BRHS team wins it all

STORY HENRY ZIMMER & BREANNA MANLEY PHOTOS BY HENRY ZIMMER

With high school graduation in the rearview mirror and their futures already set to fish in college, Benjamin Russell High School’s Stihl Smith and Slade Davis pulled off the miracle. Going into the tournament at Lake Eufaula in June, they didn’t have enough points to head to the national stage, but they came home with the state championship trophy.

Smith and Davis have been fishing ever since they can remember.

Smith has been bass fishing since he was 12 years old.

“Nobody I knew really cared to fish for bass back then, so I learned to do it myself. I got a boat around 12, and that’s when I really started learning all I could about it,” Smith explained.

Though he’d played baseball through his elementary school years, Smith gave up the sport in his sophomore year; and then, he joined the BRHS fishing team.

“I played baseball almost all my life, and I realized I

Wdidn’t like how much time the sport took away from me. I still wanted to do something, though. I talked to Coach Williams, and I joined the fishing team after talking with him about it,” Smith said.

Davis, who transferred to Benjamin Russell from Dadeville for his eighth-grade year, has been around fishing his whole life and believes he developed his love of fishing from the anglers in his life.

“I was raised around it, and it really has turned into my whole life. Mainly, my dad taught me how to fish. Both my dad and grandad helped me learn more about fishing early on, but I really credit my dad when it comes to my love of the sport,” Davis said.

Davis was first introduced to tournament fishing when he joined the Dadeville fishing team. When he transferred to the Alexander City, he looked up fishing team Coach Josh Williams.

“I joined the Ben Russell fishing team in the eighth grade. I transferred from Dadeville to Benjamin Russell, and I wanted to join the team because I had so much fun fishing on Dadeville’s team. I talked to Coach Williams,” Davis explained.

The two teamed up in a boat, and Smith’s father, Jeff Smith, captained for them. He was a father figure and a coach. He also handled the background duties for the duo, organizing coolers in the boat and booking hotel rooms.

But a week before the state tournament, which the team expected would be their last, Jeff was killed in a tractor accident.

“We knew it was going to be tough,” Williams said. “Stihl struggled a bit, but he told me that he was going to win state for his dad. We did everything we could to prepare them.”

Every Benjamin Russell boat adorned a flag remembering Captain Jeff.

Many of Benjamin Russell’s anglers struggled during the opening round. Only the boats of Smith and Davis and fellow Wildcats Jackson Fuller and Davis Barnett hit their three-fish limit on the first day of fishing.

When every fish had been counted and the final tallies came in on the first day of the tournament, it was the boat that said it would win that led the field.

“After that first day, I thought they might actually pull this off,” Williams said.

On the second and final day, Smith and Davis crushed the pack. Smith reeled in the tournament’s biggest fish, a whopping 7.31 pounder, adding to his boat’s final score of 28.99 points across two days. The boys finished more than four points ahead of the second place boat.

Winning at the state competition secured Smith and Davis one more chance to fish together. Earning a top-five spot at state guaranteed the team a place at the Bassmaster National Championship, alongside Fuller and Barnett. That tournament was fished after Lake magazine’s presstime, so check The Alex City Outlook’s sports page for the results.

This fall, the anglers will fish again, but they’ll be on separate teams at separate schools.

Davis accepted a fishing scholarship from the University of Montevallo.

“I decided to go to Montevallo because they’re the No. 1 fishing team on the collegiate level in the nation. They also have this neat program called the President’s Outdoor Scholars Program, which is where students can take trips. The program isn’t traditional for colleges. Those who participate in the program have a love and appreciation for the outdoors, and Montevallo encourages that,” Davis said.

He plans to major in business marketing and hopes to go pro.

Much like Davis, Smith is eager to see what the future holds.

He’ll stay close to home to start his college career, attending Central Alabama Community

College in Alexander City.

“I decided to go to CACC because I’m not quite sure what I want to do career-wise, so I thought I could go to CACC and get a good education in my hometown. I’m still deciding what’s next. CACC fishing team is also doing really well, and I’m excited to be part of it,” Smith explained.

Smith and Davis had needed at least a top-five showing at state to guarantee their trip to the national championship.

And in the first tournament ever without their captain, they won it all.

“I knew I wanted to win it for Dad,” Smith said. “I went down there with the mindset of winning and trying to make my dad proud. Luckily we did.”

Facing Page: Smith and Davis show off their big catch; Below: Both anglers won scholarships for college; Bottom photo: Smith (center) will fish at CACC this fall, and Davis (right) will go to Montevallo.