LUMBERTON, Texas — A member of the Lumberton High School Fishing Team and 2017 Bassmaster High School All-American presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods team member, Jared Goebel has earned three tournament wins in the past year — most notably, a victory over 517 teams in the Southeast Texas High School Fishing Association (SETX) tournament on Sam Rayburn. Additionally, he landed in the Top 20 three other times, including a third-place showing at the Lake Fork National High School Open with a field of 165 teams.
Goebel has worked as the treasurer of the Lumberton High School Fishing Team, and currently serves as the team’s president and helps to organize the 74 members on the team.
“I have known Jared since his freshman year when he joined our team,” wrote Bryan Thomas, advisor of the Lumberton High School Fishing Team. “He is a super responsible young man that makes excellent grades, a leader on campus and an avid angler. Along with these attributes Jared has been instrumental in securing sponsors for the team.”
Goebel has also volunteered at The Giving Field, a nonprofit garden, as well as charity skeet shoots and the Lumberton Middle School Activity Day.
Bassmaster Elite Series pro Gary Klein partnered with Goebel 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.
“My hat’s off to B.A.S.S. for doing this,” Klein said. “I know what it would have meant to me to have a program like this.
“Here we have 12 All-Americans, and most people don’t realize what they went through to get here, not only on the fishing side but on the educational side, too. This is very rewarding to me. It’s neat to see so many young anglers being introduced to a sport that I’m so passionate about.”
Klein, who burst onto the B.A.S.S. circuit at age 19, winning the Arizona Invitational on Lake Powell and nearly beating Roland Martin out of Angler of the Year the same season, has a high opinion of his partner, Goebel.
“This kid, with a flip stick and a 1/2-ounce jig in his hand, he’s pretty lethal,” Klein said. “He caught more fish and bigger fish than I did, and I was trying to keep up with him.” The pair had a respectable total of 7-13, including Klein’s 3-6 and Goebel’s 4-7.
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.
