Iowa BASS NATION State High School Bass Tournament

Zach and Vaughn

High School bass fishing has been around for about a decade.  However, it has only taken a steady stand in Iowa for the past 3 or 4 years.  The past winter the kids of Independence showed enough interest and the Indee High School Bass Club was formed.  The club is a Bass Nation club, which links them to the largest organization of bass anglers in the world, which naturally is call BASS.  Simple and to the point.  The organization as well as the Indee Bass Club is all about bass, where they live, how to catch them and what to throw at them.  It is a constant search that has consumed me since a very early age.

The high school bass club was started because I saw the a similar need for knowledge and experiences in the sport of bass fishing.  Students have learned the basic types of casting, different models of rods and reels and overall knowledge of bass habitat and the baits to chase after them. With those things coming pretty easy for

Brodi, Peyton, and Dave Wilson

myself, being in the field of education, I had no idea that in such a short time we could put together teams to compete at a state level and do well.

Do well is exactly what the Indee Bass Club did this past Sunday at the Iowa BASS NATION State tournament.  Indee had 3 different teams compete, which includes two club members and a boat captain each.  Students are not allowed to drive the gas engines during tournaments, but do control the electric trolling motors to maneuver into fishing and casting zones.  All three teams impressed their boat captains and all caught a few dozen bass each.  However, at the end of the day the scales never lie and a team had to be crowned the state champs.  Twenty teams from all over the state competed in the tournament, including schools like; West Delaware, Johnston, Janesville, North Scott and several Cedar Rapids teams.

The Independence team of Cyrus Butters and Parker Sweeney, captained by Kevin Christensen, came out on top of the leaderboard when all was said and done.  They had 5 keeper bass that weighed 14.43 pounds to take the title.  Brodi Wilson and Peyton Lolwing, captained by Dave Wilson, took 7th place with 5 keeper bass that weighed 9.45 pounds.  Vaughn Nabholz and Zach Davis, captained by Todd Reed, used every minute of the day catching bass, but none made the 14 inch mark, allowing them to keep them.  It was an unbelievable day for the kids, as each and everyone of them learned so much about fishing, and the Mighty Mississippi River.  Kids reported catching their bass on a variety of baits.  The champs boasted that Hot Rod Baits Jigs (Wig's Jigs) worked the best, hot Rod Baits tubes, spinnerbaits and Strike King lipless baits all caught bass and helped the kids reel in bass all day long.  Congrats to the group of 6 boys and 3 captains that made this day possible.  Also a huge thanks to the Iowa Bass Nation Youth director Joe Bagsby and Shanda Heath for putting the tournament on each year for the high school teams.

The competitive season is over for the Indee Bass Club, but students will continue to learn through club meetings held each month before regular school hours.  It is amazing how many kids will go to school EARLY to talk and learn about bass fishing!

Parker Stoner/Kevin Christensen/ Cyrus Butters