HUNTINGDON, Tenn. — Beau Browning and McCoy Vereen came into last year’s inaugural Costa Bassmaster Junior Championship with high hopes, but they didn’t catch a single legal-size bass in two days of competition. Fast-forward a year, and things have changed drastically.
The 14-year-old Arkansas junior anglers nearly doubled up the total of their nearest competing team on the first day of the 2016 Costa Bassmaster Junior Championship on Carroll County 1,000 Acre Recreational Lake in western Tennessee. Browning and Vereen, who fish with the Anvil Jaw team out of Hot Springs, Ark., had a five-bass limit weighing 14 pounds, 9 ounces. That haul gave the Arkansas team a stranglehold on the Day 1 lead; well in front of second-place team — the New Hampshire Junior Bassmasters — whose Jack Armstrong and Logan Daniels caught five fish that totaled 7-15. Only three of the other 29 teams competing in the junior championship are within 10 pounds of the Arkansas duo.
Fishing teams from Michigan (4-12), Louisiana (4-11), and Mississippi (4-10) round out the Top 5 squads after the first day. In all, 28 state champion teams (and another from Canada,) are fishing for the national title. Competition ends Wednesday. Anglers must be 14 years old or younger to compete in the junior championship.
Browning and Vereen, who both will soon enter the ninth grade, located their fish early in the morning when skies were overcast and the temperature had yet to climb above 90 degrees. They had a limit in the livewell within 30 minutes of the 6 a.m. launch, but the bite slowed as fishing pressure increased.
“We got out to our spot pretty close to the ramp, and we had a good solid limit in 30 minutes,” Browning said. “But by the time everyone had taken off, we had five boats on top of us. We ended up catching a 6-pounder, which bumped us up there. That gave us momentum. But fishing slowed down from there. It got hot, and we started struggling a bit.”
The duo lost another lunker bass a while later, but boated a 5-pounder in the afternoon that has them feeling good going into the final round.
The boys are captained/coached by Bassmaster Elite Series pro Stephen Browning, who is Beau’s father. Though coaches are able to talk with their young charges during junior competitions, the elder Browning indicated that Tuesday’s success was all a result of Beau’s and McCoy’s skills, and their resiliency.
“They learned a lot from last year,” Stephen Browning said. “When they left here, they knew more about the lake. It helped them prepare mentally. This is not one of those lakes where you’re going to run out and catch a huge bag. It’s a mental thing. They kept their heads down, and they hooked into a couple big ones. Them keeping it together was the most rewarding thing for me to see.”
The leaders know they’ll probably have to produce another decent limit on Wednesday to win the Costa Bassmaster Junior Championship. Last year, the Oklahoma team boated 28 pounds on Carroll County 1,000 Acre Recreational Lake on the final day to storm past the field.
“We’ll have to do the same thing we did today or better tomorrow,” Beau said. “Hopefully we can get a win.”
The second day of the Costa Bassmaster Junior Championship will begin with a 6 a.m. launch from Carroll County 1,000 Acre Recreation Lake in Huntingdon, Tenn. The weigh-in is scheduled to start at 1:45 p.m. in downtown Huntingdon.
Junior Bassmaster Championship
8/2/2016 - 8/3/2016
Carroll County 1,000 Acre - Recreational Lake - Huntingdon, TN
STANDINGS BOATER DAY 1
Today's Activity
# Fish Lbs - Oz
Accumulative
Name # Live # Fish # Live Lbs - Oz
1 Beau Browning - McCoy Vereen AR - Anvil Jaw Jr Bassmasters 5 3 14- 9 5 3 14- 9
2 Jack Armstrong - Logan Daniels NH - NH Jr Bass Masters 5 5 7-15 5 5 7-15
3 Remington Barkley - Nathan Elsey Michigan - Junior MI Bass Anglers 5 4 4-12 5 4 4-12
4 Hanson Chaney - Jackson Landry LA - Jr Southwest Bassmasters 5 5 4-11 5 5 4-11
5 Bradlee Parish - Tyler Guin MS - Monroe County Youth Bassmasters 5 5 4-10 5 5 4-10
6 Samuel Ambrose - Trevor Albanese WV - Berkeley Springs Jr Fishing Club 5 5 4- 6 5 5 4- 6
7 Andrew Lavoie - Matthew Lavoie RI - RI Jr Bassmasters 5 5 4- 3 5 5 4- 3
8 Bennett Bauer - Hunter White NC - Southfork Jr Bassmasters 5 5 4- 2 5 5 4- 2
9 Chris Mussat - Matthew Piho ON - Hamilton Jr Bassmasters 5 5 4- 0 5 5 4- 0
10 Miller Dowling - Chandlar Hollingsworth AL - West Alabama Jr Bass 5 4 3-11 5 4 3-11
11 Roger Weigle Jr - Jeffrey Worthy Jr FL - Lakeland Jr Bassmasters 4 4 3-10 4 4 3-10
12 Gavin Enders - Cadin Sheesley PA - Susquehanna Valley Fishing Team 4 4 3- 9 4 4 3- 9
13 Rein Golubjatnikov - Garrett Lawton NY - Rochester Jr Bassmasters 4 4 3- 8 4 4 3- 8
14 Kurtis Swanson - Chaney Weick KY - Bottomline Jr Club 3 3 2-11 3 3 2-11
15 Jake Rossi - Charles Jones OH - SS Minnows 2 2 2-10 2 2 2-10
16 Hayden Hedrick - Cale Carr VA - 3 3 2- 7 3 3 2- 7
16 Brayden Stotler - Ezra Elkins IN - Southside Anglers 3 3 2- 7 3 3 2- 7
18 Ryder Mains - Daniel Gutgesell KS - Kickback Jr Bass Club 3 3 2- 6 3 3 2- 6
19 Cameron Meadows - Austin Hubbard OK - OKC Jr Bassmasters 2 2 2- 3 2 2 2- 3
20 Cullen Behen - Bode Meader ME - Mainely Jr Bass 2 2 1-14 2 2 1-14
21 Ty Keller - Clayton Capilla CO - Denver Jr Bassmasters 2 1 1-11 2 1 1-11
22 Reece Keeney - Bryce Moder WI - Waupaca Jr Bass Busters 2 2 1- 8 2 2 1- 8
23 Jake Schiavi - Lorin Valenti CT - Bass Lightning 1 1 0-15 1 1 0-15
24 Dylan Draper - Luis Flores IL - Off the Hook 1 1 0-14 1 1 0-14
25 Bentley Fletcher - Tristin Wilcox IA - Cedar Rapids Jr Bassmasters 1 1 0-11 1 1 0-11
25 Joseph Gorman - Bryan Oelrich MN - Bassinators 1 1 0-11 1 1 0-11
27 Lanie Birdsong - Hunter Davis GA - Bainbridge Basscats 2 2 0- 7 2 2 0- 7
28 Jameson Peterson - Jordan Bryant TX - East Texas Youth Bass Club 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 0
29 Noah Jones - Manning Feldner SC - Conway Middle School 1 1 -0- 3 1 1 -0- 3
Name City,State Lbs-Oz
BIG BASS
Day
1 Beau Browning - McCoy Vereen Hot Springs, AR 5-10
Day # Live Lbs-Oz # Limits
TOTALS
# Fish
1 91 86 90-14 10
2 0 0 0- 0 0