Jasper, Tx- 450 HS teams representing 46 high schools from Southeast Texas and beyond converged on Lake Sam Rayburn last Sunday to compete in the 3rd of 5 qualifying tournaments on the South Texas Ford Dealers High School Championship Series presented by Skeeter Boats. Mother Nature was in full show off mode as cool morning temperatures quickly gave way to warming sunshine and more importantly for the anglers, warming water temperatures.
When asked about the general condition of the lake and fishing conditions in an interview on Saturday night, SETX board member Shawn Butler said this, "You can catch em just about any way you want on any bait you want right now. It's the time of year when you can find fish in various stages of the spawn, we expect record numbers of fish to cross our stage tomorrow" said Butler. When asked about the numbers of expected fish to cross the stage on Sunday, SETX Vice President Tom Selman of PNG said, "We have taken the necessary steps to insure that we are doing all we can to make sure those fish are taken care of. We want to thank Rayburn Country and Cowboy PowerSports of Beaumont for providing us with golf carts and utility vehicles to help us get those fish to the tanks in a timely fashion. We take a lot of pride in taking care of the resources this lake provides us with and our system will be tested thoroughly tomorrow. Our system is a dissolved oxygen system recommended by TPWD to insure the lowest possible mortality of our catches" Selman concluded.
SETX President Clint Fountain of Kirbyville went on to say that everyone plays a part in fish care. "We do all we can with our limited bag system, shuttle, and dissolved oxygen systems. There is a very big reason we ask all of our anglers to use our bags and not their own weigh bags. We want all of our kids and captains to understand we would rather have a line of people waiting for bags than a line of people waiting with fish in bags. Leave those fish in the live wells, get one of our bags, and wait for a shuttle ride to the tanks. We all know our parents want pictures of kids with fish when they come off the stage, and that's OK, but we don't need those fish to be out of the bags for no more than 30 seconds when taking photos. Lets have those cameras ready and get those fish down the hill and in the live release boat. We really cant emphasize enough how important it is that we are all on the same page with fish care, especially with warming water temps. We have a wonderful resource here at Rayburn and we want to make sure it stays that way" concluded Fountain.
Tackle Addict First Place Team- 23.00 LBS Little Cypress HS team of Kyler Hebert/Ryan Ford/Boat Capt- James Hebert
Early fog had the team LCM in no hurry to be on the water last Sunday morning when they arrived at San Augustine Park to launch. "We probably didn't get on the water until about 6:45, the fog was just unsafe and we did not get in any hurry" said Capt Hebert. After launching, Capt Hebert said it did not take long to get a big bite. "The 6.2 lb fish came early on a carolina rig soaked in about 5-6 foot of water" said Hebert. When the fog broke and the LCM team was able to see a little bit, they hit the buck brush and shallow grasses in Ayish Bayou with wacky worms where they were rewarded with a consistent bite throughout he day. "The big fish bit early, but the bite remained pretty consistent throughout the day. The kids fished hard and clean and were able to cull a few times" concluded Capt Hebert. The team wished to thank SETX and all of the volunteers that make HS Fishing possible.
2nd Place Team- 22.65 LBS Hudson HS team of Andrew Morris/Hunter Kaemmerling- Boat Capt- John Maddoux
Launching at Cassells Boykin Park, the team from Hudson ran north to shallow grass and bushes where they fished their way to a limit around 10 am. Throwing both frogs and lizards, the team from Hudson caught around 12 fish Sunday. "The boys were not exactly flipping them in one after another, but the bites they were getting were quality fish and when that's happening, you just roll with it and hope the bite continues throughout the day" said Capt Maddoux. Culling 4-5 times, the team from Hudson had their weight by 1 o clock when they caught their largest fish, which weighed right at 5 lbs. "Anytime you can catch a fish like that late in the day, you know its gonna help a lot" said Maddoux. "Those boys fish hard and I could not be any prouder to be a captain for them. The thing I am most proud of is their consistency, they always get 5 fish and its just a lot of fun to have them with me" Maddoux concluded. The team wished to thank Jesus Christ for all of his blessings and being their teams #1 sponsor. A big thank you also to Dannie Daniel and Mr Webb for all of their help with the team.
3rd Place Team- 22.08 LBS Lumberton team of Baylee Flowers/Natalie Doucet- Boat Capt- Rusty Clark
Consistency may be the best way to describe this duo from Lumberton. Their 3rd place finish Sunday makes it 2 in row now!! "It really is amazing to sit back and watch these two girls fish. They are 100% fishing from start til finish. As a captain, I marvel at the growth these two have shown me in just 3 tournaments as young anglers" said Capt Rusty Clark. Throwing carolina rigged Big Bite lizards with Falcon rods and Lews reels spooled with Sunline fluorocarbon at 6-10 foot depths in the mid lake area, the team from Lumberton reported catching 60 fish throughout the day and having a limit by 7:15. "When your largest fish is a shade under 5 lbs and you total 22 lbs, all of the fish look the same" reported Clark. "Those girls take this seriously and they are only getting better every time they go fishing" concluded Clark. The team wished to thank Ranger, Costa, and the entire SETX team for all of their hard work.
Rest of the top Ten
4th Place- 20.62 LBS Bridge City Hunter Bland and Mitchel Ty Collier
5th Place- 19.61 LBS Buna Trace O'Dell and Matthew Martin
6th Place- 18.86 LBS Bridge City Kaden Duncan and Randy Abate
7th Place- 18.81 LBS Nederland Justin Williams and Mason Ouzts
8th Place- 17.83 LBS Warren Jacob Thompson
9th Place- 17.61 LBS College Park Joe BeeBee and Chad Mrazek
10th Place- 17.29 LBS Bridge City Tanner Wilson and Bryce Miller
Top 3 Big Bass
8.78 LBS Bridge City Kaden Duncan and Randy Abate
8.01 LBS Newton Cody Gillard and Andrew Wright
7.58 LBS Hardin Taylor Graham and Wyatt Burgess
With the backing and support of sponsors like the South Texas Ford Dealers Association and Skeeter Boats, the SETX HS Fishing Association has emerged as the premiere HS fishing trail in the country.
A huge thank you goes out to all of our SETX sponsors for the 2015-2016 season. The following companies are the reason SETX exists and we cant thank them enough:
Lews, Costa Del Mar, Tackle Addict, Coastal Field Services, Academy, Lowrance, 6th Sense, Livingston Lures, Minn Kota, Rat L Trap, Gopher Industries, Kick N Bass Scents, Clark Reehm and the Elite Angler Academy, Lake Fork Tackle/Rod Sox, Culprit, Big Bite Baits, Ultra Pro X Cameras, Happy Trails RV's, Cowboy PowerSports, Gator Guards, A-1 Glass, Crystal Heigley and the Allman Real Estate Team, Rayburn Country.
For full results, or more information about all of our sponsors, please visit www.setxhighschoolfishing.com or visit our facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/setxhighschoolfishing/
Story by Jet Donovan
