High Schoolers and Juniors register at Championship

The 2017 Costa Bassmaster High School National Championship presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods and Junior Championship kicks off with the Monday registration and briefing meeting at Bethel University.

College Bracket Champion John Garrett came to hang with the kids and share his path to where he is now.

He is the college representative for the entire 2017 season which included a trip to the Geico Bassmaster Classic as well as entry into all 9 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens. He just punched his first Top 12 in the Opens last week at the Sabine River.

Teams this week are hoping to punch their victory on Kentucky Lake and Carroll County Lake respectively.

The Junior Champions also receive some hardware. Their event lasts Tuesday and Wednesday while the High Schoolers start on Thursday about 30 minutes away at Kentucky Lake.

There were drawstring bags promote a litter free culture where anglers could bag all their goodies.

Bethel had a table with more info about their school and fishing program.

Paris, Tennessee also had a booth. They are a big supporter of this event every year.

Berkley sent a truck load of crankbaits so each angler received one.

These deep diving crankbaits could play a factor this week.

Toyota and Carhartt brought some essentials like a cool towel for the hot days on the water, koozies and key floats for the boat.

These come in handy when sinking keys are around water.

Can’t have your drinks getting hot too fast on the water.

Phoenix brought a ton of hats for anglers.

Shimano had a rod display for anglers to try and practice with.

Teams came through the registration line and often visualized themselves with the trophy. Even boat captains got in on the day dreaming.

With over 50 Junior teams and over 230 High School teams there was quite a line forming.

Meanwhile the early teams got to spend time messing with Shimano tackle.

The juniors were already going through their meeting as Hank Weldon led the rules briefing.

Once they finished the Juniors and High Schoolers went to the cafeteria to enjoy some food.

Bassmaster Elite Series pro Stephen Browning is here with his son Beau Browning and his partner as they try to win on Kentucky Lake.

Some delicious BBQ was on tap this evening.

Beau was digging in.

Cole Slaw as well.

Albert Collins has fished in two Bassmaster Classics and being a boat captain is one of his yearly routines as the Breuner brothers have made it multiple times. This year he is with the elder brother Joseph.

Hank Weldon starts the big meeting with every team.

Showing off the bling that’s at stake this week.

There were some important guest speakers on tap for this region as well as people who have helped make this event happen.

Over 500 anglers were glued to the speakers every word.

Frank Hyla of Shimano told anglers to pick up trash they found around the lake and on the water, Shimano will provide a spool of line if teams fill up bags and bring the trash to them.

Jon Stewart preached to the anglers to have fun this week because they are in the Top 10 percent and are here for a reason so have fun.

Three critical men that helped this event happen for the last four years were honored tonight.

The keynote speaker had experienced multiple years of work with the space program and calculating the precise time it would take for rockets to land or arrive. After finishing that career he has spent plenty of time fishing Kentucky Lake and also helping veterans in the area.

One angler nearly hit the double digit mark this week in practice as he landed a 9-14 at Carroll County.

These 8 lucky anglers were randomly chosen and won St. Croix rods.

There were also free Bassmaster memberships up for grabs.

Mustang Survival gave away some of their brand new gloves as well.

Shimano gave away some reels too!

Then some big goodies like $200 Mustang Life Jackets went to lucky anglers.

Noah Jenkins from California won a free lifetime membership with B.A.S.S.

There were also 3 $500 scholarships given away to three lucky anglers. There will be multiple college scholarships awarded throughout the week to winners and the Top 12 teams.