Jacob Blumling and Coleman Johnson from Greenbrier High School brought a five-bass limit to the scale Sunday weighing 23 pounds, 6 ounces, to win the 2016 TBF/FLW High School Fishing Georgia State Championship on Clarks Hill Reservoir. The win earned the team trophies, the title of state champions and advanced the team to the High School Fishing Southeastern Conference championship on Lake Cumberland in Somerset, Kentucky on September 16-17.
Seventy teams competed in the event, which launched from Wildwood State Park. The winning squad from Greenrier said that they used a peanut butter and jelly-colored jig, which they threw all day around rocky points to catch their winning stringer. The duo also claimed the Lew’s Big Bass Award with a 7-pound, 7-ounce bass.
The top seven teams on Clarks Hill Reservoir that advanced to the Southeastern Conference championship were:
1st: Greenbrier High School, Evans, Ga. – Jacob Blumling and Coleman Johnson, five bass, 23-6
2nd: Pickens High School, Jasper, Ga. – Dillon Champion and Dalton Roper, five bass, 17-14
3rd: Forsyth Central High School, Cumming, Ga. – Sean Walker Lee and Elijah Castleberry, five bass, 17-10
4th: Pickens High School, Jasper, Ga. – Jacob Gordon and Andrew Hasbrouck, five bass, 17-8
5th: Irwin County High School, Ocilla, Ga. – Ellis Douglas and Parker Guy, five bass, 16-0
6th: West Forsyth High School, Cumming, Ga. – Matthew Jones and Eli Huggins, five bass, 15-2
7th: Gilmer High School, Ellijay, Ga. – Grant Ledford and Isaac Colwell, five bass, 15-0
Rounding out the top 10 teams were:
8th: Irwin County High School, Ocilla, Ga. – Jordan Gilbert and Daniel Black, five bass, 14-13
8th: Harris County High School, Hamilton, Ga. – Cal Culpepper and Parker Marshall, five bass, 14-8
10th: Clarks Hill Youth – Kaleb Harris and Phillips Johnson, both of Martinez, Ga., five bass, 14-6
Complete results and photos from the event can be found at HighSchoolFishing.org.
The 2016 Georgia State High School Fishing Championship was a two-person (team) event for students in grades 7-12. The top 10 percent from each TBF/FLW state championship field will advance to a High School Fishing conference championship along with the top three teams from each of the seven TBF/FLW High School Fishing Opens held this season. 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.