Texas High School Bass Fishing

12/17/13 (Sam Rayburn, TX) – 262 two person teams took to the frigid waters of Sam Rayburn reservoir on Saturday morning on the first trail stop of the newly formed Southeast Texas (SETX) High School Bass Fishing Trail. This is the largest SAF High School event that has ever been conducted and shows the true potential of what High School Fishing can become.

Despite the tough weather conditions which included a fair amount of wind Bryce Rambo and Trent Manuel, representing Little Cypress hauled in the biggest limit of the tournament winning 1st place with 14.24 lbs. “It was really cold and windy out there, ” the team began. “The fishing was tough. We tried a lot of spots, but it was hard to find the fish.” Using a rattle trap, they managed to put a single keeper in their livewell fairly early. “We lost a big one after that.” Continuing to various spots, at 9:30am they found one area holding the fish they needed. It was a spot with stumps and a hard bottom in 10 to 12’ of water. Trent put three in the boat right away, then Bryce followed suit switching to the same technique using Carolina rigged baby brush hogs and lizards, wrapping up their limit. “We tried other areas after that but didn’t have any more luck.” The team won a host of prizes, as well as a , 139 check for their school organization. They would like to thank Captain Cory Rambo for taking them fishing, Miss Doyle their school fishing coach and advisor as well as Lews, Ranger, West LTD, Granger Chevrolet, Jordan Marine, Daley’s Hunt ‘n Fish and Simon Outfitters for their support.
2nd place was won by Huntington anglers Jace Weeks and Danny Mullins with 14.02 lbs. They fished deep water with brush hogs for their catch, and Danny Mullins Sr captained their boat. They earned many prizes and a check for , 398 for their school club.

Pineland High School anglers Hunter Muncrief and Daren Dew secured 3rd place with their 12.92 lb sack. They earned 6 for their school and took home several prizes.

Forest Gothia and Ashton Hunter of Bridge City not only won 4th place overall with 12.29 lbs. Ashton caught their kicker, weighing in at 8.75 lbs and winning Big Bass of the tournament! Their school earned $476. Captain Hunter Gothia ran the boat for this team.
Lew’s Fishing Tackle Company provided rods, reels, and other products to the top winners as well as many other participants. Bob Sealy, CEO of the Big Bass Splash awarded free entries into his million dollar event on Sam Rayburn to the top three teams. Rat-L-Trap, Premier Yamaha, Ann’s Tackle, Jasper Outboard, Bass N Bucks, Daley’s Hunt ‘n Fish, Buna High School, Philpott Ford, David Self Ford all provided prizes for the anglers to take home.

The top 37 teams earned checks for their school clubs and all participating teams earned points toward the championship in May.