Fisher Anaya has won almost everything there is to win in the Alabama B.A.S.S. Nation circuit and now, he is hoping to cap off his high school career with a National Championship victory.
With a three-bass limit weighing 15 pounds, 12 ounces on Day 1, Anaya is in fourth place at the Strike King Bassmaster High School National Championship presented by Bill Dance Signature Lakes. The Lake Guntersville native anchored his bag with a 7-2 largemouth.
The list of accomplishments is extensive for the 18-year-old, including 10 victories in the Alabama B.A.S.S. Nation high school circuit, two state championships and two AOY’s. Earlier this summer, he notched an impressive third place finish as a boater in a Toyota Series event on Lake Chickamauga with a 56-15 three-day total.
“I’ve had a very successful high school career and I’m hoping it flows over and goes into the next step of my career,” he said.
Some of the same areas that played in the Toyota Series event have produced again this week, but Anaya has discovered the bass have spread out and the schools of bass he had seen a month ago are down to only a couple of bass.
“They are still around the area I caught them in. They are definitely scattered out more and they aren’t nearly as grouped up. I’m just going around trying to catch one bass here and one bass there. I caught four bass today, but luckily they were four of the right ones.
When he hooked it, Anaya believed the 7-pounder was a drum. So when it surfaced, he was pleasantly surprised.
“I thought it was a drum. It just came up and grabbed (my bait). It never jumped, never did nothing, so I just walked down to the side of the boat like it was going to be a drum and grabbed it. I’ll take it. It is just a bonus.
“A lot of them look like drum.”
Turning up the current
During the afternoon hours of Day 1, the TVA ratched up the current moving through the Chickamauga dam from just over 13,000 cubic feet per second at 9 a.m. to over 45,000 at 2 p.m. The late morning through the afternoon was when many teams noted catching their bigger than average bass.
The increase in generation will likely continue as a flood watch has been issued by the National Weather Service for the area as heavy thunderstorms are expected Friday afternoon. This could mean another spectacular day for the high school anglers on Day 2.
Variety of patterns going on Chickamauga
Talking to the top teams from Day 1, a variety of different patterns played out on Day 1. The majority of teams focused their efforts offshore, including Anaya who utilized his forward-facing sonar to target anything from bait balls to brush and stumps.
Leaders Aaron Yavorsky and Trevor Allen from Hendry County High School Bassmasters in Florida caught their 17-8 limit around middepth grass in current driven areas of the lake while fellow Floridians Drew Fleener and Hunter Prough from the Chipley Bassmasters found success in deeper water.
Landon Rollison and Tanner Bass from the Dixie County High School Bassmasters reported finding a school of bass on a deep road bed and Bennett Mcbride and Gavin Robinson targeted bluff walls with a drop shot.
Louisiana anglers Kade Ellender and Caden Doucet from Sulphur High School caught the majority of their 11-5 limit off the ends of points, much different than how they are used to fishing at home.
Forward-facing youngsters
Nearly every team interviewed on Day 1 mentioned forward-facing sonar was a big part of their gameplan. The Triangle Bass Club duo of Colton Hackney and Levi Stanley have been using it in a unique way. They have been using forward-facing sonar to find areas that are holding bass, but once they find them, they don’t target individual bass.
“At one point we just turned our electronics completely off,” Stanley said. “We at least know the bass are there.”
