5/14/11, Lake of the Ozarks – The Missouri High School State Bass Fishing Championship started the day with teams from across the state welcoming in a cold front that brought plenty of wind and a little rain to the Lake of the Ozarks State Park in Osage Beach, Missouri.
Teams had to battle less-than-favorable conditions for most of the day, but as always youth did prevail and all of the participating teams battled the Wiley bass of this massive impoundment. When the wind and rain had all cleared, the team of Brian Pahl from Eureka High School and his partner Andrew Guilliams of Glendale High School teamed up to win the inaugural Missouri High School Fishing State Championship with a 5 bass limit that tipped the scales at 11.03 pounds.
Guilliams and Pahl usually compete against each other in various fishing events around the state but this time they teamed up to win the crown throwing a variety of spinner baits along the gravel banks primarily contentrating on those areas where baseball size rocks that were mixed with pea gravel.
Following them in second place was the Eversmeyer brothers, Jon and Joel, of Warrenton High School who were just about half a pound behind the champs at 10.56 lbs. Rounding out our place winners were Seth Carleton and Dylan Sousley from Team Concepts, near Kansas City and Trimble.
The state champions will also advance to an FLW Outdoors/TBF High School Fishing Regional Championship held in conjunction with a National Guard FLW College Fishing Regional Championship hosted on a college campus this fall. They will receive travel allowances to help offset expenses and use of a Ranger boat for the event. The winners from each regional will advance to the FLW Outdoors/TBF High School Fishing National Championship held on a college campus in conjunction with the National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship in the spring of 2012. National Champions will each receive a $5,000 scholarship to use at the university of their choice.
Each team that competed is now qualified to enter the 2011 High School Fishing World Finals held in July in Russellville, Ark., with no entry fees.
TBF and SAF would like to thank the Missouri Bass Federation, and President Dave Lindner, his wife Carol, Lake of the Ozarks Tri-County Lodging Association Board of Directors and the entire tourism family at the Lake of the Ozarks and all the volunteers who helped make this event happen. And a huge thank you to all the parents, mentors, teachers, coaches and boat captains for getting your students involved with high school fishing! Thank you all! We couldn’t do this without you.
