Jasper, Tx. April 11---On a weekend when weather was a very big question mark and local forecasters were predicting heavy downpours, Mother Nature had other ideas, as she smiled down on the kids and captains of SETX and provided them with abundant sunshine and warm temperatures. A swollen Sam Rayburn Reservoir greeted over 350 teams from 40 different high schools across Southeast Texas as they participated in the 4th of 5 qualifying tournaments in the Ford/Skeeter SETX HS Championship Series. Teams scattered out over the nearly 200,000 acre impoundment to gather the heaviest 5 bass and bring them back to the Umphrey Family Pavilion to compare their catches to the rest of the field. Ms Jade Bucholz, an 8th grader from Hamshire Fannett. got things started with an absolutely stirring rendition of our national anthem. To make things even more exciting, the $4700.00 even weight 3.00 lb pot, sponsored by Crystal Heigley and the Allman Company, was claimed by the team of Greyson Guarnere and Justin Bailey from PNG. The pot had been rolling over from the previous 3 tournaments as no one had claimed the growing prize. But in the end, it was the team of Moreno and Carrell,from Shepherd, who found themselves perched comfortably in the Gopher Industries hot seat and atop the 354 boat field.

1st place- Shepherd/ Tanner Moreno-Jackson Carrell/ Boat Captain- Cody Moreno 17.66 lbs

Having pre fished the previous weekend, the team from Shepherd had a pretty good clue of where to start and how to finish their day. Captain Moreno said "the kids had a pretty steady bite all day. They filled their limit at about one o clock and were able to cull once or twice after that to secure their bag". A 5.48 lb lunker anchored their bag. Bass Kandy speed bugs were the baits of choice as they worked their way around the 103 bridge area of the Attoyac in 1-5 foot of water. The team would like to thank their parents, American Rodsmith, Needmore tackle, and Bass Kandy for their support. 

 

2nd place- Hudson/ Kaden Womack-Cayden Innerarity/Boat Captain- Josh Womack 16.29 lbs

Abandoning a bed fishing strategy early proved to be the right move for this team from Hudson. Captain Womack said "we backed out pretty early to 3-5 foot depths when we failed to see any fish on beds. The kids had their limit by 9:30 but a quick 5 minute flurry of three 4 lb fish proved to be exactly what they needed". Black and blue senko's flipped near standing timber in the mid lake area proved to be the combination for the team from Hudson. The team wishes to thank the Hudson fishing team and SETX for all of their hard work in making HS fishing a reality. 

 

3rd place- Orangefield/Tuff Sherman-Hunter Evans/Boat Captain- Charles Chester 15.78 lbs

No pre fishing and fishing "blind" is sometimes just what the Dr ordered and that is exactly what the team from Orangefield did. "We didnt pre fish so we figured with the lake level dropping, we would just back off the banks a little and fish the 6-8 foot depths for our fish", said Captain Chester. Fishing main and secondary points in the mid lake area with swim jigs and soft plastics paid off for the 3rd place team from Orangefield as their nearly 16 lb bag was anchored by a 6.79 lb hawg. The team wished to thank team advisor Adam Brown for all of his help as well as SETX, their sponsors, and the Orangefield team sponsors for all of their support.  

 

The rest of the top ten are as follows:

4th place- Diboll/Tyler Webb-Garrett Morris 15.18 lbs

5th place- Hudson/Colton Nick-Justin Cook 14.71 lbs

6th place- Center/Jared Wiggins-Brett Clark 14.42 lbs

7th place- Buna/Lucas Sammons-Trent Wagstaff 14.16 lbs

8th place- Bridge City/ Evan Champagne-Colt Poole 13.43 lbs

9th place- Evadale/ Kagen Rawls-Casey Black- 13.25 lbs

 

10th place- Buna/ Trace O'Dell-Tanner Cox- 12.93 lbs

 

Top 3 Big Bass are as follows:

Woodville- James Kenneson-Carter Wilson 7.40 lbs

Orangefield- Tuff Sherman-Hunter Evans 6.79 lbs

Deer Park- Jean Jenkins-Baylen Smith  6.64 lbs

 

 

With the backing of sponsors like South Texas Ford Dealers Association and Skeeter Boats, the SETX HS Fishing Association has emerged as the largest HS fishing trail in the country. A huge thank you goes out to the SETX HS Fishing Association Sponsors for 2014-2015: These are the companies that make all of this possible for the kids of Southeast Texas. Please thank them at every opportunity and support these businesses whenever possible because they support the kids of SETX.

Lews, Costa Del Mar, Coastal Field Services, Academy, Lowrance, Rattletrap, Gopher Industries, West LTD, Bass King Clothing, Kick N Bass, Clark Reehm and the Elite Angler Academy, Lake Fork Tackle/Rod Sox, Gator Guards.

For full results or more information about our sponsors, please visit www.setxhighschoolfishing.com or visit or face book page at https://www.facebook.com/setxhighschoolfishing

 

 

Story submitted by Jet Donovan