DANDRIDGE, Tenn. — For Noah Pescitelli and Westin Sachs, the game plan is all about applying local knowledge on a strange lake.
Doing so paid off today for the two anglers from Mill Creek High School located in Buford, Ga. The team’s five-bass limit weighing 17 pounds, 5 ounces has them in the lead at the Bassmaster High School Open.
The local knowledge comes from Lake Sidney Lanier. The strange water is Douglas Lake. During summer, bass can be found in both impoundments inhabiting deep, current-rich water offshore.
“I guess you can say we did bring some of our knowledge up here,” Sachs said. “We are used to fishing for spots (spotted bass) out in deep water.”
The species of bass are different, but the habitat and techniques used to catch them, again, are the same.
“We didn’t find them in practice,” Pescitelli added. “Everything came together today.”
What everything is remains a mystery for obvious reasons. The team doesn’t want to reveal too much information because they want to win.
“The best part is they capitalized on every opportunity,” added team coach and Noah’s father, Steve Pescitelli.
Moving slightly deeper, an ever-so-subtle adjustment, put a limit in the boat by 9 a.m.
The blog posts on Bassmaster.com show proof of the team’s ability to cull up. Sachs and Pescitelli did it four times over the course of the day. And as the blog photos attest, the culled bass are quality fish. They lost a fish weighing an estimated 8 pounds at boat side.
“We’re locked in on the pattern for sure,” Sachs said. “We don’t see any need to make any further adjustments.”
That could be good. Or it could be bad.
The reason why is the team holds a very slim 4-ounce lead over Hunter Silverstrim and Elmer Smith of Montgomery County High School in Clarksville, Tenn.
The Queen City Bassmasters anglers also had a banner day. The team caught their limit by 9:20 a.m. They also culled — five times.
And there is a striking similarity to the mystery strategy of the leaders.
“We moved deeper and started catching fish,” Smith said.
Another similarity is the team moved from 22 to 30 feet. Again, making an ever-so-subtle adjustment made all the difference.
Today’s Carhartt Big Bass leader is Craig Wilson of Campbell County High School in Jacksboro, Tenn. His largemouth weighed 6-2; if it remains the largest of the tournament, Wilson will earn a $1,250 scholarship.
A hallmark of this tournament is the generous awards and scholarships available to the teams and their respective high schools.
The angler weighing the biggest bass of the tournament earns a $1,250 scholarship with the Carhartt Big Bass award. Two $500 scholarships will be awarded from the Berkley Sportsmanship Award. Mud Hole Custom Tackle will provide another pair of $500 scholarships to the anglers on the team catching the heaviest overall weight. The company is also giving away a custom rod building kit to the anglers and their coach.
In all, up to $27,000 in scholarships will be awarded from B.A.S.S., the tournament sponsors and Campbellsville University.
Saturday the tournament concludes with the final weigh-in at The Point Resort, 122 Boatdock Drive, Dandridge, Tenn. The weigh-in gets underway at 2:30 p.m. ET. Takeoff is at the same location Saturday morning, beginning at 6:30 a.m. ET.
Keep up with all the coverage on Bassmaster.com.
About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S. is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport. 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), social media programs and events. For more than 45 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 presented by Allstate, B.A.S.S. Nation events, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series, Bassmaster High School Series, Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by Diet Mountain Dew and GoPro.
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Media Contact: Dave Precht, 205-313-0931, dprecht@bassmaster.com or Helen Northcutt, 205-313-0944, hnorthcutt@bassmaster.com.
Bassmaster High School Open
6/20/2014-6/21/2014
Douglas Lake-The Point Marina-Dandridge, TN
STANDINGS BOATER DAY 1
Names School #Fish #Live Lbs-Oz #Fish #Live Lbs-Oz
1. Noah Pescitelli-Westin Sachs Mill Creek High School 5 5 17-5 5 5 17-5
2. Hunter Silverstrim-Elmer Smith Queen City Bassmasters High School 5 5 17-1 5 5 17-1
3. Kyle Ingleburger-Kyle Palmer GCHS 5 5 16-13 5 5 16-13
4. Cameron Brooks-Chase Geary Muhlenberg County High School 5 5 15-12 5 5 15-12
5. Ben Stone-Christopher Bensel Dixie High School Hornet Anglers 5 5 15-9 5 5 15-9
6. Parker Cann-DJ James Dixie High School Hornet Anglers 5 5 13-12 5 5 13-12
7. Andrew Ward-Hunter Bechtel Ola High School Fishing Team 5 4 13-11 5 4 13-11
8. Laura Ann Foshee-DJ Barber Gardendale Rockets Bass Fishing Club 5 3 12-10 5 3 12-10
9. Jake Lee-Jacob Mashburn Clinton High School 5 4 12-8 5 4 12-8
10. Chris Carnes-Justin Grigg York County High School Anglers 5 5 11-13 5 5 11-13
10. Tyler Phillips-Logan Stewart Seymour High School 5 5 11-13 5 5 11-13
12. Cole Sands-Caden Watson Walker Valley High School 5 5 10-7 5 5 10-7
13. Jake Clowers-Tyler Chumley Cambell County High School 5 5 10-1 5 5 10-1
14. Jacob Foutz-Michael Tipton Walker Valley High School 5 5 9-2 5 5 9-2
15. Kyle Waller-Jay Gramlich Sheridan Generals 5 5 9-0 5 5 9-0
16. Craig Wilson-Trevor St John Cambell County High School 3 3 8-14 3 3 8-14
17. Adam Puckett-Keaton Greenawald Bloomington High School North 3 2 8-14 3 2 8-14
18. Andrew Calvin-Grant Ray Tuscaloosa County High School 5 5 7-13 5 5 7-13
19. Mitchell Gowen-Brianna Tucker Decatur Heritage Fishing Eagles 3 2 7-12 3 2 7-12
20. Benjamin Currie-Aaron Bickford Noble Knights Fishing Club 5 5 7-7 5 5 7-7
21. Beau Ashcraft-Shawn Zellers Wabash Valley Bassmasters 4 4 7-3 4 4 7-3
22. Michael Nutter-Evan Charles LaPlata Bass Warriors 5 5 6-11 5 5 6-11
23. Jordan Mullis-Tyler Moscrip Bloomington High School North 4 4 6-10 4 4 6-10
24. Tommy Floyd Jr-Chris Burgess South Florence High School 3 3 6-7 3 3 6-7
25. Jimmy Kemp-Aaron Belcher South Side Bass Commanders 2 2 6-5 2 2 6-5
26. Cody Powell-Dylan Powell Dixie High School Hornet Anglers 4 4 5-12 4 4 5-12
27. Dylan True-Kallen Rochelle Lawrence County High School 2 2 5-8 2 2 5-8
28. Hunter Mabry-Brian Cox Queen City Bassmasters High School 3 3 5-7 3 3 5-7
29. Matt Brown-Christian Warren Corbin High School 3 3 4-9 3 3 4-9
30. Jacob Bowles-Hunter Hampton Muhlenberg County High School 2 1 4-5 2 1 4-5
31. Chris Wilson-Austin Vandergriff Bradley Central High School 4 4 4-2 4 4 4-2
32. Jake Mims-Reese Kingston Alexander HS 3 3 4-1 3 3 4-1
33. Jacob Frazier-Zach Holbrook Perry County Central High School 2 2 3-14 2 2 3-14
34. Blake Albertson-Matt Miller Bloomington High School South 3 3 3-8 3 3 3-8
35. Ryan Nottingham-Seth Harmon Valley High School 3 3 3-2 3 3 3-2
36. Matthew Cross-Michael Stout Siegel High School 2 2 2-14 2 2 2-14
37. Matthew Roberts-Richard Cornett Perry County Central High School 1 1 2-7 1 1 2-7
38. Turner Parnell-Tyler Brown York County High School Anglers 1 1 2-4 1 1 2-4
39. Jared Baker-Abie DeBusk Seymour High School 1 1 2-1 1 1 2-1
40. Tanner Cheeseman-Austin Stacy Bloomington High School North 1 0 2-0 1 0 2-0
41. Rashaad JW Goodson-Steven Younginer South Florence High School 2 2 1-14 2 2 1-14
42. Ryan Winchester-Justin Burris Clinton High School 1 1 1-14 1 1 1-14
43. Corey Elliott Corbin High School 1 1 1-4 1 1 1-4
44. Colton Morton-Cody Schultz Bradley Central High School 1 1 1-2 1 1 1-2
45. Seth Sutton-Bailey Fain Karns High School 1 1 0-14 1 1 0-14
46. Robert G Hendrick-William B Solesbee AC Reynolds High School 0 0 0-0 0 0 0-0
46. Zachary Mashburn-Shane Hooks Clinton High School 0 0 0-0 0 0 0-0
46. Micahel Rojas-Nathaniel Burris Queen City Bassmasters High School 0 0 0-0 0 0 0-0
46. Brett Swafford-Taylor Copeland Walker Valley High School 0 0 0-0 0 0 0-0
46. Zach Vielhauer-Connor Nimrod Kickback High School Club 0 0 0-0 0 0 0-0
BIG BASS
Day 1
Craig Wilson Lafollette, TN 6-2
TOTALS
#Fish #Live Lbs-Oz #Limits
153 145 334-3 18
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