2016 HSF Championship Midday Update Day 2
The action is picking up in the final minutes of the National Championship
Table Rock Lake took the 10 anglers competing in the TBF/FLW Student Angler Federation High School Fishing National Championship to school Sunday morning in the opening session of the title round. The five two-angler teams competing for the title reported that the fishing was productive in the early going, but then gradually slowed until a late-morning spurt of activity.
Tournament leaders Chase Myers and Cole Swede of the Arkansas Student Angler Federation had three keepers in the first 45 minutes and went through a long cold spell before filling their limit late in the morning. The two were fishing single swimbaits, crawfish imitators and umbrella rigs in the Big Creek area.
Second-place anglers Daniel Hechler and Cole Wessner ran far up the White River, but reports indicated that they had only one keeper by late morning. The pair caught its best fish Saturday afternoon on Z-Man finesse worms. Making long casts to bedding fish was the key for them.
Tyler Matthews and Blake Stephenson, the third-place team, had four fish in the livewell by 9:45. They were using Green Fish Tackle jigheads paired with Zoom craws and spent the morning in the Baxter area of the lake.
Daelyn Whaley and Carter McNeil had one keeper by 8 o’clock but were having trouble spotting bedding fish in the windy pockets where they filled their limit on day one. Whaley was using a Zoom Trick Worm while McNeil fished a variety of swimbaits and jerkbaits. They focused on Aunt’s Creek and pockets between there and off the main lake.
Zeke Gossett and Ryan Shields had four in the boat by late morning, making the long run from Port of Kimberling Resort & Marina to Cape Fair worth it. The fourth-place anglers, they caught their fish on shaky heads, umbrella rigs and jerkbaits.
The High School Fishing National Championship weigh-in will begin at 3:30 p.m. It’s being held at the Walmart No. 1 store in Rogers, Ark., in conjunction with the final weigh-in of the Walmart FLW Tour event on Beaver Lake.
The five finalists, in their current standings, include:
- Chase Myers-Cole Swede, Arkansas Student Angler Federation, 15-05
- Daniel Hechler-Cole Wessner, Student Angler Federation Cincinnati Youth, 13-00
- Tyler Matthews and Blake Stephenson, Georgia Student Angler Federation, 11-11
- Daelyn Whaley and Carter McNeil, Abbeville Panthers, South Carolina, 11-04
- Zeke Gossett and Ryan A. Shields, Alabama Panthers, 11-02