DAYTON, Tenn. — Rex Reagan and Max Moody have come close to winning high school tournaments before, missing out on victories by mere ounces. But this week, the rising sophomores at Pickett County High left little doubt about who would be hoisting the trophy this week at Chickamauga Lake.
Boasting a three-day total of 43 pounds, 3 ounces, Reagan and Moody won the Strike King Bassmaster High School National Championship presented by Bill Dance Signature Lakes, earning more than $10,000 in scholarship money in their home state.
“I’ve been second a bunch,” Reagan said. “I’ve been right there, ounces away. Two drops of water (away). It is unreal. I can’t believe I’m here holding this trophy.”
Opening the tournament in 119th place with a three-bass limit measuring 6-3, the duo landed a tournament-high 21-5 on Day 2 to jump into the lead before landing 15-11 on the final day to secure the victory.
Hailing from the Tennessee side of Dale Hollow Reservoir, Reagan and Moody landed 8-pounders each of the last two days, including an 8-3 on Day 2 and an 8-1 on the final day.
“It just feels good to be here,” Moody said. “We are proud that we made it here and made everyone back home proud and put us on the map. This is our first high school win together and it will feel good going into next season with a big win like this.”
Before the cutoff for the High School Championship, Reagan competed in the Bill Dance Signature Lakes Giant Bass Open in June, which allowed him to see how the bass were setting up.
Running toward the south end of Chickamauga Lake every day, Reagan and Moody targeted brushpiles between 10 and 15 feet of water in current-driven areas. If the current wasn’t moving fast enough, the bass would roam away from the brush, making them difficult to find.
Once the current started moving, around midday on the final two days, the bass would set up behind the brush and use it as an ambush point. That was when Reagan and Moody could make those bass bite using a 4 1/2-inch Hog Farmer Spunk Shad rigged on a Queen Tackle tungsten jighead as well as a 6-inch morning dawn Roboworm rigged on a drop shot.
“We fished a lot of places with a lot of brush. But about 12 o’clock they would start firing,” Reagan said. “I knew I could catch them again today if they set up right, and they did. When that current pushes, they get behind something. That was really key.”
On the final day, Reagan and Moody were able to land some smaller bass on a drop shot, but the morning was slow until about noon.
“They fired later in the day,” Reagan said. “That Hog Farmer Spunk Shad, I love that bait. It is a great bait. I can see the Queen Tackle tungsten jighead better on my LiveScope. I threw that bait in there and man, it smoked it. That was that 8-pounder, and that put us at about 12 pounds.”
Moody was on net duty for that 8-pounder, and he knew the second Reagan set the hook it was the bass they needed.
“It is crazy to watch him lean into one and hear that drag scream. It is a sight to see,” Moody said. “You know you better net that thing, or he’s going to be mad.”
With an hour to go before check-in, Reagan and Moody hooked into a 5-pounder, lifting them to their final tally for the day.
“We knew we were sitting good then,” Reagan said.
Jack Swihart and Rylan Hamlin from Jackson High School in southern Michigan finished second with a three-day total of 37-7. Opening the tournament in eighth with a limit weighing 13-4, they dropped to ninth on Day 2 with a 9-8 showing before jumping up the leaderboard the final day with 14-11.
“We gave it our all today. We caught the biggest bag we caught all week, and it didn’t shake out our way,” Swihart said.
The tournament was their first trip to Chickamauga Lake, and the duo focused their efforts on several different offshore elements. Forward-facing sonar was a big key to their success.
“Every day we were fishing a little bit of everything and throwing quite a few different baits,” Hamlin said. “We had multiple ledges, brushpiles, weed patches and wood and caught some roaming fish. We were running multiple different spots. We didn’t catch a whole bunch suspended, but being able to make accurate casts with (forward-facing sonar) on the weed patches and brushpiles was huge.”
The duo opened the morning by throwing topwater baits, landing a quality bass to get the momentum rolling. From there, they targeted ledges and caught a 7-3 largemouth before making one more key cull just before check-in.
With bags of 15-12, 11-5 and 10-5, Fisher Anaya from Brewer High School finished third with a three-day total of 37-6. Anaya spent most of the week using his forward-facing sonar to target individual largemouth with a Rapala CrushCity Freeloader. He also targeted several schools of bass with a Rapala DT-16.
“The majority of my fish were coming out of springs. I was looking for individual fish sitting inside the springs. The ledges would run out and make a big hole, and they would be sitting right in the middle of the hole. There were very few in each one, but they were all big and you would have to work your butt off to get one to actually bite your minnow.”
On the final day, Anaya located a new school of bass in more than 35 feet of water and landed a 4-pounder within the first couple of minutes of fishing. From there, he tried some of his other areas and filled out his limit. He returned to his deep school and landed a 5-pounder but lost another 5-pounder that would have lifted him to second.
“It swirled and I got it all the way to the boat, and it just came off,” he said. “Hats off to these boys. They caught them all week. It was definitely a heck of a week for me.”
Levi Stanley and Colton Hackney from the Triangle Bass Club in North Carolina claimed Big Bass of the Tournament honors with an 8-11 largemouth they landed on Day 1 of the event.
The City of Dayton hosted the tournament.
