Twin brothers Kyle and Caleb Greenlee from Galia Academy in Southern Ohio brought a nice five bass limit to the scales that weighed 11lb 14oz to win the Ohio High School State Bass Fishing Championship presented by Cabela’s on Alum Creek Reservoir in Columbus Ohio.

“We stayed pretty close to the launch ramp area most of the day” stated Kyle. “We caught most of our fish in the morning on watermelon colored Zingers and Poppers” added the smiling freshmen who led the 47 boat field of anglers on the day. “We really want to thank coach Todd May for helping us today” quipped Caleb. “He kept us focused and I think that was the key to winning for us”.

The brother duo will lead a four team contingent of anglers who advanced to the Central Conference Regional Competition which will be held at Lake Carlyle Illinois in September.

Finishing second by the narrowest of margins was the team Ethan Woodie and Zach Michael from Coshocton High School who also had a five fish sack that came in at 11lb 13oz to claim the runner-up spot.  Their bag was anchored by a 5lb 5oz toad that also captured the Lew’s Big Bass Award for the event.

Coming in third was the team of Cole Wessner and Dan Hechler from Cincinnati Colerain High School who also had a five fish sack that weighed 10lb 14oz. That was just enough to keep them ahead of the fourth and final qualifying spot that was captured by the Whitaker brothers, Cody and Kyle, from Field High School who also had five fish that weighed in at 10lb 3oz to secure a berth in the fall regional.

Special thanks go out to Nick Jameson and Cabela’s in the nearby Gemini Shopping complex who hosted the anglers with a terrific evening at registration on Friday. We would also like to thank the Ohio Bass Federation for their volunteers and support which helped the event go off without a hitch on a beautiful Ohio day.

Complete Results

Cully Scroggins of R.A. Long high school in Longview Washington is finishing his final year on a high note with winning the state championship after signing with Bethel University of Tennessee for a four year bass fishing scholarship.  Nathan Portch a junior at University high school of Spokane was the 2014 Washington Junior State Champion and will have another year to possibly become Washington’s first two time TBF state champion next year.

Pot Holes Reservior was the site this year of the largest number of teams since the inception of the state high school championship. Fourteen teams took to the water with the weather sunny and mild with the water temperatures pushing the fish up shallow to spawn in numbers.

Nathan and Cully along with Nathans dad Jason went deep into the dunes to work beds and site fish in an area they had come across while pre-fishing, a couple of hours in and they were culling to upgrade their weight  to 18.40 when they ran into second place finishers Carl Jackson & Brodie Trapp, 2014 State Champions who were also working bedding fish they too had found in practice in the same part of the lake.

Brodie, Carl and Carl’s dad Jeff ended up within sight of Nathan & Cully the last few hours of their day comparing catches from a distance to see what size fish each were keeping . They ended up second with 17.39.

Little did they know how close they were to being third place?  Brandon Beutler, Blair Peters and his dad Mike had a slow morning and struggled the first part of the day. They cycled a couple of areas  that replenished with fish that were moving up and finished the day with 17.37 just shy of second place and had the big fish of the tournament with a 4.85 large mouth.

Thanks to all our sponsors  Spokane Valley Marine, Lake City Western Vigilantes’, Strike King lures, C & M Trophies, Dobyns Rods, St. Croix,  Jon’s N.W. outdoors,  Cabela’s, Big hawg baits , The Prop Shop, Three rivers marine, interstate batteries, Vicious fishing,  Nixons marine ,KGM baits and the Washington National Guard. All teams weighed fish.

ORDER OF FINISH

Chen and Thomas worked all day to find a limit of bass on the Willamette River. The spring spawn was in full swing on the river. The team had located a bunch of bedded bass in shallow backwaters that was enough for the win. Using a mix of tubes and jigs they were able to catch a 5 fish limit weighing in at 10.71 pounds.

Second place was the team of Tabor Magnuson and Wyatt Garrison of the Yamhill Carlton High Tigers with a 5 fish limit weighing in at 9.54 pounds.

Third place was the team of Logan Degree and Isaac Steigman of the Ridgeview High School Bass Masters with a 5 fish limit weighing in at 8.50 pounds