The top high school anglers from across the country will head to Paris, Tenn., to compete in the Costa Bassmaster High School National Championship held on Kentucky and Barkley lakes Aug. 4-6.
August 1, 2016
High School Championship And College Series Classic Bracket Head To Tennessee
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The Costa Bassmaster High School Championship will bring 170 teams to Paris, Tenn., where 340 anglers will have the chance to fish Kentucky and Barkley lakes in hopes of earning a national championship title.
“We are thrilled to once again host the Costa Bassmaster High School Championship and the Bassmaster College Series Classic Bracket at Paris Landing on beautiful Kentucky Lake,” said David Hamilton, CEO of the Henry County Tourism Authority.
“Kentucky Lake is one of the top lakes for bass fishing, and these high school and college anglers are excited to return to Kentucky Lake to compete for the national championship title.”
The Costa Bassmaster High School National Championship competition begins Thursday, Aug. 4, with anglers taking off from Paris Landing State Park at 5:30 a.m.
The full field of anglers will fish Thursday and Friday. Full-field weigh-ins will be held at Paris Landing State Park at 1:45 p.m. The Top 12 teams will compete Saturday, the final day. Weigh-ins Saturday will be held in downtown Paris, Tenn.
A coach whose role is mentoring the anglers will accompany each pair of anglers in the boat. Each team is required to take a 15-minute half-time break after four hours of fishing. One-minute timeouts are optional.
Competitors in the Bassmaster High School Championship are eligible to win $70,250 in scholarship funds. B.A.S.S. is contributing $21,000 and sponsors are providing $9,250, while the remaining $40,000 will be awarded by Bethel University in McKenzie, Tenn. The prizes are part of a scholarship awards fund totaling more than $100,000 to be paid out this year in the High School B.A.S.S. Nation program.
“These scholarships offered to student anglers are very special,” said Hank Weldon, senior manager of the B.A.S.S. high school and college programs. “It is one of the most important goals and visions of the program — keeping kids in school and helping them pay for it.”
Triton will also provide an additional $500 scholarship to each angler through sixth place.
“The Bassmaster High School program was in the beginning a small segment of the bass fishing world,” Weldon said. “In its short, three-year existence, it has become a program we are proud of and one that’s so important to our sponsors, fans, host communities and, of course the students and their parents.”
Championship week also includes the B.A.S.S. Youth Nation Junior Championship, Aug. 2-3, and the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Classic Bracket, Aug. 4-6, all headquartered in Paris, Tenn.
Junior Championship teams, made up of teams of youngsters ages 7-13, will compete at Carroll County 1,000 Acre Recreational Lake. The B.A.S.S. Youth Nation is designed to feed the high school program.
“We’re excited to again be partnered with B.A.S.S. in this endeavor,” said Brad Hurley, president of the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce. “We had an 11 pound, 14 ounce bass caught here at the Junior Championship last year, and we’re hoping to see another one.”
With the team portion of the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series National Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops complete July 30, the Top 4 teams will be split up into an eight-angler individual bracket. Anglers from those four teams will take off from Paris Landing in separate boats and fish Kentucky Lake Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Aug. 4-6. They will battle head-to-head in single-elimination bracket competition.
The prize at stake is a berth in the 2017 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro on Lake Conroe in Houston, Texas. In addition, the winning angler will have a year’s entry into the 2017 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens and will earn a fully rigged and wrapped truck-and-boat combo.
Local hosts for the events are Paris-Henry County, Carroll County and Bethel University.
