MOUNTAIN HOME Ark. — Without any practice time, Huntlee York and Colton Smith of the Y&S Fishing Club completely fished on instincts to take home the victory in the Abu Garcia Bassmaster High School Series tournament at Norfork Lake. Their five-bass limit weighed 13 pounds, 7 ounces.
The pair of 14-year-olds, who attend Salem School District just 27 miles from Norfork Lake, were still eligible to fish the Junior Series in 2022 but decided that they were going to make the jump to fish the High School Series. It paid off with a win on their home body of water. The winners were fishing the Bass Cat Boats Owners Tournament on nearby Beaver Lake over the weekend, which didn’t allow them to practice for the event. Having a pretty good idea of what the bass may be doing, York and Smith used their local knowledge that had produced in the past.
“We had a pretty good idea of what the fish were going to be doing, and they were doing just what we thought — they were spawning,” said York. “It started off pretty well. He (Colton Smith) caught the first and second fish on a topwater and then we started throwing what we wanted and ran into the right ones.”
Although the Y&S duo caught a couple of their keepers by sight fishing later in the day, their early keepers came from targeting fish that were pushing up bait in the backs of pockets. The anglers later went on to call it a “junk-fishing” pattern.
“They started in the backs of spawning pockets where some shad were getting blown up,” added Trapper York, the Y&S Fishing team boat captain. “Later in the day they went to the bank and were able to pick off a few on beds.”
When the fish were schooling on the surface, the anglers were able to catch their fish on a topwater, but later had to switch to a swimbait when the fish moved down in the water column. Once they made the move to the bank to target spawning fish, a floating worm was their key bait.
“This means everything — we come and fish here almost every weekend,” said Huntlee York in closing.
Garrett Thomas and Hunter Holland of Walker High School finished second with 12-12. Langston Martin of Lee County Anglers fished solo to finish third with 12-0.
2022 Bassmaster High School Series tournament at Norfork Lake 4/24-4/24
(BOATER) Standings Day 1
Angler Club/School Pts
1. Huntlee York - Colton Smith Y&S Fishing Club 0
Day 1: 5 13-07 Total: 5 13-07
2. Garrett Thomas - Hunter Holland Walker High School 0
Day 1: 5 12-12 Total: 5 12-12
3. Langston Martin - Lee County Anglers 0
Day 1: 5 12-00 Total: 5 12-00
4. Fisher Tyler - Blake Ingram Salem 0
Day 1: 5 11-05 Total: 5 11-05
5. Brice Davis - Garrett Angotti Cooter High School 0
Day 1: 5 11-03 Total: 5 11-03
6. Dustin Swafford - Mason Long Stilwell High School 0
Day 1: 5 11-00 Total: 5 11-00
7. Evan Newell - Michael Teate Mid Florida Youth Anglers 0
Day 1: 5 10-15 Total: 5 10-15
8. Hunter Stuckey - Joseph Horne 0
Day 1: 5 10-12 Total: 5 10-12
9. Ely Hagans - Cole Pennington Clinton High School 0
Day 1: 5 10-09 Total: 5 10-09
10. Dallas Taylor - Wyatt Nelson Stilwell High School 0
Day 1: 5 10-05 Total: 5 10-05
11. Colson Brust - Tristan Beck Bam Squad 0
Day 1: 5 10-01 Total: 5 10-01
12. Brett Mouw - Danny Schlenbecker The Hill Toppers 0
Day 1: 5 09-15 Total: 5 09-15
13. Mason Snider - Dalton Benson Mount Juliet Fishing 0
Day 1: 5 09-09 Total: 5 09-09
14. Brendin Simich - Jon James Coco Oak Mountain High School 0
Day 1: 5 09-08 Total: 5 09-08
14. Kendall Smith - Kelton Wilson Bruno Pyatt 0
Day 1: 5 09-08 Total: 5 09-08
16. Nick Carter - Cole Parks Rogers High School 0
Day 1: 5 09-06 Total: 5 09-06
17. Ben Puckett - Jesse Klutts Henry County High School (236) 0
Day 1: 4 08-12 Total: 4 08-12
18. Karson Hubbard - Aden Yarger Gainesville 0
Day 1: 3 08-12 Total: 3 08-12
19. Stone Grove - Wyatt Hamilton Creek Wood High School 0
Day 1: 5 08-10 Total: 5 08-10
19. Jackson Smith - Eric Pilkington Fayetteville High School 0
Day 1: 5 08-10 Total: 5 08-10
21. Garrett Ring - Cole Sanford Greenbrier High School 0
Day 1: 4 08-10 Total: 4 08-10
22. Alexander Costanza - Alabama Christian Academy 0
Day 1: 5 08-01 Total: 5 08-01
23. Austin Benson - Brendan Brown Mount Juliet 0
Day 1: 5 08-00 Total: 5 08-00
24. Cade Calkins - Brayden Vallie Fruitport High School 0
Day 1: 5 07-14 Total: 5 07-14
24. Reece Chambless - Temern Pfaffenberger DeWitt High School 0
Day 1: 5 07-14 Total: 5 07-14
26. Devon Kessler - Charlie Ellis Lakeside Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 5 07-13 Total: 5 07-13
27. Kayden Waller - Mt. Juliet high school 0
Day 1: 5 07-11 Total: 5 07-11
28. Caleb Kuykendall - Asher Williams Murfreesboro High School 0
Day 1: 5 07-09 Total: 5 07-09
29. Wade Roberts - Zachary Lambert Barbe Fishing Club 0
Day 1: 4 07-08 Total: 4 07-08
30. Lainie Holbert - Sarah Swindle Riverside Bass Team 0
Day 1: 5 07-04 Total: 5 07-04
31. Annie Lassiter - warren county pioneer anglers 0
Day 1: 3 06-14 Total: 3 06-14
32. Easton Bouma - Logan Luebker Rogers High School 0
Day 1: 3 06-10 Total: 3 06-10
33. Brady Horton - Rhett Horton Greenbrier High School 0
Day 1: 4 06-02 Total: 4 06-02
34. Kort Rutledge - Kira Calvert Natchitoches Central High School 0
Day 1: 5 05-13 Total: 5 05-13
35. Parker Welch - Derek Landis Kickback high school bass club 0
Day 1: 3 05-13 Total: 3 05-13
36. Grant Priesmeyer - Brent Ryan Eureka Wildcat Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 3 05-13 Total: 3 05-13
37. Parker Adair - Jackson Miller Arkansas Youth Anglers 0
Day 1: 2 05-12 Total: 2 05-12
38. Camden Bruner - Logan Webb Southern Illinois Future Anglers 0
Day 1: 3 05-08 Total: 3 05-08
39. Briley Knowles - Kayden Townsend Genoa Central 0
Day 1: 3 05-04 Total: 3 05-04
40. Presley Lannom - Morgan Lannom Mt Juliet Fishing 0
Day 1: 3 05-02 Total: 3 05-02
41. Hayes Finch - James Lamberth Alabama Christian Academy 0
Day 1: 3 04-01 Total: 3 04-01
42. Kolby Angell - Evan Powell Iowa youth fishing league 0
Day 1: 3 03-13 Total: 3 03-13
43. William Hoskins - Joshua Vanderpool Wilson Christian Academy 0
Day 1: 3 03-05 Total: 3 03-05
44. Copeland Cross - Cohen Duncan Huntsville 0
Day 1: 2 03-05 Total: 2 03-05
45. Carter Pjesky - JD McBroom Kaneland High School 0
Day 1: 2 02-02 Total: 2 02-02
46. Hayden Vavak - Grayson Bryant Rector High School 0
Day 1: 1 01-15 Total: 1 01-15
47. Madison Busch - Keaton Bassham Salem High School 0
Day 1: 1 01-11 Total: 1 01-11
47. Houston Nance - Kayla Philpott Gentry Youth Anglers 0
Day 1: 1 01-11 Total: 1 01-11
49. Landon Mausser - Canaan Horton Marshall high 0
Day 1: 1 01-05 Total: 1 01-05
50. Fischer Barber - Heritage Christian Academy 0
Day 1: 1 01-03 Total: 1 01-03
51. Derek Davis - Connor Jaco Mt.Pleasant Bass Team 0
Day 1: 1 00-13 Total: 1 00-13
51. Laindree Richardson - Luke Dardeen Benton High School 0
Day 1: 1 00-13 Total: 1 00-13
53. Hinesley Bryant - Central High School 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
53. Collier Declerk - Ryan Leiffer Bentonville West and Bentonville 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
53. Anthony Loggins - Sawyer Horton Marshall High School 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
53. Cason Mcnutt - Mason Melton Mt Juliet High School 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
53. Gabriel Sanders - Bryan Martin Chilhowee Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
53. Braylan Tyler - Michael Brewer Jr Franklin County High School 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
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BIG BASS OF TOURN
Karson Hubbard Hardenville, MO 04-05 $0.00
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Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 27 197 369-15
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27 197 369-15