The Great Sport of Fishing

BY TERI R. WILLIAMS PHOTOS BY RUTH ENGLISH

Imagine your child rushing home from school excited to get outside to practice his or her school sport. “No, Mom, I don’t want to watch TV and load up on sugarfilled snacks while doing nothing. I’ve got to practice.” It’s a miracle. Your teenager is getting all the sunshine and fresh air he or she needs and taking time to de-stress and reflect in peace and quiet. Well, until that big fish hits the line. And then the excitement of reeling in the great mystical creature that has eluded generations of fishermen and fisherwomen brings out a holler. The result is a great sense of satisfaction and a good time for members of the fishing clubs at Toombs County High School (TCHS) and Vidalia High School (VHS).

In the 2020-2021 school year, Georgia joined Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi to become the fifth state to sanction bass fishing as an official high school sport. The new sport collaborates with Fishing League Worldwide (FLW), the world’s largest fishing tournament association, and The Bass Federation (TBF) with official tournaments for the opportunity to qualify for a State Championship competition.

When Joey Montford, TCHS AG teacher, held the school’s first informational meeting on the newly sanctioned sport, some seventy students showed up hoping to become anglers. There was plenty of interest in joining the school’s bass fishing angler club but not plenty of boats for fishing. According to GHSF (Georgia High School Fishing) rules, boats must meet certain specifications. For example, “All boats must be propeller-driven and a minimum of 16 feet in length” (ghsa.net). By the sign-up deadline, only two tenth-grade students, Hunter Hitchcock and Neal Braddy, turned in the paperwork and membership fees. Neal’s dad, Wesley Braddy, volunteered his boat and his time to serve as captain for tournaments.

Coach David McLeod, science/ special education teacher and football coach at VHS, began their bass fishing program with four freshmen: Max Beverly, Noah Cummings, Luke Hollis, and Luke Lariscey. Local fisherman Ronnie Green allowed the team to use his boat and volunteered to serve as Boat Captain for tournaments.

To begin, although an angler is a fisherman, a fisherman is not necessarily an angler. An angler is someone who fishes with a hook and line. A fisherman, on the other

Toombs County High School's competitive fishing team includes Coach Joey Montford, Neal Braddy and Hunter Hitchcock. Neal's dad, Wesley, has served as a volunteer captain for tournaments.

hand, may prefer to bring in his or her big catch with a net, a cage, and/ or traps. Another huge difference in that weekend fishing trip and rules for high school competitive bass fishing is that fishing is about “catching,” not “keeping.” Fish caught in a tournament need to be kept alive. If the fish is not alive at weigh-in time, points are deducted.

Like with any other sport, developing skills and improving knowledge is vital. According to bass fishing Coach Brian at Central High School in Northern Illinois, casting involves building skills like flipping, roll casting, and skipping. But casting skills are only one part of the picture. Bass fishing is basically about fish. Coach Brian states on his website, which is an incredible resource for both schools and parents, that he uses the classroom to teach “specific information about bass behavior, habitat, forage base, and seasonal migrations of the bass” (www.highschoolfishingcentral. com). (Coach Brian was also a part of “setting up the first high school fishing tournament series in the country over ten years ago.”)

A “team” refers to one or two high school anglers plus one boat captain who can’t be a professional fishing guide or their high school buddy. That means that either someone’s parent, grandparents, relative, or a supportive member of the community, has to have a heart for the sport, the student, and the appropriate-size boat and motor. The faster the boat, the better for getting out there first to the best fishing spot. The winners are scored by weight total of the five fish limit. That means that if number six is a better catch, something has to go back in the water first. There’s no fishing with live bait. And, of course, everybody wears a life jacket while the boat is moving. There are more rules, but that’s the gist of things.

Both TCHS and VHS fishing club members participated in the 2021 qualifying tournaments. “Our first tournament was on January 23rd at Lake Seminole,” said Joey. “The second was on February 13th at West Point Lake. The third on March 20th at Lake Oconee. The rain and wind made for pretty tough conditions that day. And the fourth was on April 10th at Lake Hartwell. We saw everything from regular Jon boats to expensive bass boats and offshore boats.”

The Vidalia High School fishing team includes, left to right, Coach David McLeod, Luke Lariscey, Max Beverly, Luke Hollis, and Noah Cummings.

Photo by Carla Davis, The Davis House Photography

“We fished in tournaments at Lake Seminole, Clarks Hill Lake, Lake Oconee, and Lake Sinclair,” said David. “At the Clarks Hill Tournament, Max Beverly caught the biggest fish in the tournament overall. At Lake Oconee, Noah Cummings and Luke Lariscey placed in the top 15 out of 110 plus teams, which qualified them for the state tournament.”

Max Beverly competes during a fishing tournament.

David has big plans for the coming fishing tournament season. “I’d like to take the anglers out on different lakes this summer and fall to continue building on the knowledge that they gained this winter and spring. I plan to research information on fishing in the lakes where tournaments will be held. We also plan to ‘pre-fish’ these lakes the day before the tournament.”

Both fishing coaches hope to see more anglers join their clubs. But more opportunity comes with a need for more boats and boat captains. “We are very thankful that people in the community allowed us to use their boats and boat captain for us,” said David. “We were able to do what we did because of people like Layton Jones, Ronnie Green, and Ricky Cummings since the school does not have its own boat. I hope that before these first anglers graduate, we can raise enough funds to be able to have a boat for the school, which will enable future anglers to have an opportunity to participate.”

This past season, TCHS angler Neal Braddy was invited to serve as an ambassador at a Major League Fishing Tournament. “He got to ride around with the tournament leaders,” said Joey. “It was a great opportunity. The winner

of the professional tournament was awarded $135,000.” Neal hopes to go to the University of Montevallo in Alabama when he graduates to study Civil Engineering. The University is one of many affiliated with the Collegiate Bass Anglers Association (CBAA). According to High School Fishing Coach Brian, “[T]here are an estimated 610 college bass fishing teams in the United States, a number that continues to grow larger each year.”

I’d be willing to bet no kid is ever going to ask, “Now, how is this information going to benefit me beyond high school?” But for the sake of the adults in the room, high school fishing clubs can help create interest in many essential careers in the environmental and ecosystem sciences. So much depends on this next generation understanding the importance of water quality, aquatic ecosystems, and conservation. What better way than out on the water fishing, seeing, touching, experiencing nature, and all that connects to it in our world to help impart that kind of desire?

If fishing had been a school sport when I was in school, one thing is certain: my high school sweetheart, now husband of forty-one years, would have had something to look forward to other than industrial arts. Back then, playing sports meant making the football or baseball team. Clint still cringes at the memory of that one week of high school

Luke Lariscey and Noah Cummings with Coach McLeod display some of their catch during a tournament.

football tryouts that nearly got him killed. He went straight home at the end of tryouts and got his fishing rod back out and walked down to the “big pond” in the back of the family farm. We don’t need a study to convince us that outside activity and connection with a group of other students is good for our kids. But just in case someone needs a bit more convincing, I will say that recent studies revealed “that fishing can provide both short-term relief and long-term healing for people with PTSD. And it doesn’t end there. Angling also has great potential to help people with depression and anxiety” (fishingbooker.com). Need I say more?