Kershaw & Konrad Win It All at Lake Hartwell

If you have been around fishing tournaments very long, you have probably heard this statement. No matter how tough the weather or water conditions, someone will find the fish! That rings true from the South Carolina State Championship this past weekend at Lake Hartwell in South Carolina. Mother Nature threw everything she had and yet these young High School anglers still caught plenty of fish. In the days leading up to the event, the weather went from sunny and quite warm, to lots of rain, then a mix of rain and snow, to temps in the mid-20’s by takeoff on Saturday morning, to an hour fog delay, back to near 60 degrees by weigh-in on Saturday afternoon. But even with all those challenges, the South Carolina anglers hit the water Saturday morning excited to see what the day would hold for them.

The team of Mark Kershaw and Chance Conrad needed a wheelbarrow to take home all of their awards after the conclusion of the event. The YCHSA team received the BOOYAH BIG BAG Award for the heaviest sack of the day which stopped the scales at 15-10 pounds. Included in their limit was the Lew’s Big Bass Award for a giant largemouth that weighed 8-15 pounds. They took home the first-place trophies and a qualifying spot in the High School Fishing National Championship, coming up in June at La Crosse, Wisconsin. Quite a good day for Mark and Chance!

Just ounces behind them, finishing second, was the Crescent High School team of Jacob Butts and Collin Sutherland with 15-04 pounds.

Third place belonged to Seth Jenkins and Avery Jackson, from Wren High School, with 13-13 pounds.

Rounding out the top five spots were Jack Hunt and Aiden Luper, from Pendleton High school with 12-10 pounds and the Broome High School team of Colton Wells and Parker Sullivan with 11-02 pounds.

With the water being muddy, most of the winning teams reported that they had to go out deep to catch their fish. Several teams brought in bags of spotted bass that they said came anywhere from 20-40 feet of water. Carolina rigs with soft plastics, Ned Rigs, Drop Shots, Shakey Heads and Alabama Rigs were all good baits on Lake Hartwell.
Full results can be seen at www.highschoolfishing.org and all the pictures from the event are on the SAF Facebook page.

It was a great weekend for the Student Angler Federation, as a total of 162 teams came to Toledo Bend Lake to participate in the Louisiana Junior Championship and the Louisiana High School State Championship, pout of San Miguel Park.  It was great to see such a good turnout by both the Junior program and the High School group.  There was a total of 42 Junior teams and 120 High School teams competing for trophies and a lot of great prizes.

Taking home the big trophies on the Junior event was the team of Hagen Carter and Guage Struben from the West Ouachita Chiefs.

They brought in the only limit of the day that tipped the scales at 11.01 pounds.  Second place belonged to the Stanley Middle School team of Dalton Temple and Rylan Temple for their four fish that weighed 9.15 pounds.

Taking third place and Big Bass honors was the Northwoods Fishing Team of Cole Nichols and Kade Houston.  They weighed a total of 7.03 pounds and most of it was from the big bass which weighed 5.05 pounds.

Most of these young anglers reported catching their fish on Rattletraps, Spinnerbaits and Square Bill Crankbaits.

At the High School weigh in, Tripp Bowman and Matthew Nesbitt, from Haughton High School, sealed the win with a nice limit of fish that pushed the scales to 17-05 pounds.  The second-place team, also from Haughton High School, was Jase White and Cole Golden whose limit weighed 12-08 pounds.

As in the Junior event, the Lew’s Big Bass award went to the third-place team of Joseph and Nathan Coffman from Captain Shreveport High School.

Their limit weighed 12-05 pounds and their Big Bass locked in at 4-15 pounds.  The Coffman boys each got a nice Lew’s Reel for their Catch.

The High School anglers reported catching their fish on a variety of lures as well.  Crankbaits, Texas Rigged Worms, Swimbaits, Flukes, Shakey Heads, and Jigs were all good producers.  Most of the bigger bags of fish were caught on Carolina Rigs with soft plastics out on main lake rocky points in anywhere from 12-25 feet of water.

With 120 teams participating, we qualified the Top 12 teams to advance to the upcoming High School Fishing National Championship at La Crosse, Wisconsin coming up June 24-27, 2020.

Pictures and full results can be found on our results page.

South Carolina High School State Championship on Hartwell February 22, 2020

High School anglers state wide are eligible to sign up and compete

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PONCA CITY, Okla. (Feb 17, 2020) – The Bass Federation (TBF), announces the 2020 Student Angler Federation (SAF) SOUTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL STATE CHAMPIONSHIP on Saturday Feb 22 from Green Pond Landing near Anderson, SC.

The state championship is a two-person event for students in grades 9-12.  Each team can have one member in 7th or 8^th grade, if needed. and their “coach,” who provides the boat they compete in. All teams should pre-register online for high school events at HighSchoolFishing.org to avoid onsite late fees.  The weigh-in will begin at 3pm at Green Pond Landing and is free and open to the public. Nearly 100 anglers have already signed up for this event and registration does not close until Friday afternoon Feb 21, so there is still time to get in according to event tournament director Randy Sullivan.

“The Student Anglers Federation (SAF) offers a state championship in every state and Canada,” TBF National Youth Director, Joey Bray, stated. “There’s no question our State Championship Series provides the foundation that makes SAF the largest high school fishing organization in North America. In fact June of 2021 we are excited to be coming to Anderson, SC and Lake Hartwell with the premier event is all of youth fishing, the 12^th annual High School Fishing World Finals and National Championship. So, this year’s state championship event will be a great precursor to that premier only on a much smaller scale. So, we are excited to be coming to Anderson for both events and encourage all South Carolina High School anglers to sign up and compete.”

The top 10% of this weekend’s 2020 South Carolina High School State Championship event on Feb 22, 2020 will advance to the 11^th Annual High School Fishing World Finals and National Championship this year to be held in Lacrosse, WI. There at that, event SAF members world-wide can attend and compete for their share of over 3million dollars in various college scholarship that will be offered up for grabs.

Go to HighSchoolFishing.org for details on the Student Angler Federation and to sign up for events. If you’re not a 2020 SAF member, annual cost is only $25 year.  Pay in advance or register for an event online and pay then.  There are no entry fees as long as you enter your active/paid SAF membership number at the time of registration!

SAF membership includes full TBF and FLW membership benefits, FLW Magazine e-Edition, faculty of fishing online training programs, safe sports act compliant training, full insurance coverage for clubs, officers and student members and more.

Sign-up: Pre-register online at HighSchoolFishing.org or a $25 late registration fee can apply to those registering onsite. The best way is to pre-register online at highschoolfishing.org. Just enter your active SAF membership number during online SAF event registration.

About The Bass Federation

The Bass Federation Inc., (TBF) is a member of the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame. TBF is owned by those we serve and dedicated to the sport of fishing. The Federation is the largest and oldest, organized grassroots fishing, youth and conservation organization there is. TBF, our affiliated state federations and their member clubs conduct more than 20,000 events each year and have provided a foundation for the entire bass fishing industry for more than 50 years. TBF founded the Student Angler Federation and the National High School Fishing program in 2007 to promote clean family fun and education through fishing and is proud partners in fishing with FLW. Visit bassfederation.com or highschoolfishing.org and “LIKE US” on facebook!

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