JASPER, Texas — An early taste of success locked Grayson Goss and Wally Wolcott into a pattern that produced a winning limit of 27 pounds, 5 ounces in the Strike King Bassmaster High School Series at Sam Rayburn Reservoir.
Representing the Arkansas-based Lakeside Rams Bass Club, the winners edged second-place Griffin Antunes by 3-3. The win earned Goss and Wolcott a berth in the Strike King Bassmaster High School Series National Championship, July 30 – August 1 on Kentucky Lake in Paris, Tenn.
“This means the world to me, because of all the dedication and practice we put in,” Wolcott said. “To compete against some of the best high school anglers in the country and to win was great.”
Goss and Wolcott, both seniors at Lakeside High School in Hot Springs, Ark., fished the mid-lake region and focused on a drain running through standing timber.
“We were fishing in 5 to 8 feet of water and looking for fish that were staging up to go spawn,” Goss said. “We stayed in one drain all day and fished within 1/4- to 1/2-mile of the spawning area.
“Drains within the timber are just good prespawn staging grounds. The fish can move up from deep water, chase bait and then go spawn when it gets warm.”
As Goss explained, he and his partner found most of their action from about 9 a.m. onward. They caught fish throughout the rest of the day and made their last cull with a 6-pounder at 2.
The winners started their day feeling good about their prospects, but less than an hour after takeoff their biggest fish of the day — a 7-pounder — stoked their fire.
“That 7-pounder started the day off right,” Wolcott said. “It made us stick to the game plan.”
Goss agreed: “It was a big confidence boost. It made the day even better.”
Drought conditions have dropped Rayburn’s water level to about 9 feet below normal. Wolcott said this shrunk the playing field and helped them narrow down their focal point.
“It was pretty bad; there were only a couple of drains we could fish,” Wolcott said. “We found the one we fished in practice. We lost one or two big ones there in practice, so we knew the big fish were in there and we just needed to get them to bite.”
The winners caught their fish on a 6-inch Berkley Cull Shad. They used the white color to match the hefty baitfish schooling in the drain.
“There were big gizzard shad in the back of the drain, so we were trying to match what the fish were eating,” Goss said. “For the retrieve, slow and steady wins the race. They would hammer it.”
Antunes, who represented Henderson High School, fished solo and placed second with 24-2. While he had more room to fish without sharing space with a partner, he noted that he occasionally struggled to handle big Texas bass.
“Definitely, netting my fish was extremely hard,” Antunes said. “I had a couple of big ones and they kept diving down. I only lost one that might have helped me.”
Fishing a drain in 4 to 6 feet, Antunes hunted his fish on LiveScope and fished the first part of his day with a 6-inch 6th Sense Shendo minnow on a 1/8-ounce jighead. Later in the day, when the wind picked up, he threw a 6th Sense Provoke jerkbait.
Joshua Adams and Dakota Morris of the Carroll Bass Team finished third with 23-14.
Adams and Morris split the $500 Big Bass award with Dean Austin and Caleb Moore of Off The Hook Jr. Bassmasters. Each team caught a 7-13.
This event was hosted by Jasper Development District No. 1.