HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (March 27, 2017) – The Spring Hill High School duo of Brady Gentry and Kory England, both of Hope, Arkansas, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing 16 pounds, 5 ounces, to win the 2017 FLW High School Fishing Arkansas Open tournament on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The win advanced the team to the 2017 High School Fishing National championship, held June 27-July 1 at Pickwick Lake in Florence, Alabama.
A field of 40 teams competed in the no-entry fee tournament, which launched from the Hulsey State Hatchery in Hot Springs. In FLW/TBF High School Fishing competition, the top 10-percent of teams competing advance to the High School Fishing National Championship. According to tournament reports, the team caught their limit fishing main-lake points with a Zoom Trick Worm on a shaky-head rig.
The top four teams on Lake Hamilton that advanced to the 2017 High School Fishing National Championship were:
1st: Spring Hill High School, Hope, Ark. – Brady Gentry and Kory England, both of Hope, Ark., (five bass, 16-5)
2nd: Fountain Lake High School, Hot Springs, Ark. – Jonathan Pipkins, Benton, Ark., and Eligah Luna, Cabot, Ark., (five bass, 13-5)
3rd: Fountain Lake High School, Hot Springs, Ark. – Hunter Bryant, Hot Springs, Ark., and Jordan Mungle, Jessieville, Ark., (five bass, 13-2)
4th: Trumann High School, Trumann, Ark. – Jay Morgan and Cade Gartman, both of Trumann, Ark., (five bass, 13-0)
Rounding out the top 10 teams were:
5th: West Side High School, Greers Ferry, Ark. – Maci Parks, Edgmont, Ark., and Andrew Turner, Greers Ferry, Ark., (five bass, 12-1)
6th: Lake Hamilton High School, Pearcy, Ark. – Karson Hamilton, Hot Springs, Ark., and Fisher Bissell, Mount Ida, Ark., (five bass, 11-3)
7th: Prescott High School, Prescott, Ark. – Tyler Rucker and Bryer Pennington, both of Prescott, Ark., (five bass, 10-15)
8th: Lake Hamilton High School, Pearcy, Ark. – Eli Vaughn and Tristan Leach, both of Royal, Ark., (five bass, 9-14)
9th: Bryant High School, Bryant, Ark. – Lyndsay Moore and Brandon Davis, both of Alexander, Ark., (five bass, 9-13)
10th: Hot Springs High School, Hot Springs, Ark. – Sebastian Love and McCoy Vereen, both of Hot Springs, Ark., (five bass, 8-14)