HUNTINGTON, Tenn. — Despite losing an hour of fishing with boat problems early in the day, the team of Jack Myers and Lucas Gerlach from Colorado secured four fish for 9 pounds, 1 ounce to take the lead at the 2020 Bassmaster Junior National Championship tournament on the Carroll County 1,000 Acre Recreational Lake. Myers and Gerlach hold a 1-2 lead over Kyle Herrman and Nicholas Herrman of the Topeka Jr. Hawgs heading into Championship Tuesday.
“It feels really good. I’ve been thinking about this for a long time,” Gerlach said.
Fishing stained water for largemouth bass is something new for Gerlach and Myers, who are used to fishing the deep, clear waters of Colorado for smallmouth bass.
“It’s a lot different. (In Colorado) it’s lighter line,” Gerlach said. “The baits are different. Everything is different out here.”
Myers said it took him and Gerlach a little while to figure out how to fish the stained waters of the Carroll County Lake and learn how the largemouth set up. The duo is focusing on the middle of the depth range on the lake this week. After the hydraulic steering on their boat broke, Gerlach and Myers started fishing an hour later than the rest of the field but recovered nicely with the help of a 4-4 largemouth Myers landed midday. Gerlach said he is feeling confident heading into the final day but added that he doesn’t know how the pressure from other anglers will affect their bite in the afternoon.
Kyle and Nicholas, who have made three championship appearances in the last four years, also fell one fish shy of a limit but landed a 5-4 largemouth that lifted them to second place and has them atop the Big Bass standings.
“We caught a 7-pounder pre-fishing and we wanted to get on that spot,” Nicholas said. “(Kyle) caught one on his second cast.”
After landing that fish, Kyle said they moved down a little further to a piece of brush on the bank which produced their big fish of the day. The Kansas duo caught five fish total and caught all four of their keepers in the morning hours.
The Southside Anglers team of Logan Lopossa and Koby Sollars are in third place after catching a limit that weighed 7-11, including a 3-0 largemouth. After a quick start to the day, Lopossa and Sollars struggled during the midday before Sollars landed several fish just before check-in.
2020 Bassmaster Junior National Championship 10/19-10/20
Carroll County One Thousand Acre Recreational Lake, Huntington TN.
(BOATER) Standings Day 1
Angler Club/School Pts
1. Jack Myers - Lucas Gerlach Home Schooled 0
Day 1: 4 09-01 Total: 4 09-01
2. Kyle Herrman - Nicholas Herrman Topeka Jr Hawgs 0
Day 1: 4 07-15 Total: 4 07-15
3. Logan Lopossa - Koby Sollars Southside Anglers 0
Day 1: 5 07-11 Total: 5 07-11
4. Langston Martin - Coleman Mezick Lee County Anglers 0
Day 1: 5 05-13 Total: 5 05-13
4. Turner Tharpe - Blake James Rhea County 0
Day 1: 5 05-13 Total: 5 05-13
6. Kasen Pemberton - Hunter Prough Chipley High 0
Day 1: 5 05-12 Total: 5 05-12
7. Sawyer Knickerbocker - Gage Dowers SWLA Jr Anglers 0
Day 1: 5 05-08 Total: 5 05-08
8. Holten Phillips - Griffin Ralph Lakeside 0
Day 1: 5 05-03 Total: 5 05-03
9. Brody Kellum - Carson Thompson Franklin County Middle School 0
Day 1: 5 05-01 Total: 5 05-01
10. Peter Duffy - Bryce Formsma GR Bass boys Northview 0
Day 1: 5 05-00 Total: 5 05-00
11. Gavin White - Brandon Smith LA Junior Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 4 04-15 Total: 4 04-15
12. Jack Meiser - Blake Meiser Eureka 0
Day 1: 4 04-14 Total: 4 04-14
13. Charles Klug - PJ Jacobs Junior High 0
Day 1: 5 04-12 Total: 5 04-12
14. Joey Elliott - Aiden Pihaylic Anchor Bay 0
Day 1: 4 04-12 Total: 4 04-12
15. Zane Parker - Garrett Wilson 0
Day 1: 5 04-09 Total: 5 04-09
16. Jaylin White - Colden Baker Lugoff-Elgin Middle 0
Day 1: 5 04-08 Total: 5 04-08
17. Pate Anderson - Bobby Miller Susquehanna Valley Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 4 04-07 Total: 4 04-07
18. Carson Harrell - Colton Harrell chapman panthers 0
Day 1: 3 04-07 Total: 3 04-07
19. Trent Volz - Carson Volz Indian Creek 0
Day 1: 4 04-06 Total: 4 04-06
20. Annabel Hellum - Ben Lewis Phoenix Junior Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 4 04-03 Total: 4 04-03
21. Dakota Carter - Preston Keller OKC Junior Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 4 03-12 Total: 4 03-12
22. Landon Pierce - Korbin Neat Casey County 0
Day 1: 3 03-12 Total: 3 03-12
23. Bo Hollen - Ari Clark Mon Valley Bassmaster's 0
Day 1: 4 03-08 Total: 4 03-08
24. Garret Crow - Brayzon Riddle Lone Star Jr Bassmaster 0
Day 1: 2 03-08 Total: 2 03-08
25. Mason Dople - Gabryel St John Jellico Middle 0
Day 1: 1 03-07 Total: 1 03-07
26. Carter Pjesky - Hayden Host Off the Hook Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 4 03-06 Total: 4 03-06
27. Connor Young - Brent Christopher Boyle County Rebels 0
Day 1: 1 03-04 Total: 1 03-04
28. Jack Varnado - Hunter Robertson Jr. Southwest Bassmasters of Den 0
Day 1: 3 02-13 Total: 3 02-13
29. Bryce Cast - Ayden Cast St. Louis Area Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 2 02-12 Total: 2 02-12
30. Andrew Terry - Greer Gammon Dickson County High School 0
Day 1: 2 02-11 Total: 2 02-11
31. Ridge Faircloth - Jake Burns Liberty County High School 0
Day 1: 2 02-10 Total: 2 02-10
32. Judd Byrd - Samuel Nicholas Oak Grove 0
Day 1: 2 02-09 Total: 2 02-09
33. Beau McQuade - Curtis Russler Jr. Potomac River Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 2 02-07 Total: 2 02-07
34. Ian Reed - Mason Everts Hartleys Hawgs 0
Day 1: 2 02-05 Total: 2 02-05
35. Kyle Johnson - Jared Johnson Black Swamp Youth Bass Club 0
Day 1: 2 02-04 Total: 2 02-04
35. Eli Walker - Gage Jones Bluestone Middle School 0
Day 1: 2 02-04 Total: 2 02-04
37. Jarren Crowder - Elijah Ambrose Jr. Potomac River Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 2 02-02 Total: 2 02-02
38. Caleb Roblin - Jackson Landry Jr Southwest Bassmasters- LA 0
Day 1: 2 02-01 Total: 2 02-01
38. Colt Sitton - Ryan Grace North OKC Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 2 02-01 Total: 2 02-01
40. Jace Buxton - Ethan Graham Jackson County 0
Day 1: 2 01-15 Total: 2 01-15
40. William Griswold - Seth Schnoebelen Center Point 0
Day 1: 2 01-15 Total: 2 01-15
42. Lucas Sheafer - Steele Smith Louisburg middle school 0
Day 1: 1 01-11 Total: 1 01-11
43. Luke Ankrom - Williamstown 0
Day 1: 1 01-08 Total: 1 01-08
44. Elijah Bryant - Blake Conrad East Jessamine Middle School 0
Day 1: 1 01-06 Total: 1 01-06
45. Landon Gabby - Easton Hillard Southern Illinois Future Anglers 0
Day 1: 1 01-02 Total: 1 01-02
46. Harrison Betker - Ryder Rousseau Osseo 0
Day 1: 3 01-01 Total: 3 01-01
47. Ryder Milam - Colton Milam Mecklenburg County 0
Day 1: 1 01-01 Total: 1 01-01
48. Zack Brose - Noah Goedjen Heritage Christian Academy 0
Day 1: 1 01-00 Total: 1 01-00
48. Chan Cawthon - Troy Harper Indian Creek 0
Day 1: 1 01-00 Total: 1 01-00
48. Joseph Horne - Jacob Butcher Arkansas Youth Anglers 0
Day 1: 1 01-00 Total: 1 01-00
48. Kade Sturgill - Wyatt Trexler Rowan County Youth Anglers 0
Day 1: 1 01-00 Total: 1 01-00
52. Mason Carden - Dawson Bryant Columbiana Middle School 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
52. Nicholas Gatchis Conca - Hudson Subach Jr. Denver Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
52. Alex Meland - Carter Michalek Eastern Iowa Jr Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
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Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 11 150 177-13
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11 150 177-13