PEMBROKE — When the GHSA announced two years ago it was adding bass fishing to the sports it was sponsoring Bryan County softball coach Jason Roundtree mused in a casual conversation that if the school had a team, he wouldn’t mind coaching it.
That musing became reality when the school decided to add the coed sport to its lineup of offerings to students. Teams consist of two fishermen per boat plus a boat captain.
“We were in a meeting last year when it came up,” Roundtree said. “They (school administrators) asked if anyone would be interested in coaching it and putting it together. I love to fish, and I said I would.”
The Bryan County anglers made their debut last Saturday and the two-man team of Logan Sehr and Hunter Shuman finished first in a qualifying tournament at Lake Oconee to gain a spot in the state tournament field.
This was the second of four qualifying tournaments held by the GHSA with the top 15 teams advancing to the state tournament which will be held May 14 at Clarks Hill Lake. A school can enter up to six boats, i.e., two-man teams, in the qualifiers.
Also qualifying was the Richmond Hill team of Jagger Monaco and Joey Moore who finished ninth. In a qualifier earlier this year at Lake Seminole the Wildcats’ Branton Champion and Jackson Behringer finished fifth. This is also Richmond Hill’s first year of fishing.
Any team not qualifying has the option to try again in the remaining two qualifiers which will be held March 19 at West Point Lake and April 16 at Lake Lanier. Roundtree said 257 boats or 514 fishermen competed at Lake Oconee.
Sehr and Shuman, fishing out of a boat captained by William Sehr, caught the maximum five fish whose total weight was 16 pounds, 15 ounces. The Redskins had a second team of Noah Bailes and Jackson Sims fishing out of a boat captained by Roundtree.
“It doesn’t sound like it but that’s a lot of fish,” Roundtree said of Sehr and Shuman’s winning total. “It was tough fishing because of the cold and wind. They had about two pounds more than the second-place team.”
“I can’t say enough about what William Sehr has done for us,” Roundtree said. “Our administration and everyone at the school have really supported us and William has donated his boat, time and money which we really appreciate.”
A pre-tournament scouting trip also helped, Roundtree said. The Redskins visited Lake Oconee last Friday and what they saw helped them formulate their game plan.
“The guys said they were able to get a good idea that with the cold front coming in and it being really muddy water they would need to fish with a really slow-moving bait,” Roundtree said.
Moore and Monaco, who caught three fish totaling 8 pounds 9 ounces, had to overcome boat issues to qualify, according to Richmond Hill Coach Amy Elkins.
“They had a tough start with a boat issue that had them start about 30 minutes after the last called boat,” Elkins said. “All three of their fish were caught in the last hour of fishing.”
“It was a slow day until they found the right spot,” Elkins said. “We are excited that we have two teams qualified and look forward to more qualifying in the last two tournaments.”