BAY CITY, Mich. — The big waters might have been off-limits due to weather Sunday for the Strike King Bassmaster High School Series at Saginaw Bay, but Carson Tithof and Maverick Hardebeck had no problem catching a big limit in the confines of the Saginaw River and clinching the tournament title.
Tithof and Hardebeck, fishing as part of Grand Haven Bassmasters (Mich.) Fishing Team, caught five bass totaling 17 pounds, 4 ounces, giving them an 8-ounce edge over the field of 60 teams competing in the one-day derby in northeast Michigan.
The duo won $1,006 cash for placing first at Saginaw. The boys also qualified for the Strike King Bassmaster High School National Championship, which is scheduled for Aug. 1-3 at Chickamauga Lake in Dayton, Tenn.
The Saginaw system might be in their home state, but Tithof and Hardebeck have only fished it once before. Still, they were completely confident river fishing on Sunday — something they do several times a week on the Grand River back home in western Michigan.
“It’s pretty much exactly the same,” Tithof said. “We didn’t plan on going into the bay at all, so that being off-limits didn’t affect us. We knew we wanted to fish in the river because it’s what we’re used to doing.”
The boys’ day started strong, with a limit of bass in the livewell within 30 minutes of their first cast. They culled a few times over the next few hours, but by 10 a.m., their bite was done. Luckily, they already had enough weight to be atop the leaderboard by that time.
“It really was a grind for a while,” Tithof said. “And it was hard to fish in the wind, as hard as it was blowing.”
The victors threw white swim jigs on about 90% of their casts. They looked for breaks in current, typically near logs and other floating structure, where a mix of largemouth and smallmouth bass were stacked.
“We mixed in a beaver (creature bait), too,” Hardebeck said.
The combination was just what they’d have done on the Grand River, and the similarities paid dividends. They weighed three largemouth and two smallmouth, with one of the smallies (4-10) winning Big Bass of the Tournament honors.
The High School National Championship berth is the first for both Tithof, 17, and Hardebeck, 15. They previously competed in the Bassmaster Junior Nationals a couple of seasons ago.
A whopping 44 of 60 competing teams caught limits. Behind Tithof and Hardebeck, top tandems included second place, Landon Gabby and Kolby Baker, Marion (Ill.) High School Bass Fishing Team, 16-12; third, Olevir Johnson and Allen Moore, Oldham County (Ky.) High School Bass Team, 16-10; fourth, Oliver Neumann and Wyatt Feiguy, Zimmerman Thunder (Minn.) Bass Team, 16-3; and fifth, Michael Harris and Kayden Waller, Mt. Juliet (Tenn.) Fishing Team, 15-7.
The derby was the last of the 2024 Strike King Bassmaster High School regular season, with tournaments previously held at Clarks Hill Reservoir in Georgia, Douglas Lake in Tennessee and Sam Rayburn Reservoir in Texas.
Go Great Lakes Bay hosted this week’s events.
2024 Bassmaster High School Series Title Sponsor: Strike King
2024 Bassmaster High School Series Platinum Sponsor: Toyota
2024 Bassmaster High School Series Premier Sponsors: Bass Pro Shops, Dakota Lithium, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Progressive Insurance, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha
2024 Bassmaster High School Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Daiwa, Garmin, Lew’s, Lowrance, Marathon, Triton Boats, VMC
2024 Bassmaster High School Series Youth Sponsors: Seaguar, Shimano
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2024 Strike King Bassmaster High School Series at Saginaw Bay 6/9-6/9
Saginaw Bay, Bay City, MI.
(BOATER) Standings Day 1
Angler Club/School Pts
- Carson Tithof – Maverick Hardebeck Grand Haven Lakeshore Middle Sch 0
Day 1: 5 17-04 Total: 5 17-04
2. Landon Gabby – Kolby Baker Marion High School Bass Fishing 0
Day 1: 5 16-12 Total: 5 16-12
3. Olevir Johnson – Allen Moore Oldham Co High School Bass Team 0
Day 1: 5 16-10 Total: 5 16-10
4. Oliver Neumann – Wyatt Feiguy Zimmerman Thunder – MN 0
Day 1: 5 16-03 Total: 5 16-03
5. Michael Harris – Kayden Waller Mt Juliet Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 5 15-07 Total: 5 15-07
6. Tanner Russell – Daniel Lowhorn Mt. Juliet High School – TN 0
Day 1: 5 15-06 Total: 5 15-06
7. Nate Helmreich – Luke Farminer Freeland Bass Fishing 0
Day 1: 5 15-02 Total: 5 15-02
8. Carter Pjesky – JD McBroom Off the Hook Bassmasters – IL 0
Day 1: 5 14-15 Total: 5 14-15
9. Easton Drennon – Cole Petroff Mt Juliet Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 5 14-12 Total: 5 14-12
10. Harrison Hobbs – Cade Speligene Music City Bass 0
Day 1: 5 14-10 Total: 5 14-10
11. Brayden Tisdale – Reece Kilian Emerald Coast Youth Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 5 14-03 Total: 5 14-03
12. Kaden Dorman – Owen Nepple Iowa Youth Fishing League High S 0
Day 1: 5 13-04 Total: 5 13-04
13. Rylan Hamlin – Luke Hendrick Jackson High School Bass Fishing 0
Day 1: 5 12-14 Total: 5 12-14
14. Brayden Vallie – Carson Vallie Fruitport High School – MI 0
Day 1: 5 12-12 Total: 5 12-12
15. Zach Knight – Luke Malik Gallatin High School 0
Day 1: 5 12-07 Total: 5 12-07
16. Elijah Ambrose – Jarren Crowder Hs Potomac River Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 5 12-06 Total: 5 12-06
17. Max Himmel – Connor Hebert Catholic High School Fishing 0
Day 1: 5 12-02 Total: 5 12-02
18. Brody Brinson – Greer Gammon Mt Juliet Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 5 11-13 Total: 5 11-13
19. Jesse Lancaster – Fisher Lancaster Triangle Bass Club 0
Day 1: 5 11-11 Total: 5 11-11
19. Derek Davis – Evan Wood Mt Pleasant High School Bass Tea 0
Day 1: 5 11-11 Total: 5 11-11
21. Hollis Rose – Grant Arnold Jefferson County Patriot Anglers 0
Day 1: 5 11-10 Total: 5 11-10
22. Parker Hill – Wesson Vint Track And Channel Youth 0
Day 1: 5 11-07 Total: 5 11-07
22. Sam Volbert – Brody Alderman Music City Bass 0
Day 1: 5 11-07 Total: 5 11-07
24. Daniel Ruhe – Michael Duvall Black Swamp High School Fishing 0
Day 1: 5 10-15 Total: 5 10-15
25. Andrew Terry – Carson Bryant Dchs Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 5 10-13 Total: 5 10-13
26. Luke Childs – David Stockard Music City Bass 0
Day 1: 5 10-10 Total: 5 10-10
27. Grant Nore – Marshall Nesheim Iowa Youth Fishing League High S 0
Day 1: 5 10-09 Total: 5 10-09
28. Jaxson Pierce – Tucker Larrance Jefferson County Patriot Anglers 0
Day 1: 5 10-06 Total: 5 10-06
29. Presley Lannom – Trevor Sanford Mt. Juliet High School – TN 0
Day 1: 5 10-03 Total: 5 10-03
30. Brooks Putnam – Daylin Doak Mt. Juliet High School – TN 0
Day 1: 5 10-02 Total: 5 10-02
30. Trey Richardson III – Reid Luckett Free State Bass 0
Day 1: 5 10-02 Total: 5 10-02
30. Luke Somerville – Leeand Fox Gaylord High School Bass Angler 0
Day 1: 5 10-02 Total: 5 10-02
33. Ryan Kahut – Cole Stead Brighton High School 0
Day 1: 5 10-01 Total: 5 10-01
34. Hayden Barnett – Camdyn Cranfill Kingston High School – TN 0
Day 1: 5 09-08 Total: 5 09-08
35. Porter Morrison – Brayden Morgan Catholic High School Fishing 0
Day 1: 5 09-07 Total: 5 09-07
36. Tyler Gentry – Abe Sledge Loudon Bass Club 0
Day 1: 5 09-06 Total: 5 09-06
37. Annie Lassiter – Crew Morrone Warren Co High School Pioneer An 0
Day 1: 5 09-04 Total: 5 09-04
38. Jacob Burkhead – Carter Berry Benton Panther Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 5 09-02 Total: 5 09-02
38. Joseph Elliott – Avry Morehouse Anchor Bay – MI 0
Day 1: 5 09-02 Total: 5 09-02
40. Luke Barriger – Drew Lafave Meridian Early College High Scho 0
Day 1: 5 09-00 Total: 5 09-00
40. Camden Randall – James Roop Mt Pleasant High School Bass Tea 0
Day 1: 5 09-00 Total: 5 09-00
40. Danil Williams – Chance Knight Mt Juliet Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 5 09-00 Total: 5 09-00
43. Wyatt Carr – Jamie Neel Reeths-Puffer High School 0
Day 1: 5 08-12 Total: 5 08-12
44. Colten Dickerson – Tyler Baumann Zeeland Fishhawx 0
Day 1: 4 08-08 Total: 4 08-08
45. Kaleb Page – Coffee County High School – TN 0
Day 1: 5 08-01 Total: 5 08-01
46. Charles Dawson – Wyatt Dawson Creekwood Hs Redhawks Fishing 0
Day 1: 3 06-09 Total: 3 06-09
47. Quinn Barbee – Oliver Lewis St. Pius X Catholic School – IN 0
Day 1: 3 06-06 Total: 3 06-06
48. Nathaniel Terbush – Dima Griffiths Dexter High School 0
Day 1: 3 05-11 Total: 3 05-11
49. Kaleb Allmon – Dallas Brewster Loudon Bass Club 0
Day 1: 3 05-08 Total: 3 05-08
50. Lainie Holbert – Sarah Swindle Riverside High School Bass Fishi 0
Day 1: 3 05-05 Total: 3 05-05
51. Banks Barber – Aaron Morrison Polk County High School 0
Day 1: 2 05-02 Total: 2 05-02
52. Connor Mcnally – Lillian Moss Clare Hs Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 2 03-10 Total: 2 03-10
53. Nicholas Sabisch – Adin Drake Clare Hs Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 2 03-09 Total: 2 03-09
54. Jackson Dowdle – Mcdowell High School Bass Fishin 0
Day 1: 2 03-05 Total: 2 03-05
55. Brodie Craft – Joseph Fisher IV Summerfield Bulldogs 0
Day 1: 1 03-04 Total: 1 03-04
56. Jeffrey Mansfield – Garrett Schultz Howell High School 0
Day 1: 2 03-03 Total: 2 03-03
57. Connor Wallace – Brendan Scripps Howell High School 0
Day 1: 1 01-10 Total: 1 01-10
58. Chase Aaron – Beckham Matt White Lake Lakeland 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
58. Hayden Persyn – Carter Persyn Freeland 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
58. Easton Waite – Mason Johnston Clare Hs Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
———————————————————————–
BIG BASS OF TOURN
Carson Tithof Grand Haven, MI 04-10 $0.00
———————————————————————–
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 44 251 581-15
———————————-
44 251 581-15