Sandite Fishing sees success at Grand Lake tournaments

Three Charles Page High School fishing teams spent the weekend at Grand Lake competing in back-to-back tournaments. 

On Saturday morning Reese David and Mack Taylor took 39th place in the Fishing League Worldwide (FLW) Oklahoma Open with a two-pound, three-ounce bass. Braden Millican and Ty Steelman weren't far behind in 45th place with a one-pound, fourteen-ounce catch. 

Sunday was the Quantum NextGen Open and the Taylor-David combo brought in four fish weighing 7.66 pounds for ninth place. MIllican and Steelman caught a pair of bass for 5.12 pounds and nineteenth place. Caden Pennington and John Miller caught a 1.49-pound fish for 48th place. 

The high school fishing teams do not receive funding from the school, are sponsored by private contribution, and coached by volunteer boat captains. 

Kyle and Kale Hilligoss place 2nd of 115 boats at OBN Season Opener

The Charles Page High School  fishing teams got off to a great start this weekend at the Oklahoma Bass Nation Season Opener on Lake Tenkiller. Two teams finished in the top five on Saturday and several had impressive performances both Saturday and Sunday. 

115 boats signed up for the first and second trail events of the year. The two-day event counts as two separate tournaments towards the trail standings.

The sport is sponsored by Bassmaster and is not officially recognized by the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association (OSSAA). Sand Springs Public Schools does not provide funding for the teams, who rely on private sponsorships to pay for tournament entry, equipment, and supplies. Each team consists of two student anglers and one adult coach/pilot. 

Kyle and Kale Hilligoss were Saturday's runners-up with four fish weighing 10.73 pounds, just 0.08 pounds behind the winners from Noble. The performance was the best of their BASS career, beating a 6th place finish at a tournament in June by 0.27 pounds. Not far behind the Hilligosses was Reese David and Mack Taylor with three fish weighing 5.44 pounds for a fifth place finish in their career debut. Braden Millican and Ty Steelman placed 31st on Saturday with one fish weighing 2.34 pounds, Seth Kearns and Cole Scott placed 36th with one fish weighing 2.06 pounds.

Millican and Steelman led on Sunday with two fish weighing four pounds for 12th place, followed by the Hilligosses with a 3.19 pound fish for 14th place. Taylor and David caught one fish weighing 2.11 pounds for 29th place, Hunter Hilger and Noah Daczewitz caught a 1.61 pound fish for 39th place, Kearns and Scott caught a 1.49 pound fish for 40th place, and John Miller and Caden Pennington caught a 1.13 pound fish for 46th place. 

Team Hilligoss sits in third place in the State standings, followed by Taylor/David in ninth, Millican/Steelman in thirteenth, Keans/Scott in 24th, Hilger/Daczewitz in 60th, and Miller/Pennington in 71st.

The next OBN event won't be held until May 5th with another two-day, two-tournament weekend on Lake Texoma.

Sand Springs High Schoolers compete at Bassmaster National Championship

Three Sand Springs High School fishing teams traveled to Kentucky Lake this past weekend for the Costa Bassmaster High School National Championship in Paris, Tennessee. Rough weather, rain delays, and mechanical failures prevented the Sandites from making a run at the title, but the experience will undoubtedly prove valuable in future seasons.

231 teams turned out, representing 34 states and one Canadian providence. The tournament was initially planned with two days of fishing for the full field, with the top twelve advancing to a final round on Saturday. Heavy rains moved in Friday, however, and the day’s events were postponed with the final-twelve round canceled.

Noah Daczewitz and Hunter Hilger placed in the top 90 boaters on day one, finishing with five fish totaling 13 pounds and 6 ounces. Their single-day catch ended up being greater than the two-day totals for more than 80 teams.

Cole Scott and Seth Kearns caught two fish weighing 4-15 on day one. John Miller and Caden Pennington caught one fish weighing 2-1.

Tragedy struck the Sandites on Saturday as the Daczewitz-Hilger team lost their lower unit and had to toss back their catch two hours before weigh-in. Even without getting to weigh in their day-two catch, they still finished 162nd overall thanks to a successful first day.

Scott-Kearns caught a 4-3 bass on day two to finish 196th, while Miller-Pennington came up empty and finished 224th.

Oklahoma sent eight teams to the National Tournament. Cascia Hall’s Scott Torkleson and Daniel Anthamatten placed twelfth with ten fish weighing 36-5. Clayton High’s Zachary Bray and Jake Stamps finished 66th with ten fish weighing 27-5. Kiowa High’s Noah Belt and Lane Couch finished 158th with five fish weighing 14-1. Dale Sherrick and Will Manning, of Washington High School, finished 197th with four fish weighing 9-1. Mannford High’s Garrett McCrackin and Jackson Lawless finished 199th with four fish weighing 8-11.

129 teams caught the five fish limit on Thursday, 103 caught the limit on Saturday, and only 79 teams caught the limit on both days. The lowest-weighing full-limit catch was 19-15.

South Florence High’s Tommy Floyd Jr. and James Gibbons, of South Carolina, won the tournament thanks to a 23-2 catch on day two. Gibbons spent the first day alone on the water as Floyd spent his day in the emergency room with a gastrointestinal infection. Even flying solo, Gibbons was able to haul in an impressive 20-1 catch for thirteenth place on day one. Their victory earned them $5,250 in scholarship money from DICK’S Sporting Goods. They also have $48,000 available from Bethel University should they decide to attend the McKenzie, Tennessee college.

Springville’s Logan Henderson and Steven Swann led the pack on day one with a 23-12 catch, but were unable to replicate their success on Saturday when they caught only a pair of fish.

Henry County High School’s Shawn Burkhart and Gavin Gordon caught 22-11 for second place on day one, then caught 20-4 for eighth place on day two and an overall Runner-Up finish.

More than $22,750 of scholarship money was distributed down through the top-placing teams. $500 went to Stephen Cross Mathis of Broome High for his 9-pound largemouth Big-Bass.

Sandites of the Week: Seth Kearns and Cole Scott win OBN Tournament, qualify for Nationals

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Sand Springs High School fishing team No. 5 was selected as our Sandites of the Week for their first place finish this past weekend in an Oklahoma Bass Nation Trail event.

Seth Kearns and Cole Scott took first place out of 89 teams Saturday on Lake Eufala, hauling in four fish weighing 13.11 pounds.

The young Sandites are wrapping up their first season of high school fishing and had a strong debut year, finishing 6th in the state standings out of 136 teams. They finished top-ten in three out of five tournaments and qualified for the Bassmaster High School National Championship in Tennessee.

Team 5 will be joined by Team No. 1 (Noah Daczewitz and Hunter Hilger) and Team No. 2 (John Miller and Caden Pennington) at Kentucky Lake on June 19th. 

Click here to view previous Sandites of the Week.

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Three Sand Springs fishing teams qualify for National Championship

Three fishing teams from Charles Page High School will advance to the Bass Nation High School National Championship after their successful finishes to the regular season this past weekend at Lake Eufala.

This was the second year that Sand Springs participated in the Oklahoma Bass Nation (OBN) trail and the club doubled in size from last season. The OBN trail consists of five tournaments that count for points in State standings. The five top teams from the trail advance to Nationals, as do the top two teams from the State Tournament.

Fishing is not recognized as an official sport by the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association (OSSAA) and is not funded by the State or the schools. Each team is responsible for finding their own sponsors, providing their own boat and equipment, and finding their own coach/captain—which is usually a parent. The student anglers are not allowed to pilot their boats, and the captains are not allowed to physically assist in any way but piloting.

Noah Daczewitz and Hunter Hilger placed 25th on Saturday with four fish totaling 6.38 pounds. They fared even better on Sunday when they totaled 10.36 pounds from four fish for eighth place. This was their third top-ten finish of the season. They finished the season fourth in the standings with 364 points to advance to Nationals.

John Miller and Caden Pennington placed seventh on Saturday with four fish totaling 9.94 pounds for their best finish on the trail this season. They previously placed second at the OBN State Championship, but that tournament doesn’t count towards trail points. They were successful on Sunday as well, hauling in a 9.08 pound catch for tenth place and their fourth top-ten finish of the season. They finished fifth in the season standings with 359 points. Because their runner-up finish at State qualified them for Nationals, the fifth qualifying spot from the trail went to Seth Kearns and Cole Scott.

Kearns and Scott took first place on Saturday with four fish totaling 13.11 pounds. Their largest weighed in at 4.12 pounds and was the fifth-largest catch of the day. They failed to place top-ten for only the second time this season on Sunday, but still finished 30th with two fish weighing 5.41 pounds. They finished the season sixth in the standings with 354 points.

Jerret Haley and Corbin Williams landed a 2.27 pound fish for 51st place on Saturday, and improved to 36th place on Sunday with two catches weighing 5.12 pounds. They finished the year 43rd with 205 points.

Kyle and Kale Hilligoss had their best finish of the season on Sunday, netting four fish for sixth place and 10.46 pounds. They finished the season fourteenth with 329 points.

Braden Millican and Ty Steelman placed 30th on Saturday with three fish totaling 4.9 pounds. They were unable to compete at the Sunday event, however, as Millican had to leave for football camp at Pittsburg State University. Between football and baseball conflicts, Team 3 only managed to fish a pair of tournaments this year, but still finished 59th overall with 156 points.

Austin Smith and Joe Nelson were right behind the Hilligosses on Saturday in 52nd place with a 2.09 pound catch. They finished the year in 75th with 118 points.

89 boats took to the water Saturday and hauled in a total of 152 fish. 26 teams returned empty-handed. Sunday’s boaters fared about the same as 87 teams brought in 151 fish with 28 failing to land a catch.

The 2017 Costa Bassmaster National Championship will be held on Kentucky Lake in Tennessee on June 19th. Kentucky Lake straddles the Tennessee-Kentucky border and the boaters will launch from Paris Landing State Park. The final day’s weigh-in and award presentation will be held in downtown Paris.

Sandites of the Week: Caden Pennington and John Miller qualify for two National Championships

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Photo courtesy of Tador Miller.

The Sand Springs High School fishing club recently brought home the club trophy from the Oklahoma Bass Nation High School State Championship. Three Sand Springs teams placed in the top fifteen and one duo took second place overall to qualify for the National Championship.

Sand Springs has eleven fishing teams, each consisting of two student anglers and one adult coach/captain. The sport is not officially recognized by the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association, nor is it funded by Sand Springs Public Schools, but it has grown tremendously in the past few seasons. 

Noah Daczewitz and Hunter Hilger started the club last year and were soon joined by two other teams before the season concluded. Now, Sand Springs is one of the largest clubs in the state. The sport as a whole has tripled in size from 42 teams last year to more than 150 at present time. There are no divisions based on school or town size.

94 boats launched on Lake Texoma Sunday morning and only 69 even caught a single fish. Fifteen teams caught the five-fish limit and Washington High School's Dale Rigsby and Will Manning came in first place with 15.74 pounds. Sand Springs's Team 2, John Miller and Caden Pennington, were right behind them with five fish totaling 15.46 pounds, the second-largest catch in Sand Springs history and the largest catch for Team 2. 

Daczewitz and Hilger came in twelfth place with five fish totaling 9.67 pounds, Ty Steelman and Braden Millican took fifteenth place with five fish totaling 9.22 pounds, Jerret Haley and Corbin Williams took 39th place with two fish totaling 5.16 pounds, and Seth Kearns and Cole Scott brought in 62nd place with one fish weighing 2.46 pounds. With the top two teams combining for 25.13 pounds, Sand Springs defeated Broken Arrow for the club trophy by 3.86 pounds. 

Miller and Pennington will get to compete at the Costa Bassmaster High School National Championship June 19th on Barkley and Kentucky Lakes. They also recently won the Fishing League Worldwide (FLW) Missouri Open on Stockton Lake to qualify for the FLW Nationals June 27th at Pickwick Lake in Florence, Alabama. They caught four bass weighing 9 pounds even, defeating the Runners-Up by one ounce. The Second-Place team caught the five-fish limit.

The rest of the Sandites still have an opportunity to qualify for nationals. Though the State Championship was this weekend, the OBN season doesn't actually come to a close till June 4th. Two more tournaments will be held on Ft. Gibson and Keystone Lakes. Three tournaments have already been held prior to State, and the State catches won't count towards the overall Trail standings.

Daczewitz and Hilger are currently fourth in the standings, followed by Miller and Pennington at eighth, Kyle and Kale Hilligoss in ninth, Kearns and Scott in thirteenth, Haley and Williams in 55th, Millican and Steelman in 68th, and Austin Smith and Joe Nelson in 89th. Four other teams have yet to place in a tournament this season. Jacob Weathers and Bryson Wooten comprise Team 8, Hayden King and Collin Brady are Team 9, Carl McClaflin and Ryan Linquist are Team 10, and Chase Meyers and George Russell are Team 11. 

Before the next OBN events is the Student Angler Federation (SAF) State Championship on May 27th at Lake Eufala.