The Madison County High School duo of Connor Hughes of Brightwood, Virginia and Brian Canterbury, of Madison, Virginia, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Sunday weighing 16 pounds, 2 ounces to win the 2018 Bass Pro Shops FLW High School Fishing Smith Mountain Lake Open in Huddleston, Virginia. The win advanced the team to the 2018 High School Fishing National championship, held June 26-30, on Pickwick Lake in Florence, Alabama.
According to post-tournament reports, the duo caught their limit fishing down-lake points with a lot of chunk rock in 10 feet of water with a Carolina rig.
A field of 25 teams competed in the no-entry fee tournament, which launched from the Parkway Marina in Huddleston. In FLW/TBF High School Fishing competition, the top 10-percent of teams competing advance to the High School Fishing National Championship.
The top two teams on Smith Mountain Lake that advanced to the 2018 High School Fishing National Championship were:
1st: Madison County High School, Madison, Va. – Connor Hughes, Brightwood, Va., and Brian Canterbury, Madison, Va., five-bass, 16-2
2nd: New Kent High School, New Kent, Va. – Bryce Henley, Lanexa, Va., and Joshua Chaffin, Quintin, Va., five bass, 12-10
Rounding out the top 10 teams were:
3rd: Madison High School, Marshall, N.C. – Ransom Boone, Marshall, N.C., and Russell Moore, Burnsville, N.C., five bass, 12-7
4th: Tunstall High School, Dry Fork, Va. – Colin Bennett, Axton, Va., and Bryan Scarce, Dry Fork, Va., four bass, 10-12
5th: Holston High School, Damascus, Va. – Mason Steele and Parker Newton, both of Damascus, Va., five bass, 10-0
6th: Junior Greenhorn Anglers – Jason Saulsberry and Aidan Kerlin, both of Chesapeake, Va., three bass, 9-10
7th: Pulaski County High School, Dublin, Va. – Landon McDaniel, Dublin, Va., and Paul Southern, Pulaski, Va., five bass, 9-0
8th: Orange County High School, Orange County, Va. – Gavin Haley, Locust Grove, Va., and Ewing Minor, Charlottesville, Va., four bass 7-13
9th: Franklin County High School, Rocky Mount, Va. – Peyton Brown and Ryan Shelton, both of Rocky Mount, Va., four bass, 7-12
10th: Eastern Alamance High School, Mebane, N.C. – Alden Patterson and Nathan Willis, both of Mebane, N.C., five bass, 7-10
The 2018 Bass Pro Shops FLW High School Fishing Smith Mountain Lake Open was a two-person (team) event for students in grades 7-12, open to any Student Angler Federation (SAF) affiliated high school club in the United States. The top 10 percent of each Challenge, Open, and state championship field will advance to the High School Fishing National Championship. The High School Fishing national champions will each receive a $5,000 college scholarship to the school of their choice.
In addition to the High School Fishing National Championship, all High School Fishing anglers nationwide automatically qualify for the world’s largest high school bass tournament, the 2018 High School Fishing World Finals, held in conjunction with the National Championship. At the 2017 World Finals more than $60,000 in scholarships and prizes were awarded.
Full schedules and the latest announcements are available at HighSchoolFishing.org and FLWFishing.com.
About FLW
FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2018 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW and their partners conduct 286 bass-fishing tournaments annually around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Portugal, South Africa and Spain. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show, broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros.
About The Bass Federation
The Bass Federation Inc., (TBF) is a member of the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame. TBF is owned by those we serve and dedicated to the sport of fishing. The Federation is the largest and oldest, organized grassroots fishing, youth and conservation organization there is. TBF, our affiliated state federations and their member clubs conduct more than 20,000 events each year and have provided a foundation for the entire bass fishing industry for more than 45 years. TBF founded the Student Angler Federation and the National High School Fishing program in 2008 to promote clean family fun and education through fishing
By: Joe Opager, Director of Public Relations
