island, the team zeroed in on shallow
grass with woody cover and hooked
bass in depths ranging from 8 inches
to 5 feet. one such area was particu-
larly productive.
“we were fishing a stump where we
caught a couple in practice,” cicero
explains. “we caught our three best
fish there today [the final day] and
ended it all.”
snyder notes that they enjoyed
their fastest action throughout the
tournament during the morning hours
and in overcast conditions – a trend
that continued on the final day.
for the win, cicero and snyder
earned their choice of team scholar-
ship offers to go to a top school and
fish on the yeTi flw college fishing
team, including a $56,000 ($28,000 per
angler) scholarship offer from Bethel
University, a $100,000 ($50,000 per
angler) scholarship offer from Kentucky
christian University and an $80,000
($40,000 per angler) scholarship offer
from simpson University. snyder plans
to join the United states Marine corps
after graduation, but cicero says the
scholarship options could be life-
changing for him.
“This is an amazing opportunity,”
he says. “The doors are wide open
right now to three great schools, and i
have a lot of thinking to do.”
The record-breaking purse of more
than $2.85 million in college scholar-
ships, cash, gift cards and prizes has
elevated the standard not only for saf
High school fishing, but across all lev-
els of competitive bass fishing.
in total, more than 60 scholarship
offers – some to specific schools and
some in cash to any school in the
country – were offered to top teams
at the event. all teams had to meet
eligibility requirements of each
school’s scholarship program.
contributing to the total scholarship
offers and prizes were $1.62 million
from simpson University in redding,
calif., $1.08 million from Kentucky
christian University, $96,000 from
Bethel University in Tennessee,
$10,000 from flw and $12,000 from
The Bass federation. Many of the
scholarship offers have already been
accepted by eligible students for the
upcoming semester.
“it’s great to see our sponsor part-
ners and these universities supporting
young people in fishing and outdoor
sports,” TBf president and ceo
robert cartlidge says. “This is one of
the reasons why we founded the
national high school program in the
U.s. back in 2007, so that young
anglers could live their dream and earn
a good education through fishing that
would be on par with any other sport.
“The future of these anglers and
the sport of high school fishing will
never be the same,” cartlidge adds.
“it was something to see, as multiple
colleges and university recruiters were
on site competing for top teams to
attend their institutions. whatever else
happens, that is a success for these
young people in my book.”
The 2020 High school fishing
world finals and High school fishing
national championship dual event is
set for la crosse, wis. full results and
information can be found at high-
schoolfishing.org.
Fish Like a Pro.
Pledge to
PITCH IT.
Protect our lakes and rivers by recycling
your worn-out soft-plastic baits at every
FLW tournament. Just look for the FLW
Foundation, Keep America Fishing Pitch It
recycling container. It’s a simple action
with a big impact.
Visit pledgetopitchit.org & FLWFishing.com/foundation
FALL 2019 I FLWFISHING.COM
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