Gabbard Brothers Lead Madison Central to Kentucky State Championship

Gabbard Brothers Lead Madison Central to State Championship

2015 KY Champions
Logan and Ethan Gabbard understand how the SAF High School Fishing program works and for the second year in a row they were the first team to register for the Kentucky SAF State Championship thus giving them boat position number one and first crack at their favorite fishing spots for the day. Since boat take off position is determined by registration date the two brothers and their boat captain (dad) led the 86 boat field out of Conley Bottom Marina on beautiful Lake Cumberland and they never looked back as they brought in a five fish limit that weighed in at 18lbs 3oz to win the Kentucky SAF State Championship and a trip to the Southeast Conference Regional at Lake Lanier in Georgia later this fall.
“We caught most of our fish on a combination of shaky heads and crank baits today” stated Logan, a senior who is the elder statesman of the brother duo. “We made a 30 minute run toward the dam first thing this morning trying to find a little cleaner water” added Logan. Ethan, who is a freshman, caught their largest fish in the bag, a 6lb 3oz largemouth which also happened to be the Lew’s Big Bass winner of the day on a shaky head.

KY Lew's Big Bass WinnerThe duo then took advantage of a size limit exemption that was granted to the event by Kentucky Fish and Wildlife which allowed the high school anglers to weigh-in both smallmouth and largemouth bass at the 15” size limit. The pair added a nice mix of both species to complete their winning bag. “We really want to thank Kentucky fish and Wildlife for doing that for us” stated Ethan. “We might not have won had that exemption not been in place”.

Finishing second was Logan Martin and Kyler Petrey from South Laurel High School who also put together a nice limit of fish that weighed in at 14lb 6oz to claim the runner-up spot and an invitation to the fall regional event in Georgia. Marcus Davis and Dalton Wooten from Corbin High School took the third spot with four nice Lake Cumberland Bass that weighed in at 12lb 13oz. The fourth place slot was also secured Corbin High School teammates Tanner Jordan and Christian Warren who had a limit of five that weighed in at 11lb 4oz to narrowly edge out the Madison Central duo of Ronald Neal and Ashton Glasscock who had 11lb 3oz to claim the fifth position. Sixth place went to Logan Lakes and Tristan Turner of Madison Southern High School who had four fish that weighed in at 11lbs, while the number seven spot went to another Corbin team of Tristan Jordan and Don Taylor who were right behind them with a 4 fish bag that weighed 10lb 10oz.
The eighth and final qualifying turned out to be an interesting situation in itself as the team of Will Blakenship and Brandon Huntzinger from Madison Central and Jeremy and Jordon Elliot from Corbin High School tied with 10lbs even. Both of those teams will advance to the regional completion with that fine effort.

Ky Regional Qualifers
The TBF/FLW State Championship Series advances the top 10% of each state championship field to the Regional Conference Championships. The top 10% of those regional fields will advance to the 2016 High School National Championship.
A special thanks goes out to Conley Bottom Marina and the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife for their efforts to work with High School anglers and help in the effort to grow high school fishing across the state.

 

for full results check out the results page CLICK HERE

New Educational Fundraiser and Fun Times for High School Anglers!

Mud-H-blue-225x225The Student Angler Federation and Mudhole Custom Tackle has joined together to develop a NEW fun, educational and profitable fundraiser to offer all SAF, High School and Junior Clubs.
The opportunity to build and sell your very own HIGH quality custom rods as a club project and make BIG $$ for your club!

Properly completed rods from these kits should easily sell for $100-120 each.  (or keep the rods and fish with them yourselves!)

Just make a minimum order of 6 pieces and get started with FREE shipping! Send your order forms along with a check to TBF for processing and we will get your kits out to your door step!
HAVE FUN!

Everything you need is available on the new order form listed under JOIN US and member forms and downloads link on the website site at www.highschoolfishing.org
or ( CLICK HERE)  to download your order form and get started taking orders.

 

Park Hill South team wins first Teen Anglers tournament

Osage Beach, Mo. – Park Hill South High School anglers Bryce Soske (left) and Kaleb Lenhert won the inaugural event of the Teen Anglers Tournament Series by catching a 16.58-pound limit Saturday, March 28 at Lake of the Ozarks.

MO Teen AnglersMaking a 20-mile run on Lake of the Ozarks in snow and frigid temperatures paid off in a victory for Park Hill South High School anglers Bryce Soske and Kaleb Lenhert Saturday, March 28 at the Teen Anglers Tournament Series season opener.

Soske and Lenhert sacked up a five-fish limit weighing 16.58 pounds to top a field of  162 student anglers from across the state.  The duo’s winning pattern consisted of jerking suspending stickbaits along wind-blown secondary points from the 36- to 39-mile mark of the Osage arm.  Soske threw a Luck “E” Strike RC Stick in a black shadow hue and Lenhert jerked a black-and-silver Rapala suspending stickbait.

Park Hill South Co-Coach Gary Soske served as the boat captain for the winning anglers.  “I thought they did a fine job,” Gary Soske said. “They stayed focused and fished the entire time. Obviously the weather was brutal but they are experienced so they were prepared for it with the proper clothes.  The hands got cold a few times but that was about it.”

Lenhert said he likes fishing this time of year despite the cold weather. “It was the first tournament I had ever fished in the snow,” he said.  Catching fish all day helped the teen anglers forget about the cold.

Both anglers fish Lake of the Ozarks frequently since their families own lake houses there. They had fished the lake during their spring break and the weekend before the tournament. “It wasn’t our first day on the lake in that area,” said Coach Soske.  “We felt pretty confident going in. We knew where the fish were biting.”

The other top five teams winning trophies at Lake of the Ozarks were: Ross Thompson and Collin Kemp of Nixa High School in second place with a 16.34-pound limit; Ashley Ruggles and Garrett Moeller, Hillcrest High, third, three fish, 13.33; Cody Tumlin and Cameron Smith, Ozark High, fourth, 12.96 limit; and Corbin Mertgen and Heath Renno, Lincoln High, fifth, four fish, 12.65.

Winning big bass gift certificates from Sportsmans Warehouse were Dakota Pierce and Derrick Bushong of Ava High with the first big bass weighing 6.98 pounds; Mertgen and Renno, second big bass, 6.30; and Ruggles and Moeller, third big bass, 5.93.

The tournament was the inaugural event of the Teen Anglers Tournament Series and Tournament Director Randy Conlon said he was “ecstatic” about the turnout. “I thought it went excellent,” he said. “We had 22 school districts show up.  We were up close to 50 boats (before the tournament) and we took a lot more entries at the ramp.  We had put out a deadline, but we had some calls after that and we ended up taking 30-something teams at the boat ramp.”

The tournament director did have to solve a unique dilemma for one of the contestants before the takeoff.  Conlon said he “got tickled” by one girl who asked if he could stop the tournament at noon so she could leave and make it home in time for her prom.  He solved the problem by telling her she could either weigh in her fish early or leave early and let her partner continue to fish the rest of the day  “In 20 years (of holding tournaments) that is one question I have never been asked,” Conlon said.

For the full results of the tournament and more information on the Teen Anglers Tournament Series, visit www.teenanglers.net.