High School Championship Top 10 Baits
What to throw at Pickwick in mid-June
June is typically ledge-fishing season in the Tennessee Valley, especially at Pickwick, but the 2019 High School Fishing National Championship was a more diverse event than most folks might have expected. Patterns ranging from junk-fishing the bank to targeting docks and other shoreline cover to working the main-lake ledges all worked. Here are the baits used by the top 10 teams during the week.
1. Champions Christopher Capdeboscq and Sam Acosta of Northlake Christian High School caught their fish by dragging a 3/4-ounce Strike King Jointed Structure Head with a Zoom Magnum Trick Worm and cranking with a 6th Sense Cloud 9 C20 in sexified chartreuse shad.
2. Finishing second, Cedar Bluff’s Collin McCullough and Justin Hamlin mixed up their presentations with a 12-inch Reaction Innovations worm, a Tightlines jig with a Reaction Innovations Man Bear Pig trailer, and Z Boss 20 and 22 crankbaits in chartreuse shad.
3. Nathan Boatwright and Dustin Williamson, representing North Augusta High School, used a Zoom Magnum Trick Worm on a stand-up shaky head and 7/16-ounce Gene Larew Biffle HardHead.
4. In fourth place, JD Bedford and Walker Brown showed the fish a one-two punch with Carolina-rigged Zoom Z Craws and Brush Hogs, and drop-shots with 4 1/2-inch Roboworms. They also fished a Z Boss crankbait.
5. Dalton Smith and Hayze Hutzel finished fifth by catching most of their fish on football jigs and big worms on 1-ounce shaky heads.
6. Sarah Morehead and Hunter Valerius relied on Texas-rigged Zoom Mag Finesse Worms and Luck-E-Strike Ring Worms to place sixth.
7. In the No. 7 spot, Grady Johnson and Dawson Turner of Harmony High School caught their fish on a 3/4-ounce shaky head with a 12-inch worm and a 3/4-ounce Strike King football head with a NetBait Paca Chunk Sr.
8. Easton Fothergill and Nike Dumke of Grand Rapids High School fished a Texas-rigged 12-inch Zoom Ol’ Monster Worm and an 8-inch Zoom Lizard on a Carolina rig.
9. For ninth place, Brooks Anderson and David Britt caught their fish on a jig and a 3/8-ounce shaky head with a Zoom Magnum Trick Worm in junebug or plum apple.
10. Representing Clay High, Dalton Barnard and Parker Stalvey fished a River2Sea Whopper Plopper, a Megabass Vision 110+1 jerkbait and a wacky rig.