Tithof and Hardebeck Win High School Tournament on Saginaw Bay

June 9, 2024
High School Fishing Tournaments

BAY CITY, Mich. — The big waters might have been off-limits due to weather Sunday for the Bassmaster High School Series tournament at Saginaw Bay, but Carson Tithof and Maverick Hardebeck had no problem catching a big limit in the confines of the Saginaw River and clinching the tournament title. Tithof and Hardebeck, fishing as part of Grand Haven Bassmasters (Mich.) Fishing Team, caught five bass totaling 17 pounds, 4 ounces, giving them an 8-ounce edge over the field of 60 teams competing in the one-day derby in northeast Michigan.

The duo won $1,006 cash for placing first at Saginaw. The boys also qualified for the Bassmaster High School National Championship, which is scheduled for Aug. 1-3 at Chickamauga Lake in Dayton, Tenn.  

The Saginaw system might be in their home state, but Tithof and Hardebeck have only fished it once before. Still, they were completely confident river fishing on Sunday — something they do several times a week on the Grand River back home in western Michigan.

“It’s pretty much exactly the same,” Tithof said. “We didn’t plan on going into the bay at all, so that being off-limits didn’t affect us. We knew we wanted to fish in the river because it’s what we’re used to doing.”

The boys’ day started strong, with a limit of bass in the livewell within 30 minutes of their first cast. They culled a few times over the next few hours, but by 10 a.m., their bite was done. Luckily, they already had enough weight to be atop the leaderboard by that time.

“It really was a grind for a while,” Tithof said. “And it was hard to fish in the wind, as hard as it was blowing.”

The victors threw white swim jigs on about 90% of their casts. They looked for breaks in current, typically near logs and other floating structure, where a mix of largemouth and smallmouth bass were stacked.

“We mixed in a beaver (creature bait), too,” Hardebeck said. 

The combination was just what they’d have done on the Grand River, and the similarities paid dividends. They weighed three largemouth and two smallmouth, with one of the smallies (4-10) winning Big Bass of the Tournament honors. 

The High School National Championship berth is the first for both Tithof, 17, and Hardebeck, 15. They previously competed in the Bassmaster Junior Nationals a couple of seasons ago.

A whopping 44 of 60 competing teams caught limits. Behind Tithof and Hardebeck, top tandems included second place, Landon Gabby and Kolby Baker, Marion (Ill.) High School Bass Fishing Team, 16-12; third, Olevir Johnson and Allen Moore, Oldham County (Ky.) High School Bass Team, 16-10; fourth, Oliver Neumann and Wyatt Feiguy, Zimmerman Thunder (Minn.) Bass Team, 16-3; and fifth, Michael Harris and Kayden Waller, Mt. Juliet (Tenn.) Fishing Team, 15-7. 

The derby was the last of the 2024 Bassmaster High School regular season, with tournaments previously held at Clarks Hill Reservoir in Georgia, Douglas Lake in Tennessee and Sam Rayburn Reservoir in Texas. 

2024 Bassmaster High School Series at Saginaw Bay 6/9-6/9
(BOATER) Standings Day 1

    Angler                                       Club/School                       Pts

1.  Carson Tithof - Maverick Hardebeck           Grand Haven Lakeshore Middle Sch      0
  Day 1: 5   17-04   Total:   5  17-04
2.  Landon Gabby - Kolby Baker                   Marion High School Bass Fishing       0
  Day 1: 5   16-12   Total:   5  16-12
3.  Olevir Johnson - Allen Moore                 Oldham Co High School Bass Team       0
  Day 1: 5   16-10   Total:   5  16-10
4.  Oliver Neumann - Wyatt Feiguy                Zimmerman Thunder - MN                0
  Day 1: 5   16-03   Total:   5  16-03
5.  Michael Harris - Kayden Waller               Mt Juliet Fishing Team                0
  Day 1: 5   15-07   Total:   5  15-07
6.  Tanner Russell - Daniel Lowhorn              Mt. Juliet High School - TN           0
  Day 1: 5   15-06   Total:   5  15-06
7.  Nate Helmreich - Luke Farminer               Freeland Bass Fishing                 0
  Day 1: 5   15-02   Total:   5  15-02
8.  Carter Pjesky - JD McBroom                   Off the Hook Bassmasters - IL         0
  Day 1: 5   14-15   Total:   5  14-15
9.  Easton Drennon - Cole Petroff                Mt Juliet Fishing Team                0
  Day 1: 5   14-12   Total:   5  14-12
10. Harrison Hobbs - Cade Speligene              Music City Bass                       0
  Day 1: 5   14-10   Total:   5  14-10
11. Brayden Tisdale - Reece Kilian               Emerald Coast Youth Bassmasters       0
  Day 1: 5   14-03   Total:   5  14-03
12. Kaden Dorman - Owen Nepple                   Iowa Youth Fishing League High S      0
  Day 1: 5   13-04   Total:   5  13-04
13. Rylan Hamlin - Luke Hendrick                 Jackson High School Bass Fishing      0
  Day 1: 5   12-14   Total:   5  12-14
14. Brayden Vallie - Carson Vallie               Fruitport High School - MI            0
  Day 1: 5   12-12   Total:   5  12-12
15. Zach Knight - Luke Malik                     Gallatin High School                  0
  Day 1: 5   12-07   Total:   5  12-07
16. Elijah Ambrose - Jarren Crowder              Hs Potomac River Bassmasters          0
  Day 1: 5   12-06   Total:   5  12-06
17. Max Himmel - Connor Hebert                   Catholic High School Fishing          0
  Day 1: 5   12-02   Total:   5  12-02
18. Brody Brinson - Greer Gammon                 Mt Juliet Fishing Team                0
  Day 1: 5   11-13   Total:   5  11-13
19. Jesse Lancaster - Fisher Lancaster           Triangle Bass Club                    0
  Day 1: 5   11-11   Total:   5  11-11
19. Derek Davis - Evan Wood                      Mt Pleasant High School Bass Tea      0
  Day 1: 5   11-11   Total:   5  11-11
21. Hollis Rose - Grant Arnold                   Jefferson County Patriot Anglers      0
  Day 1: 5   11-10   Total:   5  11-10
22. Parker Hill - Wesson Vint                    Track And Channel Youth               0
  Day 1: 5   11-07   Total:   5  11-07
22. Sam Volbert - Brody  Alderman                Music City Bass                       0
  Day 1: 5   11-07   Total:   5  11-07
24. Daniel Ruhe - Michael Duvall                 Black Swamp High School Fishing       0
  Day 1: 5   10-15   Total:   5  10-15
25. Andrew Terry - Carson Bryant                 Dchs Fishing Team                     0
  Day 1: 5   10-13   Total:   5  10-13
26. Luke Childs - David Stockard                 Music City Bass                       0
  Day 1: 5   10-10   Total:   5  10-10
27. Grant Nore - Marshall Nesheim                Iowa Youth Fishing League High S      0
  Day 1: 5   10-09   Total:   5  10-09
28. Jaxson Pierce - Tucker Larrance              Jefferson County Patriot Anglers      0
  Day 1: 5   10-06   Total:   5  10-06
29. Presley Lannom - Trevor Sanford              Mt. Juliet High School - TN           0
  Day 1: 5   10-03   Total:   5  10-03
30. Brooks Putnam - Daylin Doak                  Mt. Juliet High School - TN           0
  Day 1: 5   10-02   Total:   5  10-02
30. Trey Richardson III - Reid Luckett           Free State Bass                       0
  Day 1: 5   10-02   Total:   5  10-02
30. Luke Somerville - Leeand Fox                  Gaylord High School Bass Angler      0
  Day 1: 5   10-02   Total:   5  10-02
33. Ryan Kahut - Cole Stead                      Brighton High School                  0
  Day 1: 5   10-01   Total:   5  10-01
34. Hayden Barnett - Camdyn Cranfill             Kingston High School - TN             0
  Day 1: 5   09-08   Total:   5  09-08
35. Porter Morrison - Brayden Morgan             Catholic High School Fishing          0
  Day 1: 5   09-07   Total:   5  09-07
36. Tyler Gentry - Abe Sledge                    Loudon Bass Club                      0
  Day 1: 5   09-06   Total:   5  09-06
37. Annie Lassiter - Crew Morrone                Warren Co High School Pioneer An      0
  Day 1: 5   09-04   Total:   5  09-04
38. Jacob Burkhead - Carter Berry                Benton Panther Fishing Team           0
  Day 1: 5   09-02   Total:   5  09-02
38. Joseph Elliott - Avry Morehouse              Anchor Bay - MI                       0
  Day 1: 5   09-02   Total:   5  09-02
40. Luke Barriger - Drew Lafave                  Meridian Early College High Scho      0
  Day 1: 5   09-00   Total:   5  09-00
40. Camden Randall - James Roop                  Mt Pleasant High School Bass Tea      0
  Day 1: 5   09-00   Total:   5  09-00
40. Danil Williams - Chance Knight               Mt Juliet Fishing Team                0
  Day 1: 5   09-00   Total:   5  09-00
43. Wyatt Carr - Jamie Neel                      Reeths-Puffer High School             0
  Day 1: 5   08-12   Total:   5  08-12
44. Colten Dickerson - Tyler Baumann             Zeeland Fishhawx                      0
  Day 1: 4   08-08   Total:   4  08-08
45. Kaleb Page -                                 Coffee County High School - TN        0
  Day 1: 5   08-01   Total:   5  08-01
46. Charles Dawson - Wyatt Dawson                Creekwood Hs Redhawks Fishing         0
  Day 1: 3   06-09   Total:   3  06-09
47. Quinn Barbee - Oliver Lewis                  St. Pius X Catholic School - IN       0
  Day 1: 3   06-06   Total:   3  06-06
48. Nathaniel Terbush - Dima Griffiths           Dexter High School                    0
  Day 1: 3   05-11   Total:   3  05-11
49. Kaleb Allmon - Dallas Brewster               Loudon Bass Club                      0
  Day 1: 3   05-08   Total:   3  05-08
50. Lainie Holbert - Sarah Swindle               Riverside High School Bass Fishi      0
  Day 1: 3   05-05   Total:   3  05-05
51. Banks Barber - Aaron Morrison                Polk County High School               0
  Day 1: 2   05-02   Total:   2  05-02
52. Connor Mcnally - Lillian Moss                Clare Hs Fishing Team                 0
  Day 1: 2   03-10   Total:   2  03-10
53. Nicholas Sabisch - Adin Drake                Clare Hs Fishing Team                 0
  Day 1: 2   03-09   Total:   2  03-09
54. Jackson Dowdle -                             Mcdowell High School Bass Fishin      0
  Day 1: 2   03-05   Total:   2  03-05
55. Brodie Craft - Joseph Fisher IV              Summerfield Bulldogs                  0
  Day 1: 1   03-04   Total:   1  03-04
56. Jeffrey Mansfield - Garrett Schultz          Howell High School                    0
  Day 1: 2   03-03   Total:   2  03-03
57. Connor Wallace - Brendan Scripps             Howell High School                    0
  Day 1: 1   01-10   Total:   1  01-10
58. Chase Aaron - Beckham Matt                   White Lake Lakeland                   0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
58. Hayden Persyn - Carter Persyn                Freeland                              0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
58. Easton Waite - Mason Johnston                Clare Hs Fishing Team                 0
  Day 1: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
BIG BASS OF TOURN
     Carson Tithof            Grand Haven, MI     04-10          $0.00
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals
Day   #Limits    #Fish      Weight
 1        44       251       581-15
----------------------------------
          44       251       581-15