North Tuscaloosa, Ala. — The Northside Anglers B.A.S.S. Nation High School club honored a late teammate during the team’s 2017 season.
Shaun Tyler Bigham, 16, died Aug. 22, 2016, when his truck left the road and struck several trees less than 100 yards from his home. He was a charter member of the Northside High School bass fishing team and would have been a senior this year.
The club members started honoring Bigham in 2016 when they hung his jersey at Alabama B.A.S.S. Nation High School tournaments. Assistant coach Chris Pearson said they also made a flag commemorating Bigham that they flew on teammate Gabe Sanford’s truck before the tournaments.
Bob Hale of L&L Marine renamed the city-county tournament he holds every year to the Tyler Bigham City County Tournament in honor of Bigham. Classmates and former fishing partners Jake Pearson and Sanford dedicated their senior year of fishing to Bigham and won the tournament on Aug. 5 on the Black Warrior River. “My son (Jake Pearson) carries only one photo in his billfold and that is Tyler’s obituary,” Chris Pearson said.
The Northside Anglers won the team event with two-man teams consisting of Sanford and Pearson, Kole Key and Logan Bolton and Nathan Harris and Brantly Hodo. Sanford and Pearson finished as the top two-man team with 16.26 pounds, the largest weight in the tournament’s history. They also won big bass honors with a 7.07-pound largemouth, which was also the largest bass in the tournament’s history.
Tyler’s father, Jeremy Bigham, presented the winning memorial trophy to the Northside Anglers club.