It was an exciting day on the water Sunday, April 7th 2013 for the first ever Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) Bass Fishing Region 2 tournament held at Taylorsville Lake. The weather conditions were difficult with a strong wind and cold water temperatures around 50 degrees. This made for sluggish fish just starting to move up from their wintering areas and difficult boat control for all of the competitors.
The field of 44 boats took off from Possum Ridge Boat ramp at Taylorsville Lake State Park. The mood at the launch was festive as the competitors made ready well before the 7am start on the warm and blustery early April morning. Around 7am the boats heard their final instructions and had a reverent moment for the National Anthem as the morning light filled the sky.
The winning boat brought home some serious hardware for St.XavierHigh School in Louisville. Luke Miller, David Brewer, Evan Bale, and Carter O’Brien were part of the winning boat with three keepers weighing 10 pounds and 7 ounces to win the title of the Inaugural KHSAA Region 2 Champions. The winning St. Xavier boat put together a pattern based on the shad winter kill. They had observed the shad on some of the shorelines floating on the top and swimming very slowly. The bass were taking full advantage of an easy meal at the beginning of the pre-spawn period. The anglers fished natural colored shallow to middle depth finesse crankbaits that had a slow and gentle wobble action similar to the shad they observed. The key was casting to the shoreline and swimming the crankbaits slowing down the 45 degree, rocky drop offs. The baits needed to be close to the rocks and sometimes contacting rocks and wood. Most bites came within ten feet of shore as the bass had moved up the bank to enjoy the rising surface temps provided by the previous couple of warm days.
Luke Miller from St. Xavier also won the individual honor of “Big Fish” with a solid five pound brute!! Luke said, “This was such an amazing day! I had a great time and look forward to more opportunities to fish and learn more about the sport of bass fishing. Thanks to all of the tournament organizers for their hard work and dedication to giving us high school students a chance to represent our schools in this way.”
St. Xavier coach Matt Yarborough said, “I am so proud of the efforts of the whole team and thankful for all of the support we have gotten from their families! There were so many excellent anglers, boat captains, and coaches here today from a good many schools around the area. This is a great start to a new and exciting high school sport in Kentucky. May it grow and flourish!”
Runner-Up honors went to the TrinityHigh School team of Trevor Hulsey and Brendan Christ with a weight of 7-10. Thirteen teams will move on to the KHSAA Bass Fishing State Championship taking place April 26-27 on KentuckyLake. For full results of the KHSAA Region 2 tournament please click here.
