Brandon Branch and Hunter McPherson were the last boat out in the 42 boat filed for Saturday’s Florida SAF High School State Championship but that didn’t stop the talented pair from bringing in a whopping 24lb 4oz sack to win the SAF Florida State Championship on legendary Lake Toho. The big bag was anchored by the Lew’s big bass winner a 7lb 4 oz toad and a very respectable 6lb 10oz running mate that propelled to the smiling pair to outdistance the runner-up team of Corbin Smith and Stephen Soileau from the Osceola Angler group who had a very respectable 19lb 110z bag that was also anchored by a 6lb 7oz kicker. Branch and McPherson also claimed the Booyah Big Bag award for the day which is awarded to the team with the largest one day catch in the SAF State Championship series.

Finishing third was the team of Jeremy Morgan and Trevor Waltz from Bartow High School who also had an impressive 19lb 4oz bag that carried with it a 7lb 2oz beauty. The final regional qualifying spot went to Pine Ridge High School’s Trevor Brown and Nick Sutton who had 15lb 14oz’s to edge out 5^th place finishers Tyler Woolcott and Parker Meadows from Spruce Creek High School who brought in 15lb 7oz to the Big Toho Marina weigh-in area.

“It’s a little hard to believe this but yesterday we pre-fished in the exact same spot where we caught the bulk of our fish today and we did not have a bite” cited McPherson. “Today we primarily used a Chatter Bait and for some reason they decided to bite” added Branch who also felt that the key to the team’s success was the fact that they didn’t give up on their primary spot. “We knew those fish were in that area so I’m sure glad we stuck with it and went back there first thing this morning” added the smiling pair.

The SAF State Championship series continues this week with the Anderson Open event on Lake Russell in South Carolina and the Louisiana High School State Championship in Natchitoches Louisiana.

Go to highschoolfishing.org and click on “State Championship” to see all the SAF events around the country.

RESULTS

March  15^th Pandora Marina Herrington Lake

7:30AM (or first safe light) till weigh in at 2:30 PM

Please join The Lafayette High School Bass Fishing Team in our First 2014 Event on Herrington Lake.  This event is open to all Highschool Students and will be a great preparation for the KHSAA Region 2 event that will take place at the same lake April 5^th.

The cost is 25 dollars a boat and will include Launch Fee, Food and Drinks for the participants as well as trophies and gifts for the winning teams and Big Bass

You do not have to be a member of a school bass team or club. We do require your boat to be insured and ideally be a member of the Student Angler Federation and The Bass Federation (SAF/TBF)

For more information please contact me by phone text or email,

Please let us know as soon as possible of your interest so that we can arrange for the appropriate supplies etc.

Jonathan Mobley Lafayette H/S Co- Coach

A030761@progressive.com      859-221-9585 or

Angie Cobb Booster Club President

Angie Cobb (acobb@lexmark.com)

Southwestern High School Wins Inaugural Florida High School Open

Colton Smith and Brenton Clemons had two big motivations to make the 14 hour drive from Somerset Kentucky to Clewiston Florida. The first was that it was snowing in Kentucky and almost too cold to fish. The second was that they just love to compete and are always looking for an opportunity to fish in a tournament somewhere!

Sunday at the TBF/FLW High School Florida Open on the Caloosatchee River just off of Lake Okeechobee in south central Florida the two veteran anglers put it all together with a 5 bass limit that weighed 12 lbs. 6oz. They outdistanced the team of Travis Conrad and Hunter Tinsley from Riverdale High School who also had a 5 fish limit that weighed in at 11lbs. 2oz to claim the runner-up position. Rounding out the top three was the team of Shane Hines and Hunter Gadd from Bartow High School who had a very respectable 9lbs. 15 oz. The Bartow team was operating on a limited amount of sleep as their four team contingent fished another event on Saturday and then left at 3:00am to make the trip to the Alvin Ward Park in Moore Haven for Sunday’s event. That effort alone shows the true dedication of these High School teams across the country!

The top three teams from this event were then taken to the FLW Tour event in Clewiston for recognition just before the FLW Tour professional tournament weigh-in and a huge crowd that had filled the area. All three of these teams also qualified for the TBF/FLW Southern Conference Regional event that will take place this fall.

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