PALATKA, Fla. (Feb. 28, 2017) – The Osceola High School duo of Bailey Chisholm and Cole DePuy, both of St. Cloud, Florida, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Sunday weighing 17 pounds, 5 ounces, to win the 2017 TBF High School Fishing Florida State Championship tournament on the St. Johns River in Putnam County, Florida. 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 57 teams competed in the no-entry fee tournament, which launched from the City Dock Launch Ramp in Palatka. In FLW/TBF High School Fishing competition, the top 10-percent of teams competing advance to the High School Fishing National Championship.
The top five teams on the St. Johns River that advanced to the 2017 High School Fishing National Championship were:
1st: Osceola High School – Bailey Chisholm and Cole DePuy, both of St. Cloud, Fla., (five bass, 17-5)
2nd: Okeechobee High School – Kaitlyn Williams and David Daniel, both of Okeechobee, Fla., (five bass, 15-13)
3rd: Fort Meade High School– Tyler Bazemore, Mulberry, Fla., and Shane Schmucker, Lakeland, Fla., (five bass, 15-9)
4th: First Coast High School – James Brooks, Inverness, Fla., and Matthew Sorrells, Middleburg, Fla., (five bass, 15-3)
5th: Seminole County Junior Anglers – Fisher Omans and Steven Steinard, both of Oviedo, Fla., (five bass, 14-15)
Rounding out the top 10 teams were:
6th: Bartow High School – Jeremy Morgan and Joshua Johnson, both of Bartow, Fla., (five bass, 14-4)
7th: Keystone Heights High School – Coy Givens and Madison Givens, both of Keystone Heights, Fla., (four bass, 13-10)
8th: Seminole County Junior Anglers – Joey Bloom, Winter Springs, Fla., and Dylan Westhelle, Sanford, Fla., (five bass, 13-4)
9th: Seminole County Junior Anglers – Logan Wright, Oviedo, Fla., and Colin Blanton, Winter Springs, Fla., (five bass, 12-15)
10th: Seminole County Junior Anglers – Noah Napolitano and A.J. Alameda, both of Longwood, Fla., (five bass, 12-8)
The 2017 TBF High School Fishing Florida State Championship was a two-person (team) event for students in grades 7-12, open to any Student Angler Federation (SAF) affiliated high school club in the state of Florida. The top 10 percent of each Challenge, Open, and state championship field will advance to the High School Fishing National Championship. The High School Fishing national champions will each receive a $5,000 college scholarship to the school of their choice.