In their first full year as an official high school fishing team, the Brainerd Warriors are now considered the largest team in the Midwest and include a number of the top youth anglers in the state.
That came about thanks to a top finish at the B.A.S.S. State High School Fishing Tournament held June 17 on the Whitefish Chain of Lakes. Even though the tournament was cut short after just three hours due to a thunderstorm, anglers took advantage of a good bite and worked to fill their five-fish limit.
Reeling in the top spot in the high school division were teammates Gabe Clow and Logan Waidelich, who will be seniors next year. The team was led by boat captain John Janousek. The five smallmouth bass caught by Clow and Waidelich weighed in at 16.7 pounds.
According to Warrior's head coach Jason Bahr the team was using drop-shot rigs to capitalize on the bass.
The third place team was also from Brainerd and included Gaven Roberts and Noah Peterson, with Chuck Fields as their boat captain. The team weighed five fish for 12.8 pounds. They worked the shallows with plastic worms to hook their fish.
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Bahr said the tournament was open to any angler on a Minnesota team. The Brainerd Warriors Fishing Team sent out 27 boats with two anglers per boat along with an adult boat captain. That was a strong showing among the 99 boats registered for the event. Youths attended from all over the state, with a strong showing among 17 teams from the Twin Cities area communities as well as a good showing from Pequot Lakes.
The competition included a high school (ninth grade to seniors) and a junior division (ages 10-13).
Brainerd also had the top angler in the junior division-seventh-grader Tyler Bahr with five fish weighing in at 10.7 pounds. Tyler's boat captain was his grandfather Mike Bahr. Following close behind was seventh-grader Troy Peterson, also of Brainerd, in second place. His five fish weighed 8.7 pounds. His boat captain was head coach Jason Bahr, father of Tyler.
The top two teams in each category from the state competition will move on to the national competition set for July 2017 in Kentucky. That means Clow and Waidelich will compete as a team, Bahr and Peterson will compete on their own. This year's national competition is happening this week, with contestants from 2015 competing. Brainerd was not yet a team to qualify for that competition. Chances are, they will be regulars at the national competition.
Coach Bahr said he was extremely proud to see his son place and proud of all the other Brainerd anglers who put time into the tournament. Brainerd teams had the opportunity to pre-fish the lake the weekend before during their club tournament. Coach Bahr said that was a big boost to the team's ability to get fish in the boat in a hurry. About 80 students competed in that event.
Brainerd now has about 120 youths involved in the fishing team from age 10 to 18, a 40 percent increase from last year, Bahr said. Bahr credits the team's administrator Natalie Peterson for keeping events and anglers organized.
"We are by far the biggest team in the Midwest," Bahr said.
"Then to go to the state tournament and take four of the top five spots was just awesome," Bahr added.
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The teams don't just chase fish. As part of being on the team, each angler must volunteer time at an area fundraising event and make the team meetings. Bahr said they've worked at eight different events so far this season.
The best thing about the fishing team growing is that it translates to more youth taking an interest in the outdoors and having a stake in its future, Bahr said.
"There's been such a big decline," Bahr said.
He referenced a survey from the DNR that showed that in the late 1990s some 44 percent of youth fished. In 2014 the number of youth that fish was down to 27 percent.
"The cool thing is it's coming back," Bahr said of the interest. "The tournament we just fished was over twice as big this year as it was last year. So it's a growing sport."
Bahr's son Tyler is one of those who is not only interested in fishing but hopes to be a top angler in the nation next year.
"I've been watching a bunch of YouTube videos on Kentucky Lake," Tyler Bahr said.
While he has keyed in on shallow bass fishing in the Brainerd lakes area, he notes that he is a bit concerned about the deeper fishing required with crankbaits for bass on Kentucky Lake.
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"It's going to be a lot different," he said.
He plans to be ready next year.
What's next
Minnesota has two state competitions hosted by different organizations. The next tournament is hosted July 31 on Mille Lacs Lake by The Bass Federation and their partner FLW. Brainerd will have 70 to 80 youths involved in that tournament. The top 10 percent in that competition can move on to the national tournament.
Brainerd anglers Kyle Bahr (Jason Bahr's older son) and Logan Beto won this contest last year.
MICHAEL JOHNSON may be reached at 855-5863 or michael.johnson@brainerddispatch.com . Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/mj_upnorth .
