Allen Mullins of Murray and Colton Noel from Calloway County High School of Kirksey, Kentucky, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing 27 pounds even to win the 2016 TBF/FLW High School Fishing Murray State Open on Kentucky Lake. The win earned the team the title and qualified the team to compete in the High School Fishing Southeastern Conference championship on Lake Cumberland in Somerset, Kentucky on September 16-17.
The top three team’s winning stringers were caught with Rat-L-Traps, crawfish-colored crankbaits, jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, square-bill crankbaits, swimbaits and umbrella rigs. The depths of water where teams found success varied almost as much as the variety of baits. Some anglers caught them in the backs of pockets and creeks in 1 to 3 feet of water while others caught them just inside the creeks on the first points or pockets in 6 to 10 feet of water. Other teams also caught some big fish on the main-lake points in 15 to 20 feet of water.
A total of 117 high school teams from seven different states competed in the tournament. The Lew’s Big Bass Award was won by the Calloway County High School team of Colton Cox and Andrew Douglas with a 6-pound, 9-ounce largemouth bass.
The top three teams on Kentucky Lake that advanced to the Southeastern Conference championship were:
1st: Calloway County High School, Murray, Ky. – Allen Mullins and Colton Noel, five bass, 27-0
2nd: Henderson County High School, Henderson, Ky. – Addison Watson and Bobby Miller, five bass, 20-3
3rd: Muhlenberg County High School, Greenville, Ky. – Billy Hardison and Nathan Flener, five bass, 16-9
Rounding out the top 10 teams were:
4th: Rockwood Summit High School, Fenton, Mo. – Douglas Guidorzi and William Curtright, five bass, 16-6
5th: Calloway County High School, Murray, Ky. – Clayton Bobo and Myles McManus, five bass, 15-11
6th: Madisonville North Hopkins High School, Madisonville, Ky. – Alex Tomblinson and Hunter Purdy, five bass, 15-9
7th: Christian County High School, Hopkinsville, Ky. – John Schuzer and Dylan Hodge, five bass, 15-4
8th: Muhlenberg County High School, Greenville, Ky. – James Hampton and Ethan Ruank, three bass, 15-4
9th: Trigg County High School, Cadiz, Ky. – Austin Greene and Zack Colbert, four bass, 14-15
10th: Madisonville North Hopkins High School, Madisonville, Ky. – Caleb Gibson and Isaiah Davis, five bass, 14-7
Complete results and photos from the event can be found at HighSchoolFishing.org.
The 2016 TBF/FLW High School Fishing Murray State Open was a two-person (team) event for students in grades 7-12. The top three teams from each of the seven TBF/FLW High School Fishing Opens held this season, along with the top 10 percent from each TBF/FLW state championship field will advance to a High School Fishing conference championship. The top 10 percent of each conference championship field will then advance to the High School Fishing National Championship, coinciding with the TBF National Championship and an FLW Tour stop in the spring of 2017. The High School Fishing national champions will each receive a $5,000 college scholarship to the school of their choice.
In addition to the High School Fishing National Championship, all High School Fishing anglers nationwide automatically qualify for the world’s largest high school bass tournament, the 2016 High School Fishing World Finals. At the 2015 World Finals more than $20,000 in scholarships and prizes were awarded. Visit HighSchoolFishing.org for details.