A great turn out of seventy-eight teams converged on Lake Lanier this past weekend to settle the SAF GA High School State Championship.  The weather changed about three different times in the week leading up to the event.  As the weigh in progressed it was obvious that the bite was tough for the young anglers.  There were ten limits weighed in and it took 9.14 pounds to make the seventh place cut to get into the upcoming National Championship event.

The team of Elijah Benson and Braedon Hubbard took top honors back to Dawson County with a nice 15.05 limit.

The Kings Ridge team of Jake Ryan & Nick Wallace finished second with 13.08 pounds.  Taking third place was Coby Thompson and Bently Floyd from Union County High School with 11.05 pounds.  Taking fourth and fifth place were Jackson & Owen Moss with 11.03 pounds and Nolan Wilson and Austin Miller with 10.12 pounds.  The last two National Championship qualifying spots belonged to Cameron Elliott and Jacob McCann with 10.05 pounds and Aspen Martin and Jett Strickland with 9.14 pounds.

Anglers caught their fish on a variety of patterns and depths throughout the day.  Swimbaits, chatterbaits, jigs, jerkbaits, crankbaits and Texas rigged worms all caught fish and the deepest fish were caught was about 40 feet and some fish came within inches of the shoreline.

Full Results are posted on the website Click HERE and all the photos can be seen on our SAF High School Fishing Facebook page.

The second Qualifier tournament for the GAPPS program was held this past weekend at Lake Lanier at Laurel Park Ramp.  Anglers fishing in this event were qualifying to earn a spot in the GAPPS Finals later on next month at Lake Oconee on March 20^th.  As with any day of fishing, whether they are biting or not, someone always finds that magical bag of fish, that stand out more than any others.

Today it was the team of Frisher Britt and Chase Chapman from Southland Academy, that figured them out to the tune of 14.07 pounds.  They produced the only five fish limit of the event and were able to take home the Championship trophies.  The next biggest bag of fish to be weighed in was the Elbert County High School team of Lance Wray and Landon Webb with 9.08 pounds.  Just ounces behind them was another Elbert County team of Nathan Hendrix and Evan Poon with 9.05 pounds.  Tom Hart and Collins Bass, from Southland Academy brought 7.05 pounds to the scales and Brook Jones and Bentley Evans from Strong Rock Christian High School finished with 7.02 pounds.

The biggest Bass of the event was caught by the team of Frisher Britt and Chase Chapman from Southland Academy, which weighed 4.06 pounds.  Second big Bass was 3.15 pounds and was caught by Nathan Hendrix and Evan Poon.  Both teams got nice prizes for their catches.

Most anglers said they caught their fish in less than ten feet of water.  Several teams reported catching them on crankbaits, jerkbaits and spinnerbaits, while other teams said most of their fish came on Jigs, Ned Rigs, and Shakey Heads in water that was more than 20 foot deep.

For Full Results CLICK HERE and the pictures can be seen on our Student Angler Federation High School Fishing Facebook page.

The Student Angler Federation held its 2021 Alabama High School State Championship on Neely Henry this past weekend at Coosa Landing.  The sweeping cold front and rainy weather made it a challenge on most all of the anglers.

Joshua Decker and Liam Smith of Vestavia Hills High School made every bite count as they won the event with 5.15 pounds.  They caught a couple of active fish early in the morning on a crankbait in 2-5 feet of water and then had to switch to a Finesse Jig in a little deeper water to catch the rest of their fish.

The Fort Payne Wildcat team of Ethan Meadows & Tucker Smith finished a close second with 5.01 pounds.  They said they spent all of their day just dragging a jig around in anywhere from six to ten feet of water.  Third place was 4.10 pounds and went to the team of Nicholas Foster and Aiden Smith of Spring Valley High School.  They fished both shallow and deep to catch their fish.  Some came as shallow as five feet on a square bill crankbait and the rest came in about twenty feet of water on an Alabama Rig.

For full results CLICK HERE. You can find the pictures on our Student Angler Federation High School Facebook page.