Washington’s Junior & High School State Championships held at Moses Lake.

      Five Juniors and Twenty six High school Student Anglers converged on Moses Lake to compete for Washington State bragging rights as the 2017 State Bass fish High School team Champions and the Junior State Bass fishing Champion. Both will be headed to National Championships to be held later this summer.  High School Champs will be headed to Pick Wick Lake at Florence Alabama June 27^th to July 1^nd.

     Juniors will compete on Lake Wateree South Carolina in conjunction with the Forest Wood Cup event to be held in August.  Juniors took to the water on Saturday with weather conditions improving and the fish moving up on beds. Jordan Gregory came out on top this year with a winning weight of 12.12lbs and big fish of the tournament a 3.55lbs large mouth.  Blake Williams who was last year junior champ fell just ounces short to repeat with 11.75 lbs. Third place Carson Yancey who was also a past junior champ weighed 7.68lbs for third place , Tate Webb finished fourth with 7.19 and youngest competitor, eleven year old Charles Hill finished 5^th.

     Sunday’s weather had improved with sunny skies and calm conditions as the High school teams again made things interesting at the weigh in. Trevor Huff & Wade Wilkens took top team honors with 19.00lbs even, with a close second of 18.96lbs by Blake Williams & Drake Ofsthun, Third went to Austin Redding and Madden Tobeck with 18.75lbs. Huff & Wilkens also weighed big fish of the tournament with a large mouth weight of 4.75lbs.

      $1200 of Scholarship funds were issued to the top three teams. Sponsor donations and grants offered to the top three teams of $1200 are offered at all four High school tournaments this year.  Student Angler Federation members can accumulate certificates throughout high school and are redeemable upon enrollment in college or trade school within a year of High school graduation. Thanks to our generous sponsors. Cabela’s, Spokane Valley Marine, Lake City Western Vigilantes, Three Rivers Marine, St Croix rods, Limit out Marine, Pot Holes Bass club, Long Lake Bass Club. Jon’s N.W. Outdoors, Sniper lures, Big Hawg Baits, The Prop Shop.

Fourth—---------Mathew Milatz & Joshua McGill ------------18.63lbs

Fifth--------------Brayden Liebe & Dawson Pudelko-----------17. 43lbs

Sixth—----------J.T. Long & Robert Owen-----------------------16.50lbs

Seventh—----------Jordan Gregory & Tate Webb-------------16.19lbs

Eighth--------------Adam Luoto & Parker Patching------------15.03lbs

Ninth------------Brayden Tomlinson & Brandon Johnson—14.34 lbs

Tenth—--------Blair Peters & Brandon Buetler---------------12.07lbs

Eleventh—--------Eddie Smith & Tanner Hammond--------11.73lbs

Twelvth-----------Tanner Boday & Pearce Johnson----------10.64lbs

April 9th Lake Washington
Junior & High School Team Open Results

The first tournament of the year for both juniors and High School bass teams took place on Lake Washington, leading up to the State Bass Fishing Championships on Moses Lake May 20 & 21^st. It will be followed by high school team tournament series at Lake Chelan in June and finish at the Pot hole in August.

Nine high school teams and three junior anglers took to the water under good weather conditions after two days of heavy winds and cool temperatures.  The fish were pre spawn and the weather turned favorable with just a breeze on the water.  Juniors struggled but managed to have one bring in a good small mouth bass for first place and big fish honors along with trophies for both, Pearce Johnson finished on top of just three juniors with a 3.55 lb. small mouth.  New comers Riley Maas & Charles Hill finished second and third respectively, both were unfamiliar with the lake and plan on making a run at the state championship on Moses Lake on June 20. Special thanks go to Steward Squires of the WBA club who volunteered to boat for the day with all three juniors, whom he said were the best of sportsman fishing together.

On the high school side, nine teams showed up to start the high school tournament series that will culminate at the pot holes in August for the points series championship, along with angling tournament team of the year and big fish tournament team of the year.  High school team new comers Austin Redding & Madden Tobeck finished first with a mixed bag of largemouth and small mouth to finish in first place with a weight of 14.87 lbs.  Second place went to Mathew Milatz & Joshua McGill who brought in another nice bag of fish with five small mouth that tipped the scale at 13.02 lbs. Followed by third place Blake Williams & Drake Ofsthun who finished third with 12.22 lbs and big fish award with a 5.55 lb small mouth.

Another thank you goes out to Troy Roberts weigh master & tournament director of the WBA who volunteered to set up and run the weigh in, who help to make it all run smoothly.

Thanks to both volunteers, we will be looking for any additional volunteer boaters for the state championship on Moses Lake, juniors need a couple of boats for Saturday May 20th, it will be their last tournament of the year and the help would guarantee the kids could fish. Contact Youth Director.

Teams that followed in order of placement

4^th  Adam Luoto & Jack Childers---------------------9.46 lbs

5^th Trevor Huff & Wade Wilkens--------------------5.16 lbs

6^th Blair Peters & Brandon Buetler-----------------2.00 lbs

7^th Brayden Liebe & Dawson Pudelko-------------1.71 lbs

8^th Jake Hopkins & Zeke Almonds------------------

9^th Eddie Smith & Tanner Hammond--------------

Juniors Pearce Johnson - First Place		Juniors Riley Maas- Second Place		Juniors Charles Hill - Third Place
High School - Winners Austin Redding & Madden Tobeck		High School - Second Place Jack McGill & Matt Milatz		High School - Third Place Drake Ofsthun & Blake Williams
Steward Squires Boater for the Juniors		Troy Roberts Setting Up the Scales		Drake Ofsthun & Blake Williams with the Big Fish
Drake Ofsthun & Blake Williams Big Fish Plaques		Jack McGill & Matt Milatz with their Fish		The Participants