Jeremy Monda and Will Boyd of the Quincy Junior Bassmasters in Florida claimed the first-day lead of the Bassmaster Junior National Championship with 10 pounds, 3 ounces on Carroll County’s 1,000 Acre Recreational Lake.
The young anglers met their expectations from the practice sessions when they broke the 10-pound barrier, which wasn’t easy to do under Tuesday’s challenging fishing conditions.
“We expected to catch 10 pounds or so based on their practice,” said Daniel Boyd, Will’s father and boat captain of the team. “The key was fishing where people weren’t. When there was a pocket open, we would fish it. When an offshore spot was vacant, we would fish it.”
With multiple days of practice and 54 teams on a 1,000-acre fishery, most two-angler teams tend to find the same fishing spots. Instead of fighting the crowds, the Florida team waited until other competitors left before moving in to fish the areas.
The two-day Bassmaster Junior Championship tournament is being held on Carroll County’s 1,000 Acre Recreational Lake for the fourth year in a row. A total of 54 teams are gathered from across the nation and from Canada to compete. Upon its creation, the lake became known for producing big bass, and practice wasn’t any different this week. With reports of a double-digit bass being caught in practice, teams knew they would have to catch a bigger fish to anchor their five-fish limit.
“If they can catch another 10 pounds and then catch a big one, I think they could take home the title,” Boyd said.
The standings are extremely tight as the Top 5 teams are within 1 pound of each other, and sixth through 28th places are separated by just 3 pounds.
A familiar angler is among the leaders — Rein Golubjatnikov, who finished second here last year while fishing solo, and his partner, Matthew Pitcher of New York’s Rochester Bassmasters, took the early BASSTrakk lead on Tuesday after catching a 5-1 largemouth just moments into the competition. They ended Day 1 in second, just 3 ounces off the pace.
Patience was crucial to their game plan as they fished pressured areas with other teams but were able to capitalize early in the day. During the practice period, the duo caught a 14-2 largemouth, the lake record, and less than a pound from the Tennessee state record of 15.2 pounds.
Vince Nekvinda and Cole Bailey of Eastern Iowa’s Junior Bassmasters brought a 7-pound largemouth to the scales, which was the biggest bass of the day. With only three fish in their bag, they remain in contention at fourth place with 9-6.
The full field will fish on Wednesday’s final day, after which the top-scoring team will be crowned Bassmaster Junior champions. Takeoff Wednesday is at 1 Reedy Creek Rd. in Huntingdon, Tenn., at 6 a.m. CT., and weigh-in will be at Billy Cary Memorial Park, 132 Jordan Ave. in Huntingdon, at 1:30 p.m.
The Junior Championship is open to qualifying teams of anglers in grades 2 through 8 who are members of B.A.S.S. Nation junior chapters. The annual event will be followed by the Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster High School Championship presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods on Kentucky Lake out of nearby Paris, Tenn., Thursday through Saturday.
About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S. is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), television show (The Bassmasters on ESPN2), radio show (Bassmaster Radio), social media programs and events. For 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Open Series, Academy Sports + Outdoors B.A.S.S. Nation presented by Magellan Outdoors, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster High School Series presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods, Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods.
Bassmaster Junior Championship
7/31/2018 – 8/1/2018
Carroll County 1,000 Acre – Recreational Lake – Huntingdon, TN
STANDINGS BOATER DAY 1
Name # Fish # Live Lbs – Oz # Fish # Live Lbs-Oz PTS
1 Jeremy Monda – Will Boyd Quincy JR Bassmasters 5 4 10- 3 5 4 10- 3 0.00
2 Rein Golubjatnikov – Matthew Pitcher Rochester Jr Bassmasters 5 5 10- 0 5 5 10- 0 0.00
3 Trey McKinney – Carter Wijangco Bluegrass Jr’s 5 5 9- 6 5 5 9- 6 0.00
4 Vince Nekvinda – Cole Bailey Eastern Iowa Jr Bassmasters 3 3 9- 6 3 3 9- 6 0.00
5 Tyler Thomas – Lucas Wray Russell County Jr Bass Club 5 5 9- 4 5 5 9- 4 0.00
6 Cole Carr – Luke McGuire BassBusters 5 5 8- 5 5 5 8- 5 0.00
7 Dallas Taylor – Hayden Thomas Arkansas Youth Anglers 5 5 8- 4 5 5 8- 4 0.00
8 Cole Moulton – Chance Vantran New Hampshire Jr Bassmasters 5 5 8- 2 5 5 8- 2 0.00
9 Chris Luckey – Hayden Hazelgrove Brown County Fishing Club 5 5 7-12 5 5 7-12 0.00
10 Camden Kendrick – Ty Elkins DAR Middle School 5 5 7-11 5 5 7-11 0.00
11 Shooter Nelson – Seth Ricketts West Carroll Jr High 5 5 7- 9 5 5 7- 9 0.00
12 Mitchell Robinson – Mason Ritts Rebels Jr Fishing Team 5 4 7- 5 5 4 7- 5 0.00
13 Wade Roberts – Blayne Carpenter Jr Southwest Bassmasters 5 5 7- 4 5 5 7- 4 0.00
14 Cody Mundy – Brayden Askey Broaddus HS Fishing 5 5 7- 3 5 5 7- 3 0.00
15 Alexander Gordon – Bryan Leslie Jr BASS Lightning 5 4 6-14 5 4 6-14 0.00
16 Cale Carr – Ethan Turner OCHS Jr Anglers 5 5 6- 5 5 5 6- 5 0.00
17 Reece Keeney – Bryce Moder Northeast WI Bass 5 4 6- 4 5 4 6- 4 0.00
17 Mitchell Straffon – Henri Sturm Fenton Jr Bass Fishing 5 4 6- 4 5 4 6- 4 0.00
19 Parker Lane – Coda Bunch Tahlequah Jr Bass Club 4 4 6- 3 4 4 6- 3 0.00
19 Harrison McCall – Will Webb Salisbury Academy 4 4 6- 3 4 4 6- 3 0.00
21 Mason Grose – Caden Grose Southern WV Jr Bassmasters 4 4 6- 2 4 4 6- 2 0.00
22 Phillip Herring – Calup Williams Greene County Youth Bassmaster s5 5 6- 0 5 5 6- 0 0.00
23 Joshua Borrousch – Conner McClellan Indiana Jr Bassmasters 5 5 5-14 5 5 5-14 0.00
24 Mike Abbott – Julian Dent Hartley’s Hawgs Piglets 4 4 5-14 4 4 5-14 0.00
25 Storm Clark – Gunnar Williamson Harris County Jr 5 5 5-13 5 5 5-13 0.00
26 Dugger Tipton – Mathew Sisk Arkansas Youth Anglers 5 4 5- 7 5 4 5- 7 0.00
27 Fisher Cusic – Corbin Cepero Lakeland Junior Bassmasters 2 2 5- 7 2 2 5- 7 0.00
28 Kolten Goolsby – Morgan Banta Lone Star Jr Bass Masters 5 5 5- 5 5 5 5- 5 0.00
29 Kollin Crawford – Stoney Holmes Battiest Bass Club 4 4 5- 2 4 4 5- 2 0.00
30 Nathan Fiant – Braden McNamara Hartley’s Hawgs 4 4 4-15 4 4 4-15 0.00
31 Zach Henderson-Jackson Landry JR Southwest Bassmasters-Denham Springs 2 4-15 2 2 4-15 0.00
32 Kaden Abmeyer – Blake Louderbaugh Bison Fishing Team 5 4 4-14 5 4 4-14 0.00
32 Will Haynes – Austin Thomas Curry Jr High School 5 4 4-14 5 4 4-14 0.00
34 Tate Jones – Troy Carter Bassett Jr Anglers 4 4 4-13 4 4 4-13 0.00
35 Trey Kegebein – Taylor Kuhlman Coulee Region Bass 3 3 4-10 3 3 4-10 0.00
36 Elijah Benson – CJ Hudson Dawson Christian Academy 5 5 4- 7 5 5 4- 7 0.00
37 Joseph Phegley – Wilson Ravenscroft North Augusta Fishing Team 3 2 4- 3 3 2 4- 3 0.00
38 Terrance Wiseman – Isaac Shock Southern WV Jr Bassmasters 3 3 4- 2 3 3 4- 2 0.00
39 Noah Parrish – Dylan Kramer Fighting Fishsticks Jr Club 4 4 3-14 4 4 3-14 0.00
40 Ross Kearns – Scotty Hagan Bottomline Jr Bassmasters 2 2 3-10 2 2 3-10 0.00
40 Grayden Scibilia – Chase Atehison Jr Potomac River Bassmasters 2 2 3-10 2 2 3-10 0.00
42 Hunter Alexander – Hayden Hammond Carson HS Bass Team 3 3 3- 9 3 3 3- 9 0.00
43 Payton Whirley – Conner Erickson Pequot Lakes 3 3 3- 7 3 3 3- 7 0.00
44 Carson Forrester – Dylan Barefoot Capital City Jr Bassmasters 2 2 3- 7 2 2 3- 7 0.00
45 Aston Meland – Alex Meland Eastern Iowa Jr Bassmasters 3 3 3- 4 3 3 3- 4 0.00
46 Nicholas Herrman – Kyle Herrman Topeka Jr Hawgs 4 4 3- 3 4 4 3- 3 0.00
47 Jaden Northey – Daniel Noble Kawartha Bassmasters 3 3 2-14 3 3 2-14 0.00
48 Christian Misciagna – Aidan McCormack Port City Jr Bassmasters 3 2 2-11 3 2 2-11 0.00
49 Ryan Ringer – Jake Mantovani Off the Hook Jr Bassmasters 3 3 2-10 3 3 2-10 0.00
50 Nickolas Monistere – Bran Boyd Northwest Rankin 2 2 2- 2 2 2 2- 2 0.00
51 Cullen Behen – Gavin Sperlich Mainely Jr Bass 2 2 1-14 2 2 1-14 0.00
52 Charlie Brekke – Isabella Putmam Fighting Fishsticks Jr Club 1 1 1- 6 1 1 1- 6 0.00
53 Beau McQuade – Clifton Bennett Jr Potomac Bassmasters 1 1 0-14 1 1 0-14 0.00
54 Benjamin Hester – Karson Jenkins Rhea County Jr Eagle Anglers 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0 0.00
BIG BASS
Day Name City,State Lbs-Oz
1 Vince Nekvinda – Cole Bailey Shellsburg, IA 7- 0
TOTALS
Day # Fish # Live Lbs-Oz # Limits
1 207 197 290-15 25
By: JamieDay Matthews
