Courtesy of Lews –
Stockton, Mo.—Two of Republic High Schools neophyte anglers became emerging stars on their team by winning the Teen Anglers tournament April 11 at Stockton Lake.
Gerald Snook and Josh Perkins teamed up with boat captain Jerry Hamilton to win the high school event with a five-fish limit weighing 14.13 pounds. They also earned first big bass honors with a 6.49-pound largemouth.
“I am really proud of both of those kids because when they started they were rank amateurs,” said Republic Coach Jim Huson. “Not to say that they are experts at this point but they have developed in the program for the last two years and both of them have worked hard and their skills finally paid off for them.”
Both anglers caught all of their fish on a 1/4-ounce shaky head and a green pumpkin Strike King Zero that they retrieved with a lift-and-drop presentation. “We kind of stuck with rock ledges and stayed within 25 feet of water,” Snook said. “We would throw to the bank and let it fall off the rock ledges.”
Perkins claimed his partner carried their team. “He caught all of the keepers and I caught a bunch of 14-inchers and other shorts,” said Perkins.
Snook and Perkins were unable to practice for the tournament so they relied on tips from other Republic teammates who got on the water during the week. “We just came down this morning and fished,” Snook said. “We just kind of went off what everybody else was catching them on during the week.”
Coach Huson’s strategy of stressing teamwork at every tournament paid off for Snook and Perkins. “We try to share information throughout our whole team as far as what the bite is and then we kind of work from there,” Huson said. “So everybody is on the same page when we hit the water.”
Spokane High School’s Austin “Chase” Horton and Bradley Cloud took second place with a 12.70-limit and had third big bass with a 4.45-pounder. Horton said they caught all of their fish about 8 feet deep on sexy shad jerkbaits that they worked with a 15-second pause.
Third place went to the Nixa High team of Brett Linville and Evan Ouellette with a limit weighing 12.67 pounds. Fishing a jig and a tube bait “slow and steady,” they caught all of their fish keying on chunk rocks in dirty water about 5 to 8 feet deep, according to Ouellette.
Ozark High’s Dalton Combs and Joe Satterly placed fourth with an 11.14-limit. Combs noted they fished a Wiggle Wart crankbait and shaky head in the morning and switched to a jerkbait when the wind picked up later in the day. “We caught a lot in the morning and then it just died off after that,” he said.
Teen Angler Lake of the Ozarks champions Bryce Soske and Kaleb Lenhert finished fifth in this event with a 10.83 limit. “We were fishing jigs all day along riprap and about halfway back in the coves on windblown points,” Lenhert said. The Park Hill South High anglers found most of their fish in the 5- to 10-foot range.
The Ozark High team of Sawyer Collins and Brennan Banks weighed in a 5.87-pound largemouth that earned them second big bass honors.
The tournament drew 83 teams from 21 Missouri high schools. For the full results of the Stockton tournament, visit www.teenanglers.net.
The final regular season tournament of the Teen Anglers circuit will be held May 16 at Table Rock Lake.
Photo caption
Republic High School anglers Gerald Snook (left) and Josh Perkins won the second tournament of the Teen Anglers circuit April 11 at Stockton Lake with a five-fish limit weighing 14.13 pounds.
