THE TOURNAMENT REPORT |
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8 . U . S . ARMY HIGH SCHOOL FISHING PRESENTED BY FAVORITE FISHING NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP Lake Hartwell June 30 – July 3 |
9 . TOYOTA SERIES PRESENTED BY A . R . E . NORTHERN DIVISION Lake Champlain July 15 – 17 |
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Jerry Brumbaugh and Hunter Klotz of Central High School in Martinsburg , Pennsylvania topped a field of over 250 boats to take home the top $ 10,000 top prize at the U . S . Army High School Fishing National Championship on Lake Hartwell . In addition , the duo received several scholarship offers and a pair of spots as Strike King co-anglers in the Toyota Series Championship this fall .
Brumbaugh and Klotz weighed in a three-fish limit of 9-3 on Day 1 , tied for seventh place entering the second day of competition . Another limit of 10-2 moved them into second place for the final round , at which point , things got tough .
While much of the field was beating the bank , Brumbaugh and Klotz stuck to their guns — running cane piles using forward-facing sonar to suss out fish willing to bite their Sebile Magic Swimmers .
The childhood friends stayed the course and trusted their game plan , at least enough to weigh in a limit good for 9-9 ( 28-13 total ) to secure the win .
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Auburn , New Hampshire ’ s Stephen Estes is definitely no stranger to tournaments held on Lake Champlain . All seven events he ’ s fished with MLF have come on Champlain and seven was his lucky number in mid-July when he finally secured his first win .
Estes did all his damage with his Lowrance ActiveTarget system , focusing on fish in just a few key areas . One area in particular — his best spot — didn ’ t look like much on a map , but it was loaded with bait and big , aggressive smallmouth . Fishing 35 to 40 feet of water , Estes relied on a drop-shot from Hawg Pours Hand Made Bass Baits called the Hawg Teaser to weigh in 61-3 for the three-day tournament .
With the win , Estes earned a $ 44,000 check and the satisfaction of knowing he bested some true hammers in Bass Pro Tour superstar Bryan Thrift ( sixth ) and Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit pros Matt Becker ( second ), Dakota Ebare ( fourth ) and Kyle Hall ( fifth ), as well as a handful of local studs like Bryan Labelle ( third ) and JJ Judd ( eighth ).
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PHOTO BY HUNTER RUD
PHOTO BY JODY WHITE
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