High school bass fishing season came to an end with teams from Pilot Point and Aubrey taking part in the Texas High School Bass Association State Championship Tournament on May 30.
Zach Sanders and Keegan DeWitt of Pilot Point and Brayden Hamilton and Blaine Moore of Aubrey took to the waters of Lake Conroe and faced off against 170 teams from across the state, with both teams finishing in the top half of the field.
Sanders and DeWitt finished in 16th with a total weight of 30.67 pounds.
“I’m really proud of us,” Sanders said. “Honestly, we give all glory to God. We fished for four years, hoping for a shot at state again. We made it freshman year, and for the last two years we prayed for another chance, and we got it and capitalized on some big bass.”
DeWitt echoed his teammate’s excitement.
“It was definitely very exciting and kind of nerveracking to get out there for the first time and fish on a lake we’ve never fished before, but we got to call our own shots and grow a lot,” DeWitt said. “It’s been crazy seeing our progression from freshman year to now, and it's just awesome being able to go out there and get a pretty good bag and do well at state, like we always wanted to. It’s a dream come true.”
The duo said they made sure to take advantage of their second appearance on the big stage after finishing in the 30s their freshman year.
“Sophomore and junior year were rough,” Sanders said. “We kind of slacked off a little bit. When we got tired, we would sit down and put the rods down, but this year, we really put the hammer on them. When we stood up, we did not sit down, and we never put the rods down.”
DeWitt cited the team’s boat captain, Craig Rowley, and the team’s preparation process as big reasons for their success.
“We're very blessed to have a boat captain with such great equipment to be able to use the LiveScope and 360 and stuff,” he said. “… Then we were able to single out which baits worked and what time we were going to hit them, so we really had to capitalize on practice day to see what time we were going to hit, what spots, what we were going to fish and how we were going to fish it, and we did a pretty good job of figuring that out.”
Sanders and DeWitt also thanked their parents for all the love and support they’ve given them along the way.
Rowley said it was a joy having a front-row seat to watch the duo fish together at the highest level.
“It's been a blessing,” he said. “I picked them up when they were halfway through their freshman year, so to see how much they've grown as anglers has been an awesome thing to see, but more than that, to see their friendship grow together and see what great young men they’re turning into has created a cool relationship and a fellowship between us. I think we're going to be able to take a lot away from it, other than just catching fish.”
DeWitt also competed in the THSBA Angler of the Year Tournament on Lake Waco on Saturday, where he finished 22nd out of 90 anglers and was the secondhighest ranking solo angler.
Hamilton and Moore of Aubrey finished 27th with a total weight of 25.8 pounds.
“Aubrey High School is very proud of Brayden and Blaine for placing 27th,” team sponsor Paul Norris said. “If any student is wanting to join the bass team, please check out our district webpage and/or our Facebook page to fill out the Google interest form.”
