Bass Fishing Aug - Sept 2017 | Page 104

ON TOUR FLW HIGH SCHOOL FISHING PFOH, SHELTON DOMINATE HIGH SCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIP TEXAS ANGLERS WIN BY MORE THAN 8 POUNDS ON WHEELER By Curtis Niedermier T Despite intense fishing pressure from a three-day college championship the day before, Justin Shelton (left) and Dakota Pfoh hammered 17 pounds, 7 ounces of Wheeler Lake bass to easily win the high school title. 102 o win by more than 8 pounds in a multi-day bass championship is an impressive performance. But to win by more than 8 pounds in a one- day championship takes impressive to a whole new level. Yet, that’s just one of the notable facets of Mabank (Texas) High School anglers Dakota Pfoh and Justin Shelton’s 2017 TBF/FLW High School Fishing National Championship win on Wheeler Lake June 3. Equally impressive is that despite the fact the championship tournament took place the day after YETI FLW College Fishing’s best teams from around the country pounded the lake for three days in the college champi- onship event, Pfoh and Shelton’s 17- pound, 7-ounce limit surpassed any limit checked in by the college field. The next closest high school team was Nick Cora and Cole Thompson of Harmony (Fla.) High School, which weighed in 9-5. Both graduates who qualified for the championship in 2016, the aspiring bass pros from Texas camped on one area all day. It was a main-lake spot that was loaded with bait. “We found one place in practice and kind of left it alone,” says Shelton. “We went in there today [tournament day] and wore ’em out.” Although the spot was located near some barge tie-offs that were visible above the water, the real key was a ledge that sloped up to a shell bed – popular hard-bottom substrate on the Tennessee River system – that was about 5 feet deep on top. Above the shell bed the anglers located a 2-foot-deep sunken island. Pfoh and Shelton positioned on the shallow side of the shell bed and cast out, dragging black and blue or green pumpkin jigs rigged with matching Strike King Rage Craw trailers back up the slope. They also circled the island, which did produce a keeper fish, but the move was primarily aimed at allow- ing their shell bed area time to rest and replenish. Each time they re-fished the main spot they landed another keeper. While the jig bite was key, according to Pfoh the team also caught a couple of fish on a Strike King 5XD crankbait and a Bass Pro Shops Speed Shad swimbait rigged Texas style with a screw-in weight, which they steadily worked through some grass. Pfoh and Shelton earned a $10,000 scholarship for the win. FLWFISHING.COM I AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2017