Competing under the B.A.S.S. High School Nation banner and guidelines, (60) student angler teams took to the waters on Saturday, November 2, to compete in the very first Texas High School Bass Association Open Series tournament of the 2013-2014 fishing season. One hundred and twelve student anglers representing (19) different high schools battled on historic Lake Fork for the right to take home the very first THSBA Open crown.
Headquartered at Oak Ridge Marina, our student anglers were greeted by Blue Bird skies, brisk North winds, and a Lake Fork bass population mostly infected with a serious case of the “Hush Mouth”. Even with these adverse conditions, two-thirds of the field managed to catch a keeper fish over the course of the day. When the dust settled, the Quinlan Ford duo of Zach Starling and Colton Kirk stood atop the field bringing in a (5) fish limit weighing 6.63 pounds. Big Bass honors of the tournament went to Jaylon Stanley of the Jefferson Bass Assassins with a 2.18 pound under the slot fish. And finally, the first Club Team Trophy of the year went to Kaufman High School and Team Advisor Steve Holland with a Top 3 Combined Team Weight of 11.52 pounds.
Do not let the small weights fool you, as Lake Fork has built one of the best trophy lakes in the country by imposing an aggressive (16) inch to (24) inch slot limit on all largemouth bass. Any fish caught between these lengths must be immediately released to be caught another day. Therefore, our student anglers had to implement a strategy to target a certain class of fish in order to compete in this event. Congratulations to all our student anglers and schools who participated in this tournament! We look forward to seeing everyone in two weeks as the B.A.S.S. High School Nation Open Series moves to Lake Palestine on Saturday, November 16th. Click here for the full results.
