2015 High School Fishing Schedule
Program expands to 7th and 8th grades
PONCA CITY, Okla. (December 19, 2014) – High School Fishing, the nation’s largest bass-fishing circuit dedicated to high school anglers, announced its 2015 state championship series schedule Friday and extended eligibility to seventh- and eighth-grade students.
In 2015 seventh- and eighth-grade students are eligible to compete in High School Fishing tournaments provided that the other team member in the boat with them is in the ninth, 10th, 11th or 12th grade.
“In this manner High School Fishing will operate similar to most traditional high school sports that allow middle school students to ‘play up’ and compete at the high school level," TBF National Youth Director Mark Gintert says.
Each state championship will advance the top 10 percent of teams to one of five conference championships. Each conference championship will then advance the top 10 percent of teams to the 2016 High School Fishing National Championship where students in the final round will experience the thrill of fishing from high-performance Ranger Z520C bass boats and weighing in on the world-famous Walmart FLW Tour stage as they compete for $10,000 in scholarships ($5,000 for each member of the winning team).
In addition to state championships, the 2015 schedule includes a series of national opens that also advance teams to conference championships. The top three teams in each open will advance to the conference championship for their home state.
While advancement to the High School Fishing National Championship is limited to top performers in each conference championship, all High School Fishing teams are eligible to compete in the 2015 High School Fishing World Finals on Pickwick Lake in Florence, Ala., July 7-11.
Visit highschoolfishing.org for the complete schedule. Registration opens Jan. 15. To register, click on the “tournaments” tab and select “2015 state championships” in the drop-down menu. Complete rules for the 2015 season will be available online on or before Jan. 15.
A few state championships have not yet been finalized but will be added to the schedule soon.
“We are excited to offer a lot of new venues for 2015, but we are still ironing out some details on a few state championships,” Gintert adds. “If a state championship is not yet on the schedule, rest assured that it will be added soon.”