There has been some pretty negative things posted about the HS fishing programs (all of them) in the last couple of months. Some of the things bear merit and some are just complaining without any positive suggestions on how to fix the problems. We fault the directors, the parents, the kids and the captains without seeing any of the positive things that go on.

Last weekend, my 2 boys (not actually by blood) competed against 229 other teams from across the state. They were on a lake that they had never seen, fishing water that was totally different from what they like to fish and the bite was tough. At least for us.
They never quit, they never got really down and they spent Friday night trying to find water on the map that was similar to what they had caught fish on that day. We had a trolling motor break on Sat, the trim on the big motor started acting funny Sat and quit on Sunday. The weather played with everyone for three days, threatening to be really windy and then laying down, threatening to rain and then not and a great lightning show on Sunday. Not to mention the fact that their captain has a busted leg and could not help them on the trolling motor at all. Despite all that, they ended up doing well enough to pull a 12th place finish.
At weigh-in both days, they were cheered by parents that didn't know them, got a few fist bumps from anglers that didn't know them and shared stories with other teams. The lessons they learned and the experiences they had were numerous this weekend.

The weigh-ins went smoothly and Matt (TD) kept the crowd involved throughout the entire event. Ken and Tim were everywhere trying to keep things moving, as well as the rest of the staff. Weigh-in had to be moved on Sunday and it went without a hitch. (Oddly, there were no dissenting voices or crying from competitors or parents about this, it was just accepted and people moved the circus to the next location) If there were any huge problems, no one could tell. Fantastic job guys! I hope you vote yourself the same raise that you did last year, lol. You deserve it and much more.

I tell people all the time that the HS fishing program has nothing to do with fishing. Fishing is just the conduit of experiencing and learning a lot of life lessons that will help in all aspects of your life.

This x100000000

Agree 100%. This was Gainesville's first year to have a team and have no complaints. The students loved every minute of it even when the weather was tough, long rides to the lake, boat trouble, etc. All of our sponsors came to various events including state and were overwhelmed with the participation, commitment, and enthusiasm for the sport of bass fishing. Our community and school has been behind this 1000 percent. We had issues like everyone else but nothing big. Are there some things we as advisors should do to improve the experience....YES. I think the advisors and captains should get together as a division twice a year to get to know each other and to help with any complaints or issues. We are all in this together and if we share our improvements it might help curtail some of the issues. A big thank you to Matt, Tim, Ken and the whole staff at THSBA !!! Also, a big thank you to Glenda for getting everything organized behind the scenes !!! See you guys next year !!!


Nathan Dempsey
Gainesville Fishing Team Advisor

Any suggestions on how to get the school involved? This was our first year and my wife and I helped our son start our club. The school won't even Tweet or retweet anything regarding our fishing club. They won't allow the teacher that helps to to make an announcement. Since it's an "after school club" we are told they are not allowed to do anything. They were very supportive of us starting the club but zero involvement. Is it better this way, any suggestions one way or the other?

C130,
You need to find an active tournament angler on staff at the ISD. That will allow you to have a contact that knows what your trying to accomplish. That's my role in our club, along with being the crack up captain for our kids.
Great place for another group of students to plug in at school.

C130, if you figure out how to get the schools more active - let me know!

I will say that the school here has been more positive and helpful with promoting and announcing how the kids do than they have been in the last 3 yrs. The new principal seems to be supportive and there is a former captain on the school board so that is working in their favor.

Thanks, the teacher that does the grade checks and helps us with our meetings is very supportive but the school won't even let her make an announcement regarding the club. But, it was our first year so maybe as we progress and the club grows they'll become more involved.

I tried to get an article in one of the local newspapers and cannot even get a response. Another high school with a well established club just a few miles away in the same districts get articles published all the time in the same paper. It's something we are going to work on so we can get more publicity and hopefully more sponsors. But, for our first year I think it went pretty well and I'm really looking forward to our next season. We have several new members that will be fishing next season and are already very involved.

High School bass fishing is alive and well and growing...I love it...Ken and Tim your pioneers paving a way for many many happy kids now and in the future... Salute to THSBA

Ask for a. Meeting with the principal of the school and tell him how great this is and how much scholarship money is available to the students and invite him to a tournament and let him or her see it in her own eyes the thing that is awesome for our club was that there were football players to kids that would been a part of any club or team in Highschool that the fishing club