to the lake you’ re fishing the tournament at to find the fish and locate them, so you can catch them in the tournament. It’ s more of a scouting mission than practice.”
On the first day, they caught three fish weighing in at 8 pounds 3 ounces – 13 ounces less than the leaders.
On the second day, Elliott and Motsinger were second again with a three-bass limit of 6 pounds, 14 ounces. They qualified for the final day with a two-day total of 15 pounds, 1 ounce.
The final day the duo caught three fish and hoped they were the ones to help them win the title. They turned in their fish, which weighed 8 pounds and 1 ounce, but finished second by only 1 ounce to a team from west Tennessee.
Following their success at the junior level, the boys turned to the high school division.
In their first summer of fishing, Elliott( then freshman at Silver Creek) and Motsinger( then a freshman at Providence), they made it to the High School World Championship in Grove, Okla.
On the first day, the duo reeled in three bass weighing 10 pounds, 13 ounces, which was good enough for 29th out of 232 teams.
The second day saw the boys slightly slip in the standings. They reeled in three more for 7 pounds, 2 ounces for a combined total of 17 pounds, 15 ounces to finish 64th.
Though the national championship wasn’ t their best showing, Elliott and Motsinger have continued to follow their passion. They won the IBF South Trail tournament at Rocky Point Marina in Cannelton on Aug. 9. They won the title by three-hundredths of an ounce.
“ We caught 25 keeper bass that day and we didn’ t think we would have enough weight
to win,” Elliott said.“ Sure enough, we won. It was a really close finish.”
Now that they have had success in high school, the boys hope to continue fishing in college. Motsinger would like to fish at Murray State or Alabama while Elliott wouldn’ t mind Murray too. Elliott is even eyeing a professional career in the sport, competing for larger trophies and better cash payouts.
“ My biggest goal for the future is I want to fish professionally. To get started, my goal is to fish in college one day and get scholarships.”
SEPT / OCT 2025 NEWS AND TRIBUNE SPORTS MAGAZINE PAGE NO. 19