2016 Florida High School State Championship March 6 on Lake Toho

cropped-HSF-header.pngPONCA CITY, Okla. (January 27, 2016) – The Bass Federation (TBF), with our “Partner in Fishing” at FLW, announces the 2016 Student Angler Federation (SAF) Florida High School State Championship on Sunday, March 6th at the Big Toho Marina/ City Park near Kissimmee, FL.

The state championship is a two person event for students in grades 9-12. Each team can have one member in 7th or 8th grade, if needed. All teams should pre-register online for high school events at HighSchoolFishing.org to avoid onsite late fees. Each team and their “coach,” who provides the boat they compete in, will need to check in at 5:30pm-7pm Est on March 5th at the Big Toho Marina. A rules briefing will immediately follow. Take off is at 7am and the weigh-in will begin at 3pm.

“TBF and our partners in fishing at FLW are the only organizations to offer a state championship in every state and Canada,” TBF National Youth Director, Mark Gintert, stated. “There’s no question our State Championship Series provides the foundation to make SAF the largest high school fishing organization in North America.”

The top 10% of each 2016 State Championship event advances to a FLW/TBF Conference Regional Championship. The top 10% from the Conference Regional events advance to the FLW/TBF High School National Championship to compete for the top team prize of a $10,000 scholarship. As an added bonus, national championship teams will compete out of new Ranger Boats provided for them, along with paid hotel accommodations and other perks. The final day weigh-in will take place on the FLW main stage in front of a live FLW Tour stop!

Go to HighSchoolFishing.org for details on the Student Angler Federation and to sign up for events. If you’re not a 2016 SAF member, annual cost is $25 year. Pay in advance or register for an event online and pay then. There are no entry fees as long as you enter your active/paid SAF membership number at the time of registration!

SAF membership includes full TBF and FLW competitor membership benefits, FLW Magazine e- Edition, online training programs and full insurance coverage for clubs, officers and student members.

In addition to State Championships, SAF National OPENs and other events held across the nation will advance the top 3 teams to their Conference Regional Championships. All SAF members automatically qualify to compete in the pinnacle of all high school events, the 2016 High School Fishing World Finals for thousands of dollars in scholarships and prizes each year. The World Finals format allows anglers to test their skills against high school anglers from across the nation at a week-long family vacation event, which will be held in Florence, Alabama on Pickwick Reservoir, June 28-July 2. This no entry fee, come one, come all mega event gives every high school team a shot at the sports top prizes and honors.

Florida State Championship Event Details:
Sign-up: Pre-register online at HighSchoolFishing.org or a $25 late registration fee can apply to those registering onsite. The best way is to pre-register online at highschoolfishing.org. Just enter your active SAF membership number during online SAF event registration.
Mandatory Check-in: Saturday, March 5th at 5:30pm-7pm at the Big Toho Marina near Kissimmee, FL.
Takeoff & Weigh-in: Sunday, March 6th at Big Toho Marina/ City Park. Take-off at 7am with weigh-in at 3pm. Questions? 580-765-9031

Tournament Waters: Lake Toho

About FLW: FLW is the industry’s premier tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money nationwide in 2015 over the course of 240 tournaments across five tournament circuits, four of which provide an avenue to the sport’s richest payday and most coveted championship trophy – the Forrest Wood Cup. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world. For more information about FLW visit FLWFishing.com and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

About The Bass Federation: The Bass Federation Inc., (TBF) is a member of the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame. TBF is owned by those we serve and dedicated to the sport of fishing. The Federation is the largest and oldest, organized grassroots fishing, youth and conservation organization there is. TBF, our affiliated state federations and their member clubs conduct more than 20,000 events each year and have provided a foundation for the entire bass fishing industry for more than 45 years. TBF founded the Student Angler Federation and the National High School Fishing program in 2007 to promote clean family fun and education through fishing. Visit bassfederation.com or highschoolfishing.org and “LIKE US” on facebook!

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Pittsburg Marine OPEN HOUSE with Hank Parker!

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Travelers Rest High School Wins 2016 Florida Open with 12lb Lunker

Florida Open winning catch

Jacob Smith and Daniel Clark left their home in Travelers Rest South Carolina on Friday morning around 2:00am and arrived in Okeechobee Florida on Friday afternoon. After watching the Costa Series FLW Pro’s weigh-in, the pair could have never dreamed that they would catch a single five fish limit that weighed 26lb 8oz to win the opening SAF event of the year and nail down the first Regional Conference Qualifying spot for 2016.

Florida Open ChampionsWhat is even more impressive is that the big sack was anchored by a 12lb 1oz horse to claim the Lew’s Big Bass Award and another 10+lb beauty to round off the impressive limit. That catch qualified the anglers for Florida’s Trophy catch program and was the biggest bag of the weekend, including the three day Costa Series professional event!

With Gail force winds and heavy rains creating a one hour delay to the start of the event and forcing the anglers to be restricted to the Kissimmee River instead of legendary Lake Okeechobee the giant bag is even more impressive.
“With all the rain this morning we just went looking for clean water and found a drainage ditch that dumped into a canal off the main river” stated Jacob Smith who is a junior at Travelers Rest High School. “We caught all of our fish on a Livingston Crankbait in Guntersville Craw color” added Clark who is also a junior at the South Carolina School. “This spot had a nice mix of rock and a few weed mats that all came together and it appeared that these bass had the bait fish pushed up into that short ditch” cited Smith. We stayed in that one spot the entire day”!

Cole Thompson and Nick Cora from Harmony High School also had a five fish limit that weighed 10lb 8oz to claim the runner-up spot and nail down a Regional qualifying spot.

The Southeast Conference Regional Championship, will take place in mid-September on Lake Cumberland in Kentucky.

Florida Open Runnerups

Claiming the third and final berth in the fall event was the team of James Brooks and Carter Garrett from the First Coast Anglers fishing team who had four Kissimmee River bass that weighed 9lbs 6oz.
Rounding out the top five were Daniel Cheshire and Christopher Richey from Creekwood High School in Tennessee who brought in a limit that tipped the scales at 8lbs 9oz and Tyler Bazemore and Hunter Gadd from Bartow, Florida who also had a limit that weighed 8lb 6oz to take the number five spot.

High School Fishing LogoThe TBF/FLW National Open series is open to all SAF anglers across the country as it continues with the Carolina Early Bird Open on Lake Hartwell February 21st.
All interested anglers can register at highschoolfishing.org.
Special thanks go out to the Okeechobee Tourist Development Council for sponsoring the event and the FLW Costa Series staff for providing the manpower and equipment for the event.

Full full results of the Florida Open check out the results page CLICK HERE

For more info on the next open event, the Carolina Early Bird Open Feb 21st or the Cabela’s Southern OPEN Adult team tournament the day before on Feb 20th CLICK HERE