational Tournament in Bull Shoals Arkansas. We had a total of 20 student anglers and 10 boat captains at this great event! The weather Friday for pre-fishing was terrible. Storms, lightning, and heavy rain all day. Despite that, several still caught fish. Our Friday night meeting was held at the Ranger Boat Plant, at Flippin AR. It was great to say the least. All the teams pre-registered there, and were treated to an appearance by Forrest and Nina Wood, founder of Ranger boats. The Ranger plant really rolled out the red carpet for us. Forrest and Nina gave us a personal tour of their museum along with great stories and good company! Ranger provided free hats and snacks for everyone and really made this a special event.
Saturdays blast off was cold and cloudy. As the morning progressed, the light rain turned into sleet and almost all the anglers spotted sleet in their boats for most of the day. Despite the weather, 9 of the 10 teams caught some fish. Topping the field were the team of Emma Johnson and Britney Reding from Highland High School, with a winning weight of 10.7lbs. Second place went to the Highland Team of Tomas McNaughton and Wade Paul with a weight of 9lbs pounds. Third place went to the Mountain Home High School team of Easton Reese and Hank Lawrence with a weight of 7.9lbs. Fourth place went to the Flippin High School team of Logan Hurst and Coy Flippin with a weight of 6.5lbs. A lot of smallmouth crossed the scales on Saturday as the smallmouth bite was really good.
We plan on making this an annual event, and Highland appreciates our other school for participation in this SAF event. Thank you Ranger Boats for making this a great success! Also, a thanks to all the boat captains, as none of this could happen without them!
