The 14th Annual High School Fishing World Finals and National Championship will be held from June 21-24 on Mississippi River pools 7,8, and 9, located near La Crosse, Wisconsin. High school anglers from across the globe, including three teams consisting of anglers from Jackson Parish, will try their luck in an attempt to claim their piece of the $3 million prize pool. Everything from fishing tackle, rods, and reels to electronics and college scholarships is up for grabs for the field of high school anglers.
Representing Quitman High School is Hayden Smith and Maddox Duck while the all girl team of Addison Ledford and Hailey Chatham carry the banner for Weston High. Landin Chatham of Weston High and Jessie Parker from West Ouachita High School will also be putting their skills against other prep anglers from all over the United States and international teams from Canada and as far away as Zimbabwe, South Africa.
About the Fishery: Pools 7, 8, and 9 of the Upper Mississippi River are known for their vast backwaters systems that each offer diverse features. Locking upriver to Pool 7 means searching through expansive grass flats where anglers will find themselves on the hunt for quality largemouth bites. Staying put in Pool 8 gives a wider variety of cover for the field to play in. While grass flats can be found and exploited, it’s the variety of wing dams and current breaks, backwater cuts and sloughs that allow anglers to spread out and find a fishing style that best suits them. Locking down to Pool 9 offers anglers yet another opportunity to explore backwater areas and winding sloughs that are known to hold both largemouth and smallmouth. Traditionally, largemouth dominate a summertime bite in La Crosse, but finding the right smallmouth certainly will launch a team up the leaderboard and into contention for the National Championship title.
In addition to the college scholarships and prizes offered, the High School Fishing National Champions will also advance to the 2023 Major League Fishing Toyota Series Championship, held Nov. 2-4 on Table Rock Lake in Branson, Missouri. There they will compete as co-anglers for a shot at the top prize of a new Phoenix 518 Pro boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury outboard.
For complete details and updated tournament information, visit https://highschoolfishing.org/https://highschoolfishing.org/ or click here.