The Student Angler Federation, in conjunction with The Bass Federation, was happy to return to Clear Lake on March 22, 2026, after two seasons with no high school events scheduled there. High school teams traveled from Fresno to Shasta Counties to complete. Clear Lake is the undisputed “Bass Capital” of the West, so for anyone who likes bass fishing, this lake should be on your bucket list. The lake was higher than normal for this time of year and crazy warm weather for March has fooled a lot of bass into moving shallow to spawn over a month early.

Pre-fishing was hit-or-miss with mixed feedback about the conditions and success from those able to get on the lake early. Ultimately, this was a tournament for the record books, because I have never seen these kinds of weights in high school competition!

Game day morning dawned calm, cool and wet, with a temperature of 43*. Fifty high school teams lined up inside the marina at the Konocti Vista Casino in Lakeport, CA. At 6:43 am the National Anthem rang out and the teams were on their way. With the ability to qualify the top 10% with a spot in the Nationals, we just made the cut and gave certificates to five worthy teams.

Topping the list with a whopping 24.52 lbs for 5 fish was Evan Birck and Maddox Mullins from the Delta Teen Team.

Close behind with 23.64 lbs was Justin Maraviglia and Caden Starr from the San Joaquin Bassmasters.

Third place was filled by the team of Austin Gomes and Trae Sequenzia with an even 23 lbs, while Matthew McKeough and Dylan Grossman hold the fourth spot with 21.24 lbs. Both are new pairings from the Folsom Lake Student Anglers. 

And the last team to qualify was Hunter Martin and Ryder Simmons with 21.18 from Delta Saints Bass Team. The big fish of the tournament weighed 7.72 lbs by Lake County angler Maxwell Lee.

The High School Fishing World Finals and National Championship will be held on Lake Cumberland in Russell Springs, KY on June 24 – 27th, 2026. Registration and results can be found at highschoolfishing.org

Toni MacKinnon, Assistant Youth Director, California Bass Federation

The 2026 Louisiana High School state championship started off with a bang. With predicted rain and weather thinking we would have a rough start it turned out beautiful for the morning ceremonies and take off.

Teams got underway and the fishing commenced. With predictions of spawning bass hopes were high for that big bass and big bags.

Our first place 2026 state championship team may have waited and weighed in last. But they certainly came in first Zeb Ates and partner Richie Faust had a huge uphill battle with a substantial weight of 19 pounds and 12-ounce bag already in the lead.

As the weigh-in was winding down, we brought up our current leaders for the grand finale and Ates and Faust brought up their bag of fish. After seeing the bag, we knew there was a chance.

The scales settled with tensions high, Ates and Faust knew they had it won with 5 fish all alive weighing in at an impressive 21 pounds and 8 ounces. Zeb and Richie also had a great kicker fish that would secure them with the honors of big fish award with a big fish weighing 9 pound 2 ounces.

The team on the stage waiting for the scales to settle was Peyton Bennett and Brayden Pye they had held a commanding lead for quite some time with nearly a 20-pound sack. Bennett and Pye also had a great day on the water with 19 pounds and 12ounces landed them in 2nd place.

Our third-place team Clint Turrentine and Michael Watkins also had a great day on Lake D’Arbonne weighing a 5 fish limit at 18 pounds and 8 ounces.

In 4th place and a brand-new High School team was Nate Sylvestri Partnered with Hinton Carroll who took the lead early on with 15 pounds and 13 ounces.

And rounding out the field with 13pounds 3 ounces went to Chandler Brown & Luke Moss giving them 5th place also securing the team with a national berth to the 17th Annual High School Fishing World Finals & National Championship.

The top 5 teams all win National Berths to this year’s 17th annual High School Fishing World Finals & National Championship, held on Lake Cumberland, Russell Springs, KY.

Remember all active SAF member teams can each register online and come fish the World Finals with a great chance to make the World Finals Championship final day and have opportunity to some great scholarships and prizes.

Saturday, February 21, anglers gathered for an exciting and memorable fishing tournament at the SAF Florida State Championship on the Toho Chain out of Camp Mack. The event brought great weather, strong competition, and plenty of action on the water — making it a truly enjoyable day for everyone who attended.

By the end of the tournament, participants had landed an impressive 141 fish, with a combined total weight of 414 pounds, 3 ounces — a testament to both the excellent fishing conditions and the skill of our anglers. Big fish for the day weighed in at 8lbs. By Treston Stowers.

Congratulations to our Top 4 teams, who have earned their place to compete in Kentucky:

1 Colton Battlon & Jackson Ming- 27.70

2 Jackson Munns & Saylor Urban-21.23

3 Jaedin Velez & Daniel Gray- 20.64

4 Mason Collier & Jayden Lauffer- 18.99

Well done to all participants for making this tournament a fantastic success. We look forward to seeing our qualifying teams represent us in Kentucky and wish them the best of luck.