Fishing is a hobby that many students at THS enjoy. The fishing club is a way to turn that fun hobby into a competitive sport.

“The fishing team gives something for students to do if they are not sports oriented. It also gives them something to do to keep them from doing things they shouldn’t,” said fishing club sponsor Mrs. Shannon Calloway.

The THS fishing team participates in the sport year-round. They compete in both the BASS tournaments and club tournaments. Fishing tournaments last between the hours of 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., or 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. It really just depends on the safe light (daylight savings time).

In each tournament, competitors only get to keep five of the fish they catch. The winner is decided based on the weight of his or her five fish. Calloway keeps a point system for each tournament to determine the top 6 for both the BASS and club tournaments.

This season, the team has participated in seven tournaments. The team has placed in all of the club tournaments. The winners of the club tournaments depend on if the team catches any fish. In the BASS tournament, there is a final qualifier.

The fishing club’s most recent tournament was the weekend of March 17 at Belews Lake, for a BASS state-qualifying tournament. In this tournament, sophomore Colin Bennett and sophomore Bryan Scarce finished fifth overall and qualified for the state tournament on April 21.

Scarce has been a part of the fishing team for the past two years.

“My favorite thing about it is being around all of my friends,” said Scarce.

Bennett has also been on the fishing team for two years.

“It’s a huge accomplishment. We kind of didn’t have much confidence going into it because we hadn’t been catching too much in the practice days, but when the tourney came, we just ended up catching them,” Bennett said.

Bennett and Scarce placed fifth in the tournament out of 40 to 50 boats (almost 100 competitors).

“We just went out there and put our heads down, fished as hard as we could, and hoped for the best. Turned out we had just enough to get in,” said Bennett. “My favorite part is definitely the competitiveness and skill that the sport requires. It takes a lot more than going out there with a night crawler and a bobber.”

There are six members of the fishing team who qualified for the state tournament: including Bennett and Scarce, Sean Gunter (12),  Dylan Young (9), Kaleb Watlington (10), and Auddon Boswell (10).

To place in the state tournament, one has to place first through fifth.

“I caught a 3 pound bass and it was awesome,” said Watlington.

This is also Boswell’s first year on the team.

“Me and my partner put in a lot of time and practice on the lake, and it paid off when we qualified in October,” said Boswell. “It feels great knowing that you have a shot at a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

Senior Sean Gunter placed second in the tournament, which qualified him for the state tournament.

“I feel like I’ve accomplished something by qualifying,” said Gunter. “My favorite thing to do is fish, so I love fishing in tournaments.”

The team is supported by a plethora of sponsors: BASS, Costa, TBF, Calloway Construction, Inc., Rubens, Scarce Lawn Care, Mills Grill and Grocery, Chandler Concrete, Guy Riddle, A1 Custom Window Tinting, Wyatt Electric Motors, Animal Medical Center, Curtis’ Custom Pool Installation Double J Builders, B and B Rentals, Do Drop In, Angler’s Choice, Appearances, Doomsday Tackle, Elliott Electric, Intertape, Nelson Toyota, and HUK.

The state qualifiers will be competing in the tournament on April 21 and April 22 at Buggs Island.

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