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. Sachs and Pescitelli culled four times over the course of the day. And 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.