TBF
WHAT’ S MAKING NEWS IN THE BASS FEDERATION
By Dan Johnson
PRINCE WINS JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Syler Prince conquered a tough bite and hard-fishing field of the nation’ s top youth anglers to win The Bass Federation’ s 2017 Junior World Championship( JWC) Aug. 11-12 on South Carolina’ s Lake Wateree.
The no-entry-fee event featured 11- to 15-year-old state champions from 36 state federations and offered more than $ 10,000 in prizes and scholarships.
On day one of the two-day event, which coincided with the Forrest Wood Cup on nearby Lake Murray, the junior anglers fished against competitors from their own TBF divisions for a chance to advance to Saturday’ s final round. Each angler was paired with another contestant and an adult boat captain, who piloted the boat, but didn’ t fish.
Lake Wateree provided the perfect proving ground. The 13,700-acre reservoir offered plenty of elbowroom and a variety of fish-holding cover and structure, ranging from shoreline vegetation to docks, bridges and offshore sweet spots. Adding to the challenge, the lake’ s largemouth bass uncharacteristically played hard to catch.
Prince, of Palatka, Fla., started his bid for the title by leading the Southern Division with two bass weighing 4 pounds, 4 ounces.
“ Today went really well,” he said after the day-one weighin.“ I didn’ t miss any fish. I did what I wanted to do. I had the bites that I needed, and I got it done.”
Meanwhile, the Mid-Atlantic Division’ s Jeremy Toler of Oceana, W. Va., sacked day one’ s heaviest weight with three
A strong second day spent flipping grass pushed Syler Prince to the top of the Junior World Championship.
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FLWFISHING. COM I OCTOBER 2017