THE BASS FEDERATION
On Championship Friday , while most of the field reported a slower bite , Carey and Kauffman arrived at their starting spot to find fish actively feeding . While Carey said their bite wasn ’ t necessarily fast and furious , it didn ’ t take too long to put a limit similar to the previous day in the livewell . Then , around noon , Carey caught a 2 3 / 4-pounder , which culled a 2-pounder . At that point , the teammates started to believe they might actually be crowned national champs .
“ Whenever we caught that one , we both just kind of looked at each other , and we were like , ‘ dude , I got a money plus entry into the Toyota Series Championship on Wheeler Lake in November , where they will compete as co-anglers .
“ I wish I could put it into words , but I can ’ t comprehend that we just did this ,” Carey said shortly after posing with the trophy . “ It feels amazing that all the hard work paid off .”
Carey and Kauffman ’ s optimism about contending on Hartwell sprang from the last time the famed fishery hosted the National Championship and World Finals , in 2021 . Freshmen at the time , they finished 13th in the World Finals and fell in love with the lake . They returned to fish it every summer since .
The knowledge gained during those trips proved invaluable . The teammates arrived at Hartwell with a sizable stash of offshore waypoints , then added more during practice . With more than 400 total boats on the water all three days , having so many spots at their disposal came in handy .
“ With a 400-plus boat field out here , there are people on a lot of spots 24 / 7 ,” Kauffman said . “ So , running down the lake , you ’ re like , ‘ Oh , they ’ re there , they ’ re there . Oh , this spot is open .’ So , just having a large amount of spots to fish really helped . Just running waypoint after waypoint after waypoint all day long , eventually
ran into the right ones at the right time when they ’ re schooling , actively feeding .”
Carey and Kauffman spent all their time offshore targeting brush and humps , catching a mix of largemouth and spotted bass . They used “ traditional herring baits ,” rotating between a chrome Sebile Magic Swimmer , a flutter spoon and a rising bait . They only weighed one bass that ate a fluke , but the Hartwell staple produced their biggest fish of the week , a 4-11 spot on Day 1 .
That fish anchored a 12-2 openingday bag , the third-biggest limit of the event . Despite losing a “ giant ” when a treble hook pulled off a split ring , they added 8-10 on Day 2 and climbed into the lead . feeling ,’” Carey said . “ I ’ m always the most nervous person , the most down person , ‘ we ’ re never going to win .’ And we kind of just looked at each other , and we ’ re like , this feels right . This feels like it might happen .”
After capping their high school careers in style , Carey and Kauffman both plan to continue fishing competitively . Carey will join the accomplished bass fishing team at Lander University in the fall , while Kauffman plans to keep competing in the Phoenix Bass Fishing League . Topping such a stout field will send both off with a shot of confidence .
“ It ’ s a huge jumpstart to any career winning a tournament of this caliber , winning a tournament with this number of boats ,” Carey said .
76 MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM | AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2024