High School Anglers Fish for Their Future
Scholarships and conference tournament berths up for grabs at Kentucky Lake event
By Dominick Schenewerk

MURRAY, Ky. — High school anglers from across the Midwest braved chilly temperatures at Kentucky Lake Saturday in hopes of finding hot spots that would help advance them to the Southeastern Conference Championship on Lake Lanier this fall as well as help fund their college education.
The 150 high school anglers and their coaches awoke to an unusually cold spring morning to compete in the 2015 Murray State High School Fishing Open. Frost-covered decks, gear and tackle, frozen live wells and outboards reluctant to start were among the first challenges those aboard the 75 boats had to deal with at Kentucky Dam Marina.
The event honored the memory of Murray State University’s Dr. Jim Carter, one of the earliest proponents of High School Fishing as a state-sanctioned high school sport. Teams competed for a grand prize of $4,000 in scholarships to Murray State. The scholarships were provided by Independence Bank of Murray and FLW in partnership with the Murray State Bass Anglers.
Winning Team, Pattern and Lures
It’s said that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb, but the month didn’t follow the script in its exit this year. High skies and a bitterly cold southeast wind challenged anglers to give it their best throughout the day. In the end three teams advanced to the conference championship, with two fortunate anglers going home with $2,000 each in scholarships.
Nathan Flener and Brandon Payne of Muhlenberg County High School were the top team with an 18-pound, 6-ounce limit. Flener and Payne are both juniors at MCHS, and were among six squads that represented the high school. Muhlenburg County High School Bass Fishing is in its third year as a sanctioned varsity sports team, and is the defending Kentucky High School Athletic Association Bass Fishing State Champion. Flener and Payne will fish the Southeastern Conference Championship on Lake Lanier Sept. 26 along with Alex Tomblinson and Hunter Purdy Madisonville of North Hopkins, who finished second Saturday with 17-14 (5 fish), and Billy Hardison and Alex Taylor of Muhlenberg County, who took third with 16-13 (5 fish).
Having a few years of experience fishing the north side of Kentucky Lake, Flener made clear what his plan for the tournament was the night before at the pre-tournament meeting. It took into account the cold snap, and included an umbrella rig and covering as much water as possible. The pair figured that bass would be cruising the banks in anticipation of the spawn, and that a presentation paralleling the shoreline would be their best bet. The only question was how close to the bank they would need to fish, and how deep brilliant sunshine would position the fish.
The two had a promising start with Payne boating a keeper on his second cast with the umbrella rig. Payne ran gold blades on his rig and Flener silver, with both using Reaction Innovation’s Skinny Dippers. The two soon caught two more keepers before a seeming disaster stuck.
Not a Bad Break After All
Their boat developed minor engine problems that their coach and boat driver was unable to remedy. Left without the means to hit various spots on Flener’s itinerary, the two had no choice but to idle to the nearest bay and grind it out. Flener and Payne spent the rest of the day fishing for bigger bass in the small cove not too far from the launch. As it turned out, the motor trouble wasn’t fatal to their plans. Not only did they finish up their limit, but they were able to cull in the early afternoon, then idle a full 30 minutes to reach the weigh-in.
“The boat trouble helped us because we then had to slow down and actually fish what we could that was close,” Flener says. “We couldn’t just run all over the place, and it made us slow down and focus on what we were doing.”
The bass they caught almost exclusively hit the gold-bladed rigs in the morning and the silver blades in the afternoon. Even so, the anglers were surprised that fish bit as early as they did – three keepers on the first spot.
“After we developed problems with the outboard, I just kept telling Brandon, ‘We can do it. We can do it,” Flener recalled. As it turned out, he was right.

(Sidebar)
Remembering Jim Carter
Until he died of cancer on Feb. 13, Dr. Jim Carter was a long-time administrator at Murray State University, most recently serving as Vice President for Institutional Advancement. Carter was an iconic figure at Murray State and his roots at the university extend back to his years as an undergraduate there. Carter was a vigorous supporter of collegiate and high school fishing. He played an enormous role in the early stages of sanctioning high school fishing through the KHSAA. He also was instrumental in the formation of the Murray State Bass Anglers. Throughout his years of dedicated service to the surrounding community and undergraduate fishing, he deeply impacted the lives of countless students.
“Jim was one of our biggest supporters from the very beginning,” says Dave Washburn, FLW Vice President of Operations. “He immediately saw how college fishing and high school fishing could benefit schools, athletic associations, sponsors, host communities and, most importantly, students. We could not think of a better way to honor his contributions than to award a scholarship in his honor to the winners of the Murray State High School Fishing Open.”

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Lutheran School Lions Bass Club wins Illinois SAF High School State Championship

James Brown and Chandler Carter were one fish shy of a five bass limit. They made up for the lack of quantity with pure quality as they brought in four Clinton Lake beauties that tipped the scales at 17lb 9oz to easily win the Illinois SAF High School State Championship. As you can imagine with only four fish, one of theirs had to be a monster, and the pair did not disappoint as they also won the Big Bass Award with 7lb 8oz toad that overcame their one missed fish to carry them to the Central Conference Regional Championship at Lake Carlyle on September 12th. At that event they will join other qualifiers from across the Midwest with a chance to advance on to the TBF/FLW High School National Championship next spring.
Finishing second was the team of Dailus Richardson and Trevor Mckinney who represent Benton High School. They also had a four fish sack that weighed in at 13lb 15oz to claim the runner-up spot and one of the three regional qualifying berths for the fall classic.
Coming in third was the team of Zachary Hingson and Jonathan Bialeschi who had three nice fish that weighed in at 9lb 15oz to also claim a qualifying spot.
Securing the fourth and final qualifying spot in the regional was the team of Jake Hoselton and Levi Umland from El Paso Gridley High School. They had a full limit of five Clinton lake bass that weighed in at 9lb 11oz.
Forty teams competed in the event that had most of the anglers fishing Saturday in the Argenta-Oreana Open event on at Clinton Lake and then day two in the SAF State Championship. The top 10% of the field advance on to the Regional Competitions from the TBF/FLW State Championship series.
Special thanks go out to the Argenta-Oreana High School Fishing Team and their advisor Jason Parsons as well as the FLW and Mr. Alan Gray who provided the weigh-in trailer, equipment and manpower for the event.

For FULL standings check out the results on the State Championships page or CLICK HERE

Keller & Nocilla win Louisiana High School State Championship

Hunter Keller and Nick Nocilla from Barbe High School put together a very consistent 5 bass limit of 11 pounds and 7 ounces to win the 2015 Louisiana State Championship on Sunday at Sibley Lake in Natchitoches, La. “We are just thrilled to have won this event.” stated Nocilla.

“We came down here for the first time on Friday evening and got a little time on the water on Saturday but other than that we had never been on this lake before” stated Keller who is a senior at Barbe high School. “We caught most of our fish ripping squared billed crank baits through the grass and mixed in a few on a senko.” added Nocilla who is a junior.

Watermelon red seemed to be the color of the day for the duo who led a field of 58 anglers who registered for the event that was originally scheduled for the Red River but had to be moved due to high water conditions. When asked what the key to their success was both anglers quickly answered that their boat captain helped keep them positive when they missed a couple of fish early in the day.

Coming in a close second with 11lbs 2oz was the team of Wesley Holt and Colby Miller from Oak Hill High School. They squeaked in just ahead of third place finishers Nicholas Wiggins and Lane Possoit who had 11lb 1oz from the host school Natchitoches Central High School who also hosted the weigh-in after the change of venues.

Rounding out the five teams who qualified for the Southern Conference Regional event which will be held in Pine Bluff Arkansas in October was the fourth place team of Dylan Poche and Regan Maxey who brought five keepers in that weighed 10lb 15oz. That sack was also anchored by the Lew’s Big Bass winner for the tournament, a 4lb 9oz beauty that won the anglers two terrific Lew’s reels for their efforts. The final qualifiers who grabbed a regional berth was the team of Cade Gordon and Haden Craig from Benton High School who had a just 3 chunky fish that weighed in at 10lb 2oz to claim the fifth and final spot at the Conference Championship.

The Northwestern State University Coliseum hosted the teams Saturday to a terrific “Pastalayla” dinner that was provided by the city of Natchitoches. Special thanks go out to Mayor Lee Posey and Steve Graf who helped bring the event to Natchitoches and orchestrated the venue change when the Red River became too dangerous to navigate due to the high water conditions. Natchitoches Central High School rolled out the welcome mat for all the anglers as they hosted the weigh-in at the school parking lot just a few minutes from Sibley Lake.

 
The Louisiana TBF Youth Director Charles Hogg and his family provided manpower for the event which saw a significant increase over last year’s event.
All of these event participants are invited to compete in the TBF/FLW Texas Open on Sam Rayburn and Toledo Bend in June as well as the High School Fishing World Finals in July in Florence Alabama. All of those event details as well as full standings for this event can be found at highschoolfishing.org under the “Tournaments” tab.