Pennsylvania’s Elizabethtown High School Wins 2019 TBF/FLW High School Fishing World Finals on Pickwick Lake
FLORENCE, Ala. – Pennsylvania’s Elizabethtown High School duo of Anthony Cicero IV and Dakota Snyder, both of Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, caught three bass weighing in at 16 pounds, 6 ounces to win the 2019 TBF Student Angler Federation High School Fishing World Finals on Pickwick Lake. Edging their closest competitors by 1 pound, 9 ounces, the Elizabethtown High School duo won their choice of scholarship offers from Bethel University (Tennessee), Simpson University (California) or Kentucky Christian University.
Snyder said he plans on joining the United States Marines after his upcoming senior year, while Cicero says the victory will have a life-changing impact on his future.
“I might go to college now since we won,” Cicero said. “At first, I wasn’t sure if I’d go, but I might go now.”
While many of their competitors opted for Pickwick’s traditional offshore ledge game, the winning anglers quickly determined that their best opportunities would be found shallower. Working in the Mulberry Creek area, upriver from Kroger Island, Cicero and Snyder focused on shallow grass with wood and caught fish from 8 inches of water to five feet. They had plenty of area at their disposal, but ended up sealing the deal on a single piece of cover.
“We were fishing this stump where we had caught a couple in practice and we caught our three best fish there today and ended it all,” Cicero said.
Anchoring their limit was a 7-pound, 7-ounce largemouth that earned Big Bass honors for the day.
Bladed jigs produced all of the winners’ fish. They mixed up their presentations between a Z-Man ChatterBait Jack Hammer and a Phenix Vibrator Jig. Both wore green pumpkin Lake Fork Live Magic Shad trailers.
“In the morning, we would burn it right above the grass and later in the day we would slow roll it to get it down deeper in the grass,” Cicero said.
The top 10 teams at the TBF Student Angler Federation High School Fishing World Finals on Pickwick Lake finished:
1st: Elizabethtown High School, Elizabethtown, Pa. – Anthony Cicero IV and Dakota Snyder, both of Elizabethtown, Pa., three bass, 16-6
2nd: Gardendale High School, Gardendale, Ala. – Griffin Phillips and Fletcher Phillips, both of Mount Olive, Ala., three bass, 14-13
3rd: Lawrence County High School, Lawrenceburg, Tenn. – Will Daniels and Kade Suratt, both of Lawrenceburg, Tenn., three bass, 13-3
4th: Lawrence County High School, Lawrenceburg, Tenn. – J.D. Bedford, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., and Walker Brown, Loretto, Tenn., three bass, 12-10
5th: Hamburg High School, Hamburg, Ark. – Austin Fleming, Hamburg, Ark., and Ben Brockwell, Crossett, Ark., three bass, 12-5
6th: North Augusta High School, North Augusta, S.C. – Dustin Williamson, Aiken, S.C., and Nathan Boatwright, Warrenville, S.C., three bass, 12-2
7th: Corner High School, Dora, Ala. – Ethan Franklin, Empire, Ala., and Hayden McCarty, Dora, Ala., three bass, 12-0
8th: Marshall County High School, Benton, Ky. – Tristan Barrett, Benton, Ky., and Harlan Thomas, Gilbertsville, Ky., three bass, 11-6
9th: McCracken County High School, Paducah, Ky. – Sarah Morehead and Hunter Valerius, both of Paducah, Ky., three bass, 10-12
10th: Mount Bethel Christian Academy, Marietta, Ga. – Brooks Anderson and David Britt, both of Marietta, Ga., three bass, 10-8
Complete results from the event, along with the weigh-ins, can be found at HighSchoolFishing.org.
The 2019 TBF/FLW High School Fishing World Finals on Pickwick Lake, open to any High School Fishing team across the country, was a four-day event that saw a field of 389 teams compete. The World Finals field was cut to just 31 for day four and the weights were zeroed with the winner determined by heaviest final-day weight. The largest High School Fishing Open event in the country lived up to the hype crushing records in attendance, number of contenders and participating states.
The 2019 TBF/FLW High School Fishing World Finals on Pickwick Lake was hosted by the Florence/Lauderdale Tourism Bureau.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow FLW/TBF High School Fishing on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
About FLW
FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2019 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW and their partners conduct more than 290 bass-fishing tournaments annually around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Namibia, Portugal, South Africa, Spain and Zimbabwe. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW" television show while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. For more information visit FLWFishing.com and follow FLW at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
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 45 years. TBF founded the Student Angler Federation and the National High School Fishing program in 2008 to promote clean family fun and education through fishing. Visit bassfederation.com or highschoolfishing.org and “LIKE US” on Facebook.
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