By Chris Erwin
On the morning of April 5, twenty-two high school fishing teams converged on Cave Run Lake to compete for a berth in the Kentucky High School Athletic Association’s State Tournament to be held at Kentucky Lake the last weekend of April. Region four is comprised of all KHSAA member schools located in the following counties: Bath, Boyd, Breathitt, Carter, Elliott, Fleming, Floyd, Greenup, Harlan, Johnson, Knott, Lawrence, Leslie, Letcher, Lewis, Magoffin, Martin, Mason, Menifee, Montgomery, Morgan, Perry, Pike, Rowan and Wolfe.
I fished competitively from 1971-1986, and I can tell you one thing for sure, you can never count on what the weather is going to be before a tournament. These young competitors woke up to cold weather with high winds and muddy lake conditions. On top of that the lake had been high, a couple of feet over summer pool and the week before the tournament it had been dropped to a couple of feet over winter pool. The point is I don’t think you could have planned a tournament under any tougher conditions.
Catching fish would be a challenge for anyone and the 22 teams saw just how hard it is to put a fish in the boat when almost everything is working against you. As the boats returned to the weight-in site it was clear the big winner was the lake. On this day, it would give up only four keeper fish. Most of the teams drew a blank on keeper fish. However, Johnson Central won the tournament and Perry County came in second place. One of the boy’s fishing for one of the Boyd County teams did catch a muskie. I’m sure it was a big thrill, however, it didn’t put any points on the board.
As spring gets under way, I hope to follow up on some of our high school fishing athletes. Competitive fishing has been approved as an official high school sanctioned sport and I for one would like to see it expand to all our high schools in Kentucky.
Melvin Lawhorn, the Boyd County coach, told me he could see vast improvement in his team. He knew the fishing conditions for this tournament were as tough as it gets and he was proud of how hard his team tried to put fish in the boat.
The Kentucky State High School Bass fishing Championship Tournament will be held out of Kentucky Dam Marina in Gilbertsville on Friday and Saturday April 25-26. For more information about the tournament contact Mark Gintert at (580) 716-4251.
The Boyd County fishing team also wants you to know that they will be at the Canonsburg Walmart the first weekend in May. They will be conducting a kid casting clinic and workshop and also plan to have a kid’s casting contest. The public is invited to come out and join in the fun.
The Boyd County team will also be competing in the B.A.S.S state tournament on Lake Herrington in September.
I would also like to remind everyone it’s not too late to donate to the Kids Camp Fund. Send donations of any amount to Officer Jessie Spears-Nelson, 330 Hall Road South Shore, KY, 41175. Make checks payable to “KY Fish & Wildlife.”
Until next time, take a kid fishing and send me your pictures.
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