FAN HS Fishing Series Sets Record with 60 Teams at Season Opener on Lake Buchanan

Parker Wagner and Cameron Reagan win the first 2016-2017 Chase for the Champions Qualifier

Sixty teams arrived at Llano County Park on a early warm and muggy Saturday Fall morning to seek those important points and begin the Chase for the Championship with over $6,000 in scholarship funds and the coveted Berkley Anglers of the Year Award up for grabs.  After the pre-launch prayer, national anthem and safety check the 120 anglers and their captains took off to put their skills and strategies to the test on the recently filled Lake Buchanan reservoir.

Taking the win and the points in the first qualifier was the team of Parker Wagner and Cameron Reagan from Lake Travis High School with 13.84 pounds including the Kistler Big Bass at 7.69 pounds. “My dad and I had never fished on the lake before, so we decided that we should pre-fish the lake and get an understanding of how the lake looks and fishes,” Wagner said.  “While pre-fishing we spent most of our time in the submerged timber and had an extremely hard time catching fish; we only caught two fish in two days of fishing.

Tournament day we put what we learned to good use; if they aren’t in deep trees, they might be in shallow rocks,” Wagner continued.  “Early morning we caught a keeper on a senko on a shallow flat of rocks. We knew we needed to turn this bite into some sort of pattern, so we continued to throw senkos on the flat and caught a few more fish. We had found a pattern, and used google images to find structure similar to what we had caught the fish on.

After the senko bite slowed down, we switched to baby brush hogs and caught a few more fish on our pattern. Near the end of the tournament we had four small keepers in the live well and knew that we needed a bigger fish to have a chance to place. We went farther north up the lake and an hour and a half before the end of the day we were fortunate enough to set the hook into an 8 pound bass.

This tournament I learned how to find and fish a pattern, the importance of learning a lake before fishing it, and that you never know when you can catch a big one. I would also like to take a moment to thank Faith Angler Network for hosting the event and all of our sponsors for making these events possible,” Wagner added.

Parker and Cameron took home two beautiful trophies and Abu Garcia Vendetta casting rods with Abu Garcia Pro Max reels, PLUS the Kistler Big Bass Award for that beautiful 7.69 largemouth bass – Captain Todd Wagner won the Academy Captain Incentive award and a Co-Branded FAN/Academy Magellan Fishing Shirt.

fan2Earning the second place spot was the team of Tanner Patterson and Alex Cantrell from Bowie High School with a 11.15 pound limit of bass.  “We started off in a cove throwing top waters and didn’t have much luck,” Cantrell said.  “We moved to an area with some rocks and switched to jigs. Tanner’s grandfather, our Captain – Bob Schernik – a resident of Lake Buchanan, knew of some areas on the lake and we moved around and threw some jigs later in the morning and that is when things started to happen.”

Patterson caught four fish, two of the largest ones, back to back. “We saw a fish jumping and Alex was able to throw a spook on top of it and caught our fifth fish,” Patterson said.  “We both just did what we know and love to do and gave it 110%. As freshman, we are happy with our finish and excited to be a part of the Faith Angler Network!”

They each took home an Abu Garcia Pro Max Low Profile Casting Rod and Reel Combo and a second place trophy

fan3Coming in third also from Lake Travis High School was the team of Abbi Gass and Anna McDonough with a five fish limit weighing 9.13 pounds.  “Saturday was a blast! Some of our main winning strategies would be practicing and pre-fishing and just getting the right mindset for the tournament throughout the week/weeks before it,” Gass and McDonough said.   “Also, before tournaments I pray and just give all the glory to God and that keeps me encouraged to try my best, as well as, keep a happy attitude whether I do good or bad!

Throughout the tournament if a technique doesn’t work I try and brainstorm with my uncle about more spots and baits and colors that might work to get some fish in the boat.

I love you guys and the spirit y’all carry! It’s amazing to see the love all of you have for God and see you all acting out and doing these tournaments for us through your faith. The tournaments are always so great and organized and all the people are so nice and encouraging; It’s so incredible and I’m happy to be a part of it,” the duo added.

They each won a large Berkley PowerBait Tackle Bag and a pair of third place trophies.

TOURNAMENT STATS

Total Teams: 60
Total Fish: 87 Ave. Fish per Team: 1
Total Released: 82 94%         Ave. Weight per Team: 3.00
Total Fish Weight: 179.72    Ave. Weight per Fish: 2.07

Wrapping up the top 10 teams:
4 Eston Hamilton – Noah Biebelhausen      Lake Travis                  8.85
5 Aaron Batten – Trevor Don                       Magnolia                      7.84
6 Cameron Clouse – Clayton Green           Tightlines                      7.69
7 Dylan Sanchez -Tommy Butrym              STBC                           7.16
– Preston Pittman -Alex Chambers             Tightline                        7.16
9 Andrew Tijerina – Will Oliver                      RR                               6.63
10 Tyler Easley -Keller Munroe                    CenTex                        5.90

You can see all the results and photos in the tournament section HERE

This event would not be possible without the volunteers and staff that put everything together from helping check in, set up, cook hotdogs, launch boats, park trucks to helping with merchandising and getting it all back into the trailer. Thank you sincerely: Justin Rieger, Mary Anderson, Colt Anderson, Doug, Valerie and CJ Cruts, Jon Sigman, Stephanie Cook, Ruth Hale, Dave Denson and the many others that jumped in to assist.

Captains are essential to the success of our High School Fishing program and we are honored to be able to recognize them with some great sponsor products and incentives.

Winning the Berkley Captain Drawing for a Berkley Power Battery Pack – $49.00 Value Pack – Army Bass Angler, Efrem Dicochea

Winning the SuperNova Captain Drawing for a SuperNova Nav Kit – $89.00 Value was Steve Knowles

We would like to thank all of our 2016/17 Sponsors and Supporters and ask that you give them a chance to earn your business when the opportunity arises.

Faith Angler Network is a 501©3 non-profit organization serving the Central Texas Area with Youth Fishing Events/ Charity Events/ Military Supported and Awareness Events/ Professional Run Bass Tournaments

 

WAYNE COUNTY KENTUCKY OPEN EVENT SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED

Wayne County Casting Cardinals of Kentucky Announce 2016 Tournament Schedule

October 8th- Green River – Wayne County Open, Site 1 Ramp.                                                                           Take off 7am or Safe Light and weigh in at 3pm. ET

October 29th – Lake Cumberland – 5th Annual Fall High School Classic, Conley Bottom Marina.                          Take off at 7am or Safe Light with weigh in at 4pm ET

Dec 10th  – Lake Cumberland – 2nd Annual  High School Winter Blast Tournament , Grider Hill Marina.                 Take off at 7am with weigh in at 3pm ET

Trophies and prizes awarded for 1-3rd place and Big Bass.

1st Place winners will receive a two Rods ($150.00 worth each) .

2nd Place will receive two rods ($125.00 worth each)

3rd Place will receive two rods ($100.00 worth each)

Big Bass will receive one reel ($150.00)

Winner of Captains pot will receive a Reel ($150.00)

At the end of the tourney we will be drawing for door Prizes giving away Berkley Merchandise such as sunglasses and tackle.

*Any questions please feel free to call or Email . Hope you can come and join us. Thanks

DeWayne Hardwick cell 606-307-0675

dewayne.hardwick@cobb-vantress.com

 

 

Entry Fees will be $25.00 per boat

Captains pot $10.00 (optional)

Schedule of Tournaments are as follows

 

Registration starts 1 hour before takeoff at the designated launch site.

 

 

STECK AND LORENZE FROM WAUNAKEE HIGH REPEAT AS CENTRAL CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS

saf-central-conference-1st-placeColin Steck and Nate Lorenze landed the tournament big fish, a 5 pound 4 ounce beauty 10 minutes into Saturday morning’s Central Conference Regional on the Ohio River.  Catching that fish set the stage for what they both hoped could be a repeat win from last year’s championship at Lake Carlisle in Illinois.

“Catching that big fish right off the bat this morning on a crankbait was a huge lift for us,” Steck, who is a senior at Waunakee High School said.

 “We knew we had to grind it out and get more fish to go with him to give us a chance,” Lorenze who is also a senior added.

Lorenze had an action packed weekend.  Friday night, he had a football game for Waunakee High where he had a 47 yard punt return for the winning touchdown.  Then, Lorenze traveled all night to arrive in time to join his partner in the boat this morning.

The pair was glad he did as they’d net three more fish for a total weight of 8 pounds 12 ounces to secure the repeat championship titles, as well as, their second trip to the High School National Championship.

saf-central-conference-winnersComing in second and also advancing to the National Championship was the home town team of Hunter Schneider and William Halbig from Lawrenceburg High School in Indiana. They had a 5 pound 8 ounce bag and the only limit of the day, which was just enough to lock down the runner-up spot.

In third, was the Ohio team of Rocky and Tanner Jordan from St. Paris Graham High School who narrowly missed qualifying to advance with four fish that tipped in at 5 pounds 5 ounces.

The top 10% from each of the five Conference Regional events advance to the National Championship to be held in the Spring.

Special thanks go out to the Lawrenceburg Chamber of commerce and Ms. Connie Cleary who helped organize the event and the Lawrenceburg High School fishing team who volunteered to help and fed all of the anglers after the days weigh-in.

The SAF Conference Regional action heats up again in two weeks with the Northern Conference Regional on Lake Champlain in New York.

Click here for FULL RESULTS.