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.

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