The Student Angler Federation (SAF) kicked off the calendar season of High School Fishing with its Florida High School Fishing State Championship at Lake Toho on Saturday, January 28^th.  The Osceola Anglers made a clean sweep of the Top 3 teams with Tripp Berlinsky and Jacob Sharpe coming out with the win by putting 14-13 on the scales.  Second place belonged to Guy Scott and Jordan Scott with 11-00 pounds and then Whaylon Bracken and Jayden Shumbera with 10-10 pounds.  Guy and Jordan Scott also took home Big Bass honors with a nice 4-09 lunker.  Anglers were using soft plastics around grass lines and brush piles to catch most of their fish.   The cooler than normal weather made fishing a little tougher than normal for this time of the year.  Gage Rumping and Luke Miller from Harmony High School finished fourth with 10-04 pounds and Colton Privett and Caden McManama finished fifth with 9-10 pounds.

Full results can be found HERE

For pictures from this event click HERE

The first GHSA Qualifier rolled into Bainbridge on January 21.  The weather was much improved from that of last year.  With warmer temps and better weather conditions, there were quite a few more fish brought to the scales this year.  A total of 252 teams participated and we were able to qualify the Top 30 teams from this event and send them to the State Finals at Clarks Hill on May 20^th at Wildwood Park.

The Bainbridge Basscat team of Hayden Reynolds and Caleb Logue won the event with a monster bag that weighed 21-06 pounds.  Branton Champion and Jackson Behringer from Richmond Hill finished a close second with another impressive limit that weighed 20-04 pounds.  The Callaway team of Dawson Foster and Billy Bozeman brought 17-01 to the scales and finished third.  Jacob Brightwell and Hardin Roberts had an even seventeen pounds and managed to finish fourth.  Leila Gragg and Pierce Gragg weighed 15-04 pounds to claim the last spot in the top five.  Tucker Chalfant and Tripp Harvey claimed Big Bass Honors with the only fish in their bag which weighed in at 6.01 pounds.

More teams caught more fish this year as 133 teams weighed in at least one fish, while there were 37 limits of fish brought to the scales.  Just over seven hundred and eighty pounds of fish were weighed and all fish were released alive back into Lake Seminole.  Anglers reported catching their fish on a variety of baits during this event.  Numerous anglers were fishing shallow grass using soft plastic baits to catch their fish.  Flukes, Speed Worms, Robo Worms and Creature baits were all good choices.  Other anglers were also fishing grass lines with chatterbaits, swimbaits and spinnerbaits to catch their fish.

The second GHSA event is coming up on February 18 at Lake Oconee at Sugar Creek Marina.

Full results of this event can be found by clicking HERE

Photos of this event can be found HERE

The 2023 Alabama SAF State Championship Tournament was at Lake Jordan, Wetumpka, AL. The tournament launched out of the State Ramp and SFA. The weather for the tournament day was windy / cold and only warmed about ten degrees during the tournament day.

Following the days tournament competition, the team of Andrew Jones and Carson Underwood of Hewitt-Trussville finished in 1^st Place with a 5 fish limit pushing the scales to 14.08.  Jones and Carson credited their win to their pattern of pitching a jig to structure.  Andrew Graves and Michael Maynor of Hewitt-Trussville were 2^nd Place with 13.04.  Zayden Graham and Landon Boshell of Hayden Fishing Team claimed 3^rd Place with 11.14. Philip Parker and Landon Loper of ABF SAF was 4^th  with 11.13. Levi Harris and Zane Roberts of Fairview Fishing Team rounded out the top five with 11.07.

Big fish honors of the tournament was won by Andrew Jones and Carson Underwood with a weight of 4.04.

For full results CLICK HERE