Deja vu,

Limits abound with over half the field bringing in a five fish limit.Deja vu

At Tuesday nights registration another record crowd, we handed out all 1500 wrist bands we had printed( and had to borrow more locally!) for Friday nights pizza party scheduled for the nearly 600 participants (2 anglers, boat captains per team) and their family attending the week long world finals event from 22 states. Deja vu.

And for the second year in a row, the day 1 weigh in concluded with brothers Cole and Court Walker pacing the opening day field at beautiful Pickwick Lake in Florence Alabama. The pair from Tennessee’s Hardin County High school brought in a five fish limit that rocked the McFarland Park weigh-in stage with a 26lb 7oz effort to secure the top day 1 spot amidst the field.

Right behind them was Nathan Stamper and John Lusk from Columbus Christian Academy in Indiana. Their limit tipped in at 21lb 2oz to hold down the runner-up position. Their bag was anchored by a 9lb 1oz Pickwick whopper that was also the day’s biggest bass and currently leads the Lew’s Big bass award.

Claiming the number three spot was Blayke Haggard and Kolby Frazier from Oklahoma.

Their limit weighed 16lb 15oz to edge out Lawrence County Tennessee’s Drey Long and Austin Clanton who brought in a 16lb 14oz bag that has them sitting in the fourth position.

Rounding out the top five was the duo of Logan Parks and Lucas Lindsay from Auburn Alabama. Their limit tipped in at 16lb 4oz for the day.

In the most unique format if all of tournament fishing and patterned after most other high school sports tournaments, the top two teams from each state advance on to Friday’s semi-final competition while the rest of the field drops into a consolation round in an attempt to fish their way to Saturday’s 21 team final round.

Day two of the four day event will kick off at 5:30am tomorrow at McFarland Park. Weigh in begins promptly at 1:30 pm and is free to the public.

For full standings check out the results page HERE

June 27, 2016

Johnny and Tony Deluca put together a five fish limit weighing 11 pounds 2 ounces to win the SAF Missouri High School Fishing State Championship on Truman Lake.  The pair targeted gravel, stumps and docks using a combination of baits, including a chatterbait, spinnerbait and a square bill crankbait to find their winning limit.

The team was awarded the championship titles, trophies and a slot in the Southern Conference Championship where they will also be provided custom jerseys.  The championship event will be held in Shreveport, La. in October.

Coming in second, was the veteran team of Trey Schroeder and Grant Nisbit with a limit of bass weighing 9 pounds 8 ounces. Rounding out the top three was the team of Corbin Mertgen and Heath Renno who had three Truman lake bass that weighed 5 pounds 9 ounces.

Special thanks go out to the Bucksaw Marina for hosting the event, as well as, the Missouri TBF for providing assistance.

The 2016 Missouri State Championship was a two-person (team) event for students in grades 7-12. The top 10 percent from each TBF/FLW state championship field and the top three teams from each of the seven TBF/FLW Opens will advance to a Conference Championship event.  The top 10 percent of each conference championship field will then advance to the High School Fishing National Championship, in the spring of 2017. The High School Fishing national champions will each receive a $5,000 scholarship to the school of their choice.

In addition to the state, conference and national championship events, all High School Fishing anglers nationwide qualify for the world’s largest high school fishing, standalone, championship event, the 2016 High School Fishing World Finals. The 2016 World Finals is this week on Pickwick Reservoir in Florence, Ala., with over $60,000 in scholarships and prizes up for grabs.  Click here for more details.