The Noblesville High School duo of Jackson Baltz and Carter Bell, both of Noblesville, Indiana, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing 13 pounds, 4 ounces to win the 2018 Bass Pro Shops FLW High School Fishing Lake Monroe Open.
According to post-tournament reports, the duo caught their limit targeting grass with topwaters, buzz frogs and a Texas-rigged Yamamoto Senko.
A field of 33 teams competed in the no-entry fee tournament, which launched from the Cutright Boat Ramp. In FLW/TBF High School Fishing competition, the top 10-percent of teams competing advance to the High School Fishing National Championship.
The top three teams on Lake Monroe that advanced to the 2019 High School Fishing National Championship:
1st: Noblesville High School, Noblesville, Ind. – Jackson Baltz and Carter Bell, both of Noblesville, Ind., five bass, 13-4
2nd: Mount Vernon High School, Fortville, Ind. – Casey Cornelius, Indianapolis, Ind., and Devan Skaggs, Fortville, Ind., four bass, 10-5
3rd: Bloomington South High School, Bloomington, Ind. – Colby Reed and Jenna Albertson, both of Bloomington, Ind., four bass, 9-1
Rounding out the top 10 teams:
4th: Trinity High School, Louisville, Ky. – Justin Risk, Louisville, Ky., and Hayden Bailey, Goshen, Ky., three bass, 7-9
5th: Spencer County High School, Taylorsville, Ky. – Dillon Stallings and Max Sullivan, Taylorsville, Ky., four bass, 6-15
6th: Owen Valley Community High School, Spencer, Ind. – Nathan Phelps and Aiden Clark, both of Spencer, Ind., three bass, 6-15
7th: Westfield High School, Westfield, Ind. – William Dobbs and Keyden Effinger, both of Westfield, Ind., one bass, 6-13
8th: Scottsburg High School, Scottsburg, Ind. – Hunter Breedman, Underwood, Ind., and Wyatt Harmon, Scottsburg, Ind., two bass, 6-2
9th: Crothersville High School, Crothersville, Ind. – Taylor Tatlock and Joeseph Tatlock, both of Crothersville, Ind., three bass, 5-1
10th: Bloomington South High School, Bloomington, Ind. – Gregory Dobbs and Dillan White, both of Bloomington, Ind., two bass, 4-3
Complete results from the event can be found at FLWFishing.com.
The 2018 Bass Pro Shops FLW High School Fishing Lake Monroe Open was a two-person (team) event for students in grades 7-12, open to any Student Angler Federation (SAF) affiliated high school club in the United States. The top 10 percent of each Challenge, Open, and state championship field will advance to the 2019 High School Fishing National Championship on a body of water that has yet to be revealed. The High School Fishing national champions will each receive a $5,000 college scholarship to the school of their choice.