Estill Springs, Tenn. — “I think within the next five years, high school fishing is going to be huge,” said Kyle Palmer, member of the 2017 Bassmaster High School All-American team presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods. “It’s going to be bigger than college fishing.”
A senior on the Grundy County High School fishing team, Palmer has tallied an impressive six wins in the past 12 months, including a 160-boat Bassmaster High School divisional on Lake Chickamauga and a 93-boat event on Percy Priest. Palmer also earned five other Top 10 finishes and was awarded Grundy County High School Team of the Year with his fishing partner, Kyle Ingleburger.
Palmer is currently serving his second year as the president of his high school bass team, and assisted with two major fundraisers for a freshman teammate with cancer.
“He is the leader of the Faith Unleashed club …” wrote Rita Sliger, Franklin County High School. “They discussed positive and proper ways to handle situations. This also included trying to find morally good and fair solutions to problems they each have to face.”
Palmer has just recently received a fishing scholarship for Bethel University in Tennessee for the fall 2017 semester.
“I’m going to spend four years at Bethel and see where it takes me,” Palmer said. “I know John Garrett fished the Bassmaster Classic this year, so hopefully I can work my way there!”
Bassmaster Elite Series pro Jared Lintner partnered with Palmer to participate in a special Bassmaster High School All-American Bass Tournament held in conjunction with the 2017 Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest benefiting the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department event.
“I really appreciate everyone at B.A.S.S. going through all of the nominations; my partner and I were selected as All-State for Tennessee,” Palmer said. “There’s so many high school anglers across the country that would like to be in our shoes, so it really means a lot.
“Next year I’ll be going to college and hopefully pursuing the dreams of becoming one of these guys that’s taking a high schooler out one day.”
Read more about the Bassmaster High School All-American anglers on Bassmaster.com and look for their profiles in the September/October issue of Bassmaster magazine.
