Hollen And Clark Win Bassmaster Junior Championship Tournament on 1000 Acre Lake

October 9, 2021
B.A.S.S. News - Archived

HUNTINGDON, Tenn. — A double dose of early excitement set Bo Hollen and Ari Clark of the Mon Valley Bassmasters on course to winning the Bassmaster Junior National Championship tournament on 1000 Acre Recreational Lake. They had a two-day total of 19 pounds, 11 ounces. Starting their day on a windward mid-lake point that went from about 7 to 25 feet, the anglers threw Carolina rigs with 1-ounce weights, 3-foot leaders and green pumpkin Strike King Space Monkey baits.

“We caught our first big one (an 8-pounder) around 7:20,” Clark said. “Then the 5-pounder was at 7:45, so they were near each other. We knew we’d get in the Top 10, but I told myself ‘We need to catch another one at least 4 pounds if we’re going to get first.’

“We tried; we didn’t get it, but we still won.”

After placing 28th on Day 1 with a four-fish bag of 3-8, the anglers from West Virginia more than quadrupled their productivity by turning in a final-round limit of 16-3 — the event’s heaviest catch. For their efforts, Hollen and Clark will split a $2,000 scholarship. Hollen said the point they fished was a place they had visited during a previous Bassmaster Junior National Championship event. Patient presentations were the key.

“We made long casts and reeled it kind of slow,” Hollen said.

Hollen and Clark caught a few fish — including their first keeper of the day — on a drop shot. They fished this finesse rig with 4- and 6-inch Roboworms in the morning dawn color. Hollen, who had plenty to say on stage, was nearly speechless when he lifted his trophy. Clark shared the enthusiasm and noted that catching a pair of kickers sweetens the experience.

“I’m shocked because I don’t get to see bass that big a lot,” he said. “The fact that I got to see an 8- and 5-pounder just blows my mind.”

Clayburn Reed and Gavin Gooding of Academy at the Farm finished second with 16-7. After placing 11th on Day 1 with a 5-pound limit, the Florida anglers added a four-fish bag of 11-7, which included a 6-12. Reed and Gooding earned a $1,000 scholarship.

“We changed things up today after we figured something out yesterday,” Reed said. “Today, we figured we should fish topwaters shallow in the morning. We were mostly fishing offshore yesterday, but we saw some bigger fish moving up shallow.

“This morning, we went to a cove and fished shallow and caught (that big fish) on a Yo-Zuri Pencil Popper in a translucent shad color.”

Gooding said he and his partner caught the other three keepers on a Texas-rigged pink stickworm. They fished that bait around shallow trees and offshore grass. Brooks Hibbit and Grant Buzard of the Hartley’s Hawgs Youth Fishing Club finished third with 16-3. Catching an 8-1 gave them a big Day 1 lead with a 12-1 limit. Today, they could manage only 4 fish for 4-2.

“If we hadn’t caught that big fish (on Friday), we probably would have had only 8 pounds (total),” Hibbit said. “We weren’t on them today. It kind of started like it did on Day 1; about two hours in, no fish.

“But we got three fish in like 10 to 15 minutes. It was probably 10 casts, but that was the only hot action we had. We probably moved back and forth across the lake three or four times, just looking for spots, but it didn’t work that well.”

Sticking with their Day 1 strategy, Hibbit and Buzard slow-rolled Carolina-rigged green pumpkin Venom Trench Hogs. They used 4-foot leaders to allow the bait to float up as the weight impacted bottom structure. For their third-place finish, Hibbit and Buzard won a $500 scholarship. They also took home the $200 Big Bass scholarship for their 8-1.

2021 Bassmaster Junior National Championship 10/8-10/9
Tournament on 1000 Acre Recreational Lake, Huntington  TN.
(BOATER) Standings Day 2

Angler                                       Club/School                       Pts

1.  Bo Hollen - Ari Clark                        Mon Valley Bassmasters                0
  Day 1: 4   03-08     Day 2: 5   16-03   Total:   9  19-11
2.  Clayburn Reed - Gavin Gooding                Academy at the Farm                   0
  Day 1: 5   05-00     Day 2: 4   11-07   Total:   9  16-07
3.  Grant Buzard - Brooks Hibbit                 Hartleys Hawgs Youth Fishing Clu      0
  Day 1: 5   12-01     Day 2: 4   04-02   Total:   9  16-03
4.  Trey Richardson Iii - Reid Luckett           Free State Bass                       0
  Day 1: 5   04-15     Day 2: 5   11-00   Total:  10  15-15
5.  Parker Adair - Jackson Miller                Arkansas Youth Anglers                0
  Day 1: 2   09-05     Day 2: 5   05-04   Total:   7  14-09
6.  Wes Warnock - Ryan Seitz                     Southeastern Bass Anglers             0
  Day 1: 2   01-15     Day 2: 5   12-02   Total:   7  14-01
7.  Drew Lee - Cole Mcausland                    American Christian Academy            0
  Day 1: 5   04-09     Day 2: 4   08-07   Total:   9  13-00
8.  Luke Stewart - Austin Craze                  Clay Co Middle School and Clay C      0
  Day 1: 5   04-14     Day 2: 5   08-00   Total:  10  12-14
9.  Nolan Savage - Jake Paradis                  LA Jr Bassmasters                     0
  Day 1: 5   08-04     Day 2: 5   04-09   Total:  10  12-13
10. Nolan Holloway - Jackson Fanning             Morgan County Middle School           0
  Day 1: 5   09-08     Day 2: 3   02-09   Total:   8  12-01
11. Milam Mcillwain - Landon Lewis               CREEKWOOD FISHING                     0
  Day 1: 3   03-01     Day 2: 5   07-02   Total:   8  10-03
12. James Barkley - Tanner Moulton               New Hampshire Junior Bassmasters      0
  Day 1: 5   05-08     Day 2: 5   04-11   Total:  10  10-03
13. Dominic Bianchi - Ethan Haley                Rochester Bassmaster                  0
  Day 1: 5   08-15     Day 2: 1   01-02   Total:   6  10-01
14. Chase Black - Cayden Collins                 South side middle                     0
  Day 1: 5   05-10     Day 2: 4   03-15   Total:   9  09-09
15. Lucas D'angelo - Drew Hinzman                Elkins                                0
  Day 1: 4   03-10     Day 2: 5   05-13   Total:   9  09-07
16. Presley Lannom - Preston Maddux              Mt Juliet Fishing                     0
  Day 1: 5   04-05     Day 2: 5   05-02   Total:  10  09-07
17. Kent Falls - Colby Falls                     York Middle School                    0
  Day 1: 4   03-01     Day 2: 5   06-01   Total:   9  09-02
18. Jackson Rogers - Caden Sellers               Jr. Southwest Bassmasters             0
  Day 1: 5   04-08     Day 2: 5   04-07   Total:  10  08-15
19. Tate Reynolds - Blane Smith                  Russell County High School            0
  Day 1: 4   03-04     Day 2: 3   05-09   Total:   7  08-13
20. Caleb Hildenbrand - Ethan Denu               Port City Jr. Bassmasters             0
  Day 1: 5   04-08     Day 2: 5   04-05   Total:  10  08-13
21. Jase Johnson - Keaton Coe                    Anoka Ramsey Jr Bassers               0
  Day 1: 5   04-08     Day 2: 5   03-15   Total:  10  08-07
22. Aiden King - Dillyn Dill                     Shelby County Jr Anglers              0
  Day 1: 1   00-13     Day 2: 5   07-07   Total:   6  08-04
23. Connor Kennedy - Hayden Johns                Mulberry High School                  0
  Day 1: 5   06-08     Day 2: 2   01-11   Total:   7  08-03
24. Rhiauna Switzer - Abigail Panak              Pretty Water Junior Bass Club         0
  Day 1: 5   03-09     Day 2: 5   04-06   Total:  10  07-15
25. Murphy Childers - Ryder Colee                                                      0
  Day 1: 1   00-12     Day 2: 5   07-00   Total:   6  07-12
26. Charles Klug - Brock Huebner                 PJ Jacobs Junior High                 0
  Day 1: 1   06-13     Day 2: 1   00-15   Total:   2  07-12
27. Alexander Tyler - Briley West                McKeel Junior Fishing Team            0
  Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 5   07-07   Total:   5  07-07
28. Wyatt Massey - Leland Pageler                Phoenix Junior Bass Masters           0
  Day 1: 5   04-01     Day 2: 4   03-05   Total:   9  07-06
29. Lainie Holbert - Sarah Swindle               Riverside Bass Team                   0
  Day 1: 3   02-06     Day 2: 5   04-06   Total:   8  06-12
30. Cameron Prokop - Tom Shumowsky               New Age Bass Fishing Club             0
  Day 1: 5   04-05     Day 2: 3   02-07   Total:   8  06-12
31. Alex Meland - Carter Michalek                Eastern Iowa Jr Bassmasters           0
  Day 1: 5   05-03     Day 2: 3   01-08   Total:   8  06-11
32. Nathan Chiasson - Evan Breaux                Lafourche Junior Bassmasters          0
  Day 1: 2   01-07     Day 2: 3   05-03   Total:   5  06-10
33. Ty Magargle - Quintin Bergey                 Wildcat Fishing                       0
  Day 1: 5   04-12     Day 2: 2   01-09   Total:   7  06-05
34. Cole Bowen - Tate Bowen                      Mecklenburg                           0
  Day 1: 5   04-06     Day 2: 2   01-15   Total:   7  06-05
35. Terryn Boland - Wyatt Becker                 West Salem                            0
  Day 1: 5   03-13     Day 2: 2   01-15   Total:   7  05-12
36. Cassidy Sawyer - Vaughn Mckay                L A Junior Bassmasters                0
  Day 1: 1   00-11     Day 2: 5   04-06   Total:   6  05-01
37. Caleb Moore - Joseph Siegel                  Off The Hook IL Bassmasters           0
  Day 1: 2   01-09     Day 2: 2   03-08   Total:   4  05-01
38. Parker Eubanks - Garrett Evans               Plainview Jr. Bass Club               0
  Day 1: 5   03-09     Day 2: 1   01-00   Total:   6  04-09
39. Boots Burleson - Brady Mikes                 Texas Bass Nation                     0
  Day 1: 1   00-15     Day 2: 4   03-06   Total:   5  04-05
40. Cameron Mcdonel - Trenton Zoellner           Swatara and CD Middle                 0
  Day 1: 1   01-00     Day 2: 3   03-04   Total:   4  04-04
41. Cason Redwine - Bo Helms                     Bear Creek Anglers                    0
  Day 1: 1   01-14     Day 2: 2   02-01   Total:   3  03-15
42. Justin Waggener - Eli Pauley                 Burgin Independent School             0
  Day 1: 3   03-14     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   3  03-14
43. Brayden Vallie - Easton Fett                 Fruitport                             0
  Day 1: 2   01-15     Day 2: 2   01-11   Total:   4  03-10
44. Beau McQuade - Elijah Ambrose                Jr. Potomac River Bassmasters         0
  Day 1: 2   01-12     Day 2: 2   01-14   Total:   4  03-10
45. Jack Meiser - Blake Meiser                   Eureka                                0
  Day 1: 3   02-03     Day 2: 1   01-00   Total:   4  03-03
46. Lucas Sheafer - Steele Smith                 Louisburg Middle School               0
  Day 1: 2   02-02     Day 2: 1   00-13   Total:   3  02-15
47. Avery Bowen - Laiken Emanuel                 Jefferson West High School            0
  Day 1: 1   00-10     Day 2: 2   02-03   Total:   3  02-13
48. Carter Gaines - Charlie Brekke               Poudre School District                0
  Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 2   02-12   Total:   2  02-12
49. Princeton Jordan - Peyton Jordan             Marshfield Blue Jays                  0
  Day 1: 3   02-11     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   3  02-11
49. Troy Watson - Shockley Hiatt                 Mount Airy Middle School - Maybe      0
  Day 1: 3   02-11     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   3  02-11
51. Tyler Camp - Kason Carmichiel                Pine Grove                            0
  Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 3   02-11   Total:   3  02-11
52. Jonathan Jarvis - Tanner Trawick             Seminole Co. Middle High School       0
  Day 1: 2   02-03     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   2  02-03
53. Connor Krech - Landon Bizal                  Anoka Ramsey                          0
  Day 1: 1   00-09     Day 2: 2   01-10   Total:   3  02-03
54. Nicholas Syrett - Landon Homrich             Howell Highlander Way Middle Sch      0
  Day 1: 1   01-00     Day 2: 1   00-15   Total:   2  01-15
55. Grant Rees - Keegan Carnicle                 West Delaware                         0
  Day 1: 1   00-11     Day 2: 1   01-03   Total:   2  01-14
56. Leo Yonkman - Drew Wagner                    Southside Junior Anglers              0
  Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 1   01-02   Total:   1  01-02
57. Mackenzie Muntz - Jacob Muntz                Gibsonburg                            0
  Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 1   01-00   Total:   1  01-00
58. Austin Evans - Trevor Wallace                Mecklenburg Youth Bass Masters        0
  Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 1   00-15   Total:   1  00-15
58. Levi  Sowell - Maggie Miller                 Broaddus                              0
  Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 1   00-15   Total:   1  00-15
60. Nikolas Foster -                             Massachusetts BASS Nation             0
  Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
60. Kaleb Harris - Dakota Power                  Ark-La-Tex Bassmaster                 0
  Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
60. John Pharr - Collin Pharr                                                          0
  Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
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Totals
Day   #Limits    #Fish      Weight
 1        23       176       195-08
 2        20       178       225-04
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          43       354       420-12