ON TOUR
FLW HIGH SCHOOL FISHING
STUDENT ANGLER FEDERATION’ S 2017 GRAND FINALES
PICKWICK LAKE HOSTS HIGH SCHOOL’ S BEST FOR NATIONAL CHAmPIONSHIP, WORLD FINALS
By Colin Moore
high school teams from Arkansas and Tennessee were the big winners in the Student Angler Federation’ s High School Fishing World Finals and National Championship on Pickwick Lake in late June, but all of the 332 teams that participated got a piece of the prize pie. more than $ 170,000 in scholarship money, fishing equipment, and assorted electronics and gift cards were presented to the teams.
The National Championship, which ran concurrently with the World Finals, featured 142 teams that qualified through a series of tournaments that began at local levels and advanced through state championships and open events. Those teams were included in the World Finals event, which was open to all SAF competitors.
Hunter Davis and Tyler Allenbrand of mount Ida( Ark.) High School won the National Championship with a three-day total of 53-06, while Cal Culpepper and mason Waddell of Harris County( Ga.) High School were second with 51-08. In the World Finals, Jon David Bedford of nearby Lawrence County High School and Walker Brown of Loretto High School, also in Lawrence County, Tenn., won with a final-day sack of 24-09. Hayden Reed and Brandon Johns of Summit High School in Spring Hill, Tenn., were runners-up with 22 pounds.
moving targets
Ledge roulette was the routine for most of the teams from 33 states that competed in the two events. Local stick Randy Haynes’ pre-tournament observation that Pickwick’ s ledge fishing might be“ on again, off again” because of a temporarily altered generation
schedule at the dam proved to be prophetic. Though some current was flowing during the early afternoon each day, it wasn’ t certain or sustained. Likewise, the weather was unsteady, characterized by passing showers and
Tyler Allenbrand( left) and Hunter Davis
cloudy weather that seemed to make bass less likely to stay in place.
For the mount Ida Lions and the Tigers of Harris County, Ga., it eventually amounted to whose supply of fish held out the longest. Late on day two, Davis photo by aNDy haGEDoN
108 fLWfIshIng. cOm I OctOber 2017