A High School Fishing Grand Finale
Nation’s top High School Fishing teams clash in National Championship
GROVE, Okla. – Adrenaline and optimism were running high among the 19 young guns gathered at Wolf Creek Park as they anxiously awaited takeoff on day one of the Student Angler Federation High School Fishing National Championship on Grand Lake.
Set for April 25-26 on the legendary Sooner impoundment, the championship pits the nation’s top 10 two-person high school teams in an all-out bass battle for the national title and a $10,000 college scholarship. One contestant, Cameron Pappan, is fishing solo.
The road to the finals began in 2014, with state and open championships leading to one of five conference finals, then ultimately to Grand Lake.
“It feels great to be here,” says Anthony Gilmore of Livonia, Mich., who is representing Milford High School with teammate Chase Serafin.
After earning a trip to Oklahoma by winning the Central Conference Championship on Lake Erie out of Huron, Ohio, last September, Gilmore and Serafin spent the winter researching the reservoir and dreaming of this day.
“I’ve looked at so many lake maps it’s ridiculous,” Gilmore admits. “I even have a map of Grand Lake on the ceiling above my bed, so it’s the first thing I see every morning.”
After learning the lake firsthand in practice, he wasn’t disappointed.
“I like it,” Gilmore says, “but it fishes a lot different than the lakes where we’re from.”
Indeed, Grand’s sprawling complex of coves, channels and flats offers title contenders a variety of water conditions upon which to cast a broad palette of presentations. In most areas, water clarity is considerably lower than on many fisheries in the Northern teams’ home waters, but they can find clearer conditions by running down-lake toward the dam.
With the reservoir’s bass currently in all stages of the spawn, we can also expect to see teams try everything from sight-fishing bedding fish to targeting pre- and postspawn staging areas. Judging by the first two days of the TBF National Championship, which concludes today on Grand Lake, tactical weapons including square-bill crankbaits, swimbaits and jigs should produce fish in depths ranging from 1 to 12 feet of water or more.
“We’re excited,” adds Serafin of Highland, Mich. “We’re used to clear water, so this is different. But we’re definitely looking forward to it. We had a tough start in practice earlier this week, but I think we’re on to something now and can do it.”
Colorado’s Bradley Czosnyka and Josh Cundiff say Grand Lake’s spots and largemouths behave “exactly like the bass back home,” but they note a different twist to the championship plot.
“We don’t have any docks in Colorado, so all of the man-made structure on Grand changes things a little bit,” Cundiff explains. “We do have a couple patterns going on right now, though, so we’re feeling confident about what we’re doing and think we can bring in a solid limit.”
While teams from far-flung destinations acclimate to Grand Lake, Sooner bass fishing standouts Trevor Yates and Jake Keenom shoulder the burden of being the hometown team.
“There’s quite a bit of pressure because we’re so close to home, and some people think we’re going to dominate,” says Yates, who lives in Norman, Okla. “But there are so many spots we could run to that it could be easy to get mixed up and not have enough time to find the fish.”
Keenom, of Meeker, agrees. He also acknowledges the skilled challengers he and Yates will face in the event.
“We have some pretty stiff competition,” he says. “All of the other teams have been out here practicing this week and have an equal chance.”
When asked what he thinks it will take to claim the crown, Keenom grins and shares his thoughts in a soft-spoken Oklahoma drawl.
“It just takes a couple of good days, getting on fish better than everyone else – and maybe a little bit of luck thrown in with it. We just want to do well and show the world what small-town kids from Oklahoma can do,” he says.
Each team has a non-fishing, adult boat captain. Todd Yates, Trevor’s father, serves as Yates and Keenom’s captain, and says regardless of how the tournament plays out, the High School Fishing experience is a victory for everyone involved.
“The competition and camaraderie between kids from across the country is awesome,” he says. “It’s great the way that TBF and FLW have propelled the program in a few short years. I wish we’d had something like this when I was their age.”
Given the depth of talent from across the country, TBF National Youth Director Mark Gintert expects an epic struggle for the title.
“These are some of the very best high school anglers in the United States, and veteran tournament competitors,” Gintert says. “I wouldn’t want to fish against them. You can’t wear them out. They’re extremely resilient and can fish hard all day long. Plus they’re smart. They think about the water conditions and analyze all the little details. This is going to be a shootout.”
Conditions
Sunrise: 6:33 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 61 degrees
Forecast high: 82 degrees
Water temperature: 59 degrees
Weather: mostly sunny
Wind: SW at 14 mph, gusting to 25
Tournament Details
The top 10 teams in the SAF High School Fishing program are squaring off on Grand Lake, with the full field fishing Saturday. The field will be cut to the top five teams on Sunday, with the final weigh-in taking place on the Walmart FLW Tour stage at the John Q. Hammons Center in Rogers, Ark. The winning team is determined by two-day cumulative weight and earns a $10,000 scholarship to the college of its choice.
For more information, visit HighSchoolFishing.org.