ON TOUR
HIGH SCHOOL FISHING NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
TBF/FLW STUDENT ANGLER FEDERATION
HIGH SCHOOL FISHING NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
PICKWICK LAKE| FLORENCE, ALA.
By David A. Brown
WINNING ANGLERS
chad champy and
kyler mckie
north Augusta
Fishing team
Winning Weight:
57-10 (14 fish)
details:
June 27-29, 2018
hosted by
Florence/Lauderdale
tourism
100
t
he hardest part about
winning the High
School Fishing
National Championship
wasn’t necessarily finding
the winning fish; it was
accessing them for three
days. The National
Championship was held
concurrently with the High
School Fishing World Finals
on Pickwick Lake, and even
though Wilson Lake was
also in play, the waters
were split up among 384
teams (232 of them specifi-
cally in the National
Championship). Most teams
stayed on Pickwick, where
Champy and McKie spent
their tournament. Getting
on their spot early each
morning proved essential to
their success, as they
learned that their bigger
fish were moving up shal-
low to feed in the first few
hours of the morning.
The South Carolina team
took the day-one lead by
catching a limit of 23
pounds, 9 ounces. Buoyed
by Champy’s 7-pound, 13-
ounce largemouth, their
catch would stand as the
biggest of the event.
The leaders carried a
margin of 1 pound, 3 ounces
into the second day.
Continuing the early fire-
works, McKie nabbed a 6-
pounder and a 4-pounder
on back-to-back casts, but
they’d add only two more
keepers for 14-05. By the
end of that afternoon’s
weigh-in they held the top
spot by just 3 ounces.
Fortunately, day three
was more generous, and,
despite a slower start, the
North Augusta duo bagged
a limit that went 19-12 and
included a 7-1. It was
enough to secure the win
by 4 ounces over Avery
Brown and Hunter Redman
of George Rogers Clark
with a three-day total of
57-10.
Winning baits
Seeking to distance
themselves from the mov-
ing baits those Tennessee
River fish see so much,
Champy and McKie stuck
with 1/2-ounce black shaky
heads. They used Zoom
Magnum Trick Worms in
plum and redbug for most
of days one and two, but
when the third day found
them with only three keep-
ers at 1 o’clock, McKie
switched to a Zoom Ol’
flWfIshIng.com I august-september 2018