The Barbe High School team of Hunter Keller and Nick Nocilla brought a five-bass limit to the scale Sunday weighing 11 pounds, 7 ounces, to win the 2015 Louisiana State High School Fishing Championship on Sibley Lake. The win earned the team the title of state champions and qualified the team to compete in a High School Fishing conference championship on the Arkansas River in October.
“We are just thrilled to have won this event,” said Nocilla, a junior. “We caught most of our fish ripping square-bill crankbaits through the grass and mixed in a few on a Yamamoto Senko.”
The top five teams on Sibley Lake that advanced to the conference championship were:
1st: Barbe High School – Hunter Keller and Nick Nocilla, five bass, 11-7
2nd: Oak Hill High School – Wesley Holt and Colby Miller, five bass, 11-2
3rd: Natchitoches Central High School – Nicholas Wiggins and Lane Possoit, five bass, 11-1
4th: Natchitoches Central High School – Dylan Poche and Reagan Maxey, five bass, 10-15
5th: Benton High School – Cade Gordon and Haden Craig, three bass, 10-2
Rounding out the top 10 teams were:
6th: Natchitoches Central High School – D.J. Coker and Irven Delancy, five bass, 9-7
7th: North Desoto High School – Kyle McAllen and Dawson Cranford, five bass, 8-14
7th: Edward Douglas White Catholic High School – Brennen Cooley and Ross Martin, five bass, 8-14
9th: North Desoto High School – William McLeod and Christian Mathews, five bass, 8-11
10th: Benton High School – Eli Stinson and Garrett Allums, five bass, 8-9
The 2015 Louisiana State High School Fishing Championship was a two-person (team) event for students in grades 7-12. The top 10 percent from each TBF/FLW state championship field will advance to a High School Fishing conference championship along with the top three teams from each of the seven TBF/FLW High School Fishing Opens held this season. The top 10 percent of each conference championship field will then advance to the High School Fishing National Championship, coinciding with the TBF National Championship and an FLW Tour stop in the spring of 2016. 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 2015 High School Fishing World Finals, held on Pickwick Lake in Florence, Alabama, on July 8-11. At the 2014 World Finals more than $40,000 in scholarships and prizes were awarded. Visit HighSchoolFishing.org for details.
ABOUT FLW
FLW is the industry’s premier tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money nationwide in 2015 over the course of 240 tournaments across five tournament circuits, four of which provide an avenue to the sport’s richest payday and most coveted championship trophy – the Forrest Wood Cup. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW" television show and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world. For more information about FLW visit FLWFishing.com and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
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
