Today the weather was hot and the fishing was even hotter at the 2012 High School Fishing World Finals. 120 teams of competitors launched at Dardenelle State Park this morning and was heading across the water at 6am. Most of the teams we spoke with today got off to a slow start, but this awesome group of student anglers started finding their fishing patterns quickly.

Little Rock Christian Academy Sophomores Cameron Nesterenko and Trey Purifoy lead after the first day with 16lbs 8 oz. “We started off catching fish on topwater and lost a couple of key fish that really could have helped us out,” said Nesterenko. Team member Purifoy added, “When the bite got tough, we went and fished deeper water with various soft plastics to help finish off our limit.” The team seems to think they can do the same thing tomorrow and have another solid day that will hopefully solidify their spot in the top seven. Continue reading

Tension is building now that our pre-tournament meeting is over and the largest crowd ever assembled of high school fishing SAF members gets ready to compete in the 2012 High School Fishing World Finals.  The record setting crowd consisted of 120 teams from 21 different states all across the country. Counting anglers families and boat captain’s Fat Daddy’s Barbecue served over 700 people attending the registration banquet. The “dock talk” from some of the teams says that the competition will be very close with the weather being extremely hot. One team also mentioned the fact that water levels have dropped close to a foot, water levels will play a significant factor into the competition this week. Continue reading