FLORENCE, Alabama – Three teams from Marshall County High School’s fishing team traveled to Florence, Alabama this week for the Student Angler Federation (SAF) 2015 High School Fishing Worlds Finals on Pickwick Lake.
A total of 166 boats took off on Day 1 Wednesday and at the end of the day, the team of Cole Walker and Cort Walker from Hardin County High School, TN, led with a five-fish total of 23-14.
Colton Story and Peyton Porter weighed in five fish at 10-1 for 50th place after the Day 1 weigh-in. Bailey Napier and James Gibbs also weighed five fish at 6-1 for 104th place with Adam Fitch and Kody Burdett weighing two fish in at 2-15 for 129th.
The full field went out again on Thursday for Day 2 and at the weigh-in, the team of Walker and Walker held onto the top spot with 21-1 for a two-day total of 44-15.
The top 41 teams from the two days advanced to Friday’s semi-finals with the duo of Story and Porter just missing by one pound, weighing five fish in at 8-7 for a two-day total of 18-8 for 48th place.
Napier and Gibbs weighed one fish in at 1-6 for a two-day total of 7-7 for 126th while Fitch and Burdett’s three fish weight of 4-5 for a two-day total of 7-4 put them in 129th.
Two Calloway County teams secured spots in the top 41 semi-finals, Brandon Bogard and Colton Jennings were sitting in 5th overall with a two-day total of 24-0 and the team of Zach Martin and Cole Emerson two-day total of 20-4 was good for 37th.
All three Marshall County teams fished on Friday in the Consolation Round with weights zeroed out and the top 10 weights moving on to Saturday’s finals.
Story and Porter pulled in three fish weighing 5-13 putting them in 59th place, not enough to continue on to the finals. Fitch-Burdett and Napier-Gibbs were shut out on Friday.
The Walker team from Hardin County slipped to second Friday with five fish weighing 21-5 with the team of Dylan Halton and Caleb Mays of Golden Tigers Anglers leading the field with five fish weighing 24-9.
Calloway’s Boggard and Jennings placed 4th with 18-15, securing a top 10 spot in Saturday’s finals. Top 10 from semi-finals and next 10 in weight from semi-finals and consolation round fish in the finals.
UPDATE: Derek Freeman and Trevor Callaham from T.L. Hanna Bass Fishing Club in Anderson, South Carolina, captured the title on Saturday weighing 5/5 fish for 20-2 also with the Big Bass of the day weighing in a 7-5. Calloway County’s Bogard and Jennings placed 6th with a five fish weight of 18-0.
