The Ellison High School Fishing Team competed in their first fishing tournament on Saturday, the 8^th November. It was a little chilly at launch time and windy in the afternoon, but all in all, a great learning experience and a lot of fun for the teams that participated. Fishing the newly formed Central Texas High School Tournament Trail, the teams fish Lake Belton. They launched at 6:30AM and Lake Belton being true to its reputation proved to be a challenge for these anglers. The tournament ended at 2:00PM and each team presented their days catch, it was the Team of Christian Almandoz and Nathan Price from Ellison High School taking first place. The Team of Ahmad Holt and Terrell McDade also from Ellison took second place. Rounding out the top 3, the Team of Shawn Carver and Harlen Carver from Killeen High School took third.  The Teams next tournament will be on the 13^th of December and will have the Teams once again putting their skills to the test on Lake Belton. Congratulations to all teams that participated in Saturdays Event.

Central Texas High School Tournament Schedule

When the Southeast Texas High School Fishing Association hosted its first tournament on Dec. 7 of 2013, no one could have seen this coming. “I arrived at the ramp that morning at about 3:45 am and there were already 70 boats in the parking lot” said SETX President and Lumberton HS advisor Bryan Thomas. “We had to grow up real fast that day and we learned an awful lot throughout the 2013 season” he continued. While no one could have prophesized 262 HS fishing teams on that cold windy day at Sam Rayburn, it is not hard to predict where the sport is headed in the future. Thomas went on to say “We are absolutely thrilled with what we accomplished in our first year, but we know we can do even better for our kids in the upcoming season”.

“The most interesting thing we learned last year is that while we quickly became the largest HS fishing trail in the country, we know that HS fishing in our area is still in its infancy and that we must keep preparing for what the future will bring in this sport” said SETX VP Tom Selman, who is also the advisor at Port Neches High School. “One of our goals is to give every kid in SE Texas the opportunity to fish competitively for their respective high school” Selman continued. Last year, 28 SETX schools took part in that December tournament on Rayburn. This year, the group expects to see at least 40 SE Texas high schools take part in the 2014-2015 season opener at Rayburn on Dec. 6^th. Selman goes on to say “The tournaments are the fun part, but keeping up with the growth requires all of us to work months ahead in order to provide the best opportunities for the kids of SE Texas”.

“Our primary focus as an organization last year was to provide our kids with an end of year championship that the world of HS fishing had never seen before, and we did that” said SETX Treasurer Ted O’Dell, who is also the team advisor at Buna High School. The season ending championship paid out $60,000.00 in scholarships to the young anglers of SE Texas. “Some of those kids are in college now and are using that money to help them further their education and better their lives, that is what this is all about” continued O’Dell. The inaugural season was obviously a huge success for SETX, but do not expect the same in the upcoming season, expect more! “We know we must work even harder to provide more opportunities for our young anglers this season and we aim to do that” said O’Dell.

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Faith Angler Network High School Fishing Series kicks off the first qualifying tournament for the 2014/15^th season November 8, 2014 on Lake Travis
Brad Marshall Home and Designer Pool and Outdoor Living Present “The Take Down on Travis at West Beach Marina,
This will be the first of four qualifying events in the FAN High School Series where qualifying student anglers will compete to qualify for the 2015 FAN High School Championship with over $5000 in scholarships and prizes. In addition the top 12 anglers will qualify for the Skeeter Boats Super Six Tournament on Lake Fork next summer.
To qualify for the 2015 FAN High School Championship student anglers must have competed in at least two qualifying tournaments. There are two methods to qualify once you have met the minimum number of events.

• #1 Top 10%-Student Anglers that finishing in the top 10% of any qualifying tournament
• #2- Top 50% of your designated High School fishing program that meets the minimum number of events will earn a berth to the championship.

Captains will also be recognized with the Academy Captains Awards including (2) $100 Academy gift cards, and the SuperNova Navigation drawing.

Who is eligible.
Registration is open to all 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grade students. The entry fee for each tournament is $40 a boat with no more than two team members and each team member must be a TBF Student Angler Federation (SAF) member, in addition to the one time FAN High School Fishing Series Membership of $10.00 per individual. Contestants must also have the signature of a parent or legal guardian in the provided space on the liability form.

How to Register
Registration deadline will be the Thursday, two days prior to the tournament, at which time the
FAN High School Fishing Series Rules and Regulations entry fee will be $40 per team. After that time, a $10 late registration fee will be assessed until the start of the tournament and at that time no more registrations will be accepted. Late registrations will not affect the number of places awarded for the tournament.

• Registration can be made online at http://www.faithanglernetwork.com
• All members will receive a membership bag with a FAN HS T-Shirt, Decal, and a FAN-Academy hand towel.

Where
Hosting the weigh in location is West Beach Marina located at 17317 West Beach Road Austin, Texas 78734 (512) 266-2277      http://www.westbeachmarina.com/

Check in will start at 4:30am, there will be a boat safety check and we will release boats in numerical order at safe light approximately 6:30

FOR RULES AND REGULATIONS CLICK HERE