Tragic Accident Claims the Life of a SAF Angler

It is with the deepest sorrow and sympathy that I write this article to inform all in our High School Fishing community of a terrible accident that has claimed the life of one and critically injured another of our former anglers.

Tara Miller and Austen Cathcart from the River Valley Bass Club in Arkansas were in a horrible motorcycle accident on Tuesday night. Tara did not survive. Austen was airlifted to a hospital in Little Rock where he was in critical condition.

The severity of this tragedy is unmatched by anything that can be said at this point and I’m at a loss for words to describe the sorrow I felt when I heard the news. From a personal standpoint I knew both of these anglers well and always enjoyed going to events where I knew they would be participating. They both always came with a smile and great sense of competitive spirit.

Austen teamed with Sawyer Grace to make the final of the High School Fishing World Finals twice and half of the World Champion Team winning the event in 2012. He and Sawyer also competed in the Boat US Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship as the winner of the HSFWF and represented our organization well. In the early days, Austen and I had several counseling sessions over his grades and priorities in school but his love of fishing and the outdoors prevailed and motivated him to improve so he could participate and by the time he had graduated we were no longer having those discussions. It is one of the things I like most about High School Fishing. It gives some students a reason and purpose to go to school and Austin Cathcart as a High School Fishing World Champion is a terrific example of that.
Over the years I had kiddingly named Miss Miller “Big Fish Tara” as she seem to always come to the scales with one monster bass after another that she had managed to catch. Her team didn’t always win but she always seemed to have that one big one in the sack! Her smile was infectious and I was thrilled to see her show up last year at our High School Fishing World Finals Pizza Party simply to route the team on even though she had already graduated high school and was a student at Arkansas Tech University. Tara always enjoyed the outdoors and we will miss her sorely. However, the one thing you can count on is this, if there are big fish in heaven Miss Tara is going to catch one. Her loss is a devasting blow to her friends, family, fishing club and all of us in the Student Angler Federation and the TBF National Office.
Please join me in praying for Tara’s family and Austen’s recovery.
Mark Gintert
TBF National Youth Director

Veteran and Newcomer Team up to win Georgia State Championship!
In previous years Tyler Mathews would have been watching from the dock as High School anglers from across the state of Georgia would have been taking part in the 2015 Georgia High School State Championship. But with the expanded SAF rules that now allow 7th and 8th graders to participate with a High School aged partner. Mathews got his big break when he was paired with senior Blake Stephenson and the two worked together perfectly to win the State title with an impressive 5 fish limit that weighed 17lbs 5oz. Young Mr. Mathews also helped the cause tremendously with a 6lb 2oz kicker fish that help the team from Evans High School/Middle School edge out second place finishers Tristan Thomas and Dakota Crumley of East Hall High School who finished right behind them with an equally impressive 5 fish limit that weighed 17lb 3oz.

These two teams will lead a six team contingent that advanced from the 68 boat field to the SE Conference Regional Championship in September at Lake Lanier which is also in the state of Georgia.

Finishing third was the team of Jared Baker and Jake Staley from Whitewater High School who had a limit of fish that weighed 16lbs 13oz. Fourth place went to the team of Mathew Jones and Eli Huggins of West Forsyth High School who had a five fish limit that tipped in at 15lbs 11oz. The pair also captured the Lew’s Big Bass award with a 7lb 4oz beauty to claim a nice pair of Lew’s reels for their efforts. Finishing in fifth place was Nathan Ragsdale and Joshua Bennett who brought in 13lbs 13oz to seal their trip. Rounding out the Conference Championship qualifiers which advance the top 10% of the field to the fall event was the team of Jake Hubbard and Mason Quarles of North Forsyth High School who had 13lbs 1 oz. Just missing the cut but also having a good outing was the team of Andrew Johnson and Griffin Caraciddo also from North Forsyth High School who had a very respectable outing with 12lbs 11oz to finish seventh in the event.

“We caught our fish on a green pumpkin Shakey Head” stated Stephenson the elder statesman from the winning team. “Now I know it might seem hard to believe but we caught almost all of our fish when it was raining” added Stephenson. “Combine that with finding a little muddy water and that seemed to be the secret for us today.” When asked how he caught his 6lb kicker fish the smiling Mathews stated that he flipped the Shakey Head back into a little pocket and the fish just barely bumped the bait when he set the hook and the event winning moment was on! The pair was quick to thank their boat captain and parents as well as Buckeye Lures for helping them to victory during the event that saw a steady rain cover the area for almost the entire day.

Special thanks goes out to the Georgia Bass Federation, Cabela’s, the staff at the beautiful Wildwood Park and the Augusta Sports Council for hosting a terrific event for the up and coming stars.

For full standings CLICK HERE

Marble Falls, Texas and LBJ Reservoir welcomed 70 eager Texas High School teams to their area on Saturday, March 21st to compete in the Texas High School Championship. Mother Nature even had a hand in the event as it rained steadily on Friday and Saturday. But even the rain couldn’t dampen the spirit and enthusiasm of these 140 High School anglers. River City Grille owner Paul Brady greeted the anglers with a complimentary spread of food fit for kings at the registration on Friday night. After a great meal and a brief rules meeting, the anglers were ready to get on the water Saturday morning.
Saturday morning led to a vast display of colorful and inventive raingear by the anglers and their boat captains. Expectations were high as it took over 32 pounds to wins this event in 2014 when the anglers came to LBJ Reservoir. Bill Rives, the Director of Marble Falls Chamber of Commerce and CVB said his group of volunteers were truly excited to see the anglers return to Marble Falls. The committee of volunteers along with the host school, of Marble Falls High School, had numerous adults that spent their weekend making sure that all the anglers had a good time. Mr Rives, a former educator himself said, “It is good to see programs like this for the kids. Not only are they our future outdoorsmen, but they are the next generation of community leaders as well”.

As weigh in began, it didn’t take long to see that it was going to take a big sack of fish to win again this year. The first team brought in seventeen pounds and shortly after that, there was an 18 pound sack. Then came the first 20 pound sack, then another and another and the weights just kept climbing. Wes Thornton and Jakob Thornton wowed the crowd with just a single fish at weigh in…but it was the biggest bass of the event, weighing in at 10.00 pounds even. Wes said that was the biggest fish of his life so far. Wes and Jakob received two Lews reels for the Lews Big Bass Award.
Taking top honors for the day was Chase Hux and Matt Nicholas, from The Wildcat Fishing Team. Their limit of bass tipped the scales at 26.15 pounds. Chase and Matt each received a $2500 scholarship to help further their education. Just ounces behind them, was the second place team of Justin Tatum and Hunter Garrett, from Cen-Tex High School Basshunters. Their impressive sack of fish weighed 26.07 pounds and earned each angler a $1250 scholarship toward their college education. Third place was secured with a bag of fish weighing 22.14 pounds. It belonged to another team from Cen-Tex High School Basshunters, Tyler Easley and Tara Reid. They received gift cards, rods and clothing from various sponsors for their efforts. Team Logan finished in fourth with 21.05 pounds. Logan Stone and Logan Drake were also representing Cen-Tex High School Basshunters, as Cen-Tex took second, third and fourth place finishes. Rounding out the top five was Tyler Anderson and Clark Mannas, from Lake Travis Bass Club. Their limit weighed 21.04 pounds.

With this being a State Championship event, the top 10% of the field would qualify to advance to the Conference Regional event, later this fall. With 70 teams fishing, the top seven teams were awarded a spot in that event. The sixth place team would be Bo McGraw and Josh Perrin from Texas SAF. They earned that spot with a limit that weighed 20.11 pounds. The seventh and final qualifying spot went to Joe Beebee and River Lee, from The Woodlands College Park Cavaliers, with five bass that weighed 18.11 pounds.
There was a variety of patterns used to catch the fish at this event. Most of the bass were caught sight fishing, using a variety of soft plastic lures and jigs, as the water temperatures had already climbed into the low sixties. Anglers also reported catching large numbers of fish on orange colored rattletraps around submerged grass. Flipping a Texas-rigged worm and throwing a spinnerbait along docks was also a popular choice. A shaky head and trick worm also enticed numerous bedding fish to bite throughout the day. Sixty two of the seventy teams weighed in fish and there was 41 limits caught by these young anglers. All in all, it was a pretty good day of fishing on LBJ reservoir. Congratulations to all the winners and Regional event qualifiers.

For full standings click here.

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