Florida State Champions Raulerson & Lynch win at St John’s River – “Check List” Completed

“Check List” Completed by Raulerson & Lynch at St John’s River

For one Florida High School Team, all items were “checked off their list” of things to do for this weekend.  For the Fleming Island High School Golden Eagles team of Chaz Raulerson and Reed Lynch, their “list” looked like all the other Florida teams, which was probably something like this:

  1. Enter TBF/SAF Florida High School State Championship at Palatka
  2. Win Florida High School Fishing State Championship
  3. Catch the Biggest Bass of the tournament
  4. Qualify for the TBF/SAF High School National Championship
  5. Fish in the High School Fishing World Finals

At the conclusion of the weigh in on Saturday, Raulerson & Lynch had managed to “check off” all 5 items on their “list”.  They brought 24-04 pounds to the scales to take home the Championship Trophies and title of TBF/SAF Florida High School State Champions for 2018.  To anchor their winning sack, was a big bucketmouth which tipped the scales at 9-09 pounds to take Big Bass honors for the event.  In doing so they also qualified to represent Florida as one of the three teams in the National Championship at Pickwick this summer, as well as being a part of the High School Fishing World Finals.  All in all, a pretty good weekend for the Golden Eagle team.  Check List complete!

 

Rounding out the top three National Championship qualifying teams were the Seminole JR Angler teams of Joey Bloom and Dylan Westhelle with another big bag that weighed 22-07 pounds.  Their biggest bass weighed in at 6-15 pounds.

Third went to Austin Riggs & Justin Rosser with an impressive 15-09 pounds.  Their lunker weighed 4-15 pounds.

Most angler reported catching their fish shallow in the canals or shallow grass lines in 2-5 feet of water.  The most popular lures were mostly plastics including a Senko, Trick Worm and a Fluke.  The top few teams reportedly got to cull several times throughout the day and most were culling by around lunch time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FULL results are on the results page.

Davis & Snow Top the Field at SAF Early Bird Challenge on Hartwell

1st Place

The Union County Panther duo of Cole Davis and Dillan Snow put together an impressive limit to win the 2018 SAF Early Bird Challenge on Lake Hartwell.  Despite muddy water conditions and changing weather patterns, they managed to bring 18.14 pounds to the scale late Sunday afternoon.  Both anglers were excited for the opportunity to advance and compete at Nationals on Pickwick this June. 

2nd Place

 

In second place, Patrick Murry and Mason Rametta from TI Hanna High School brought 14.13 pounds to the scales.  Ounces behind them in third place was the Georgia High School Fishing team of Michael Landemaeu and Brett Morlane with 14.10 pounds. 

Union County also took fourth place with the team of Hunter Enlow and Ce Fowler weighing in 13.12 pounds.  The final National Championship qualifying spot went to Hunter McKee and Wyatt Long of the Backwoods Bass Boys with 13.3 pounds.

3rd Place

 

Tournament big bass went to the Illinois team of Tyler Lubbat and Tyler Christy with a hefty 5.7 pound lunker.

As anglers crossed the stage they talked about what was working out on the water and what wasn’t.  Several anglers mentioned using a shakey head,  others used crankbaits, jigs, swim baits and also spinnerbaits.  No matter the bait the bite was pretty solid with 23 of the 59 teams bringing limits to the scales. 

Full Results

Photo Gallery

Student Angler Federation Announces Support of GICAA Open Bass Fishing Series

Ponca City, Okla., February 16, 2018 – The Student Angler Federation (SAF) is pleased to announce its continued support of the Georgia Independent Christian Athletic Association (GICAA) for the 2018 season.  The GICAA Open Bass Fishing Regional event will be held March 3 at Highland Marina on West Point Lake. The regional event is not only open for GICAA members but also for all active SAF members in Georgia.  The event will be  a qualifying tournament with the top 50 boats advancing to the GICAA Qualified Championship.

The Championship will be held on March 17 at Little River Marina on Lake Sinclair. The top 10% from the GICAA Qualified  Championship will also advance to the SAF High School Fishing National Championship to compete against the best of the best for scholarships, prizes and the 2018 National Champion titles.

Nationals is held in conjunction with the largest, stand-a-lone open championship event, the 2018 High School Fishing World Finals.  All SAF anglers are invited to compete in the World Finals where tens of thousands of scholarships and prizes will be awarded.  Both events will run simultaneously June 26-30 in Florence, Ala., on Pickwick Lake.  Registration is open for all events on www.highschoolfishing.org.

For more information on the GICAA visit www.gicaasports.com.