Carter/Thompson team 21st at state championship, nearly closer
May 6—MOULTRIE — The Colquitt County bass fishing team of Brayden Carter and Cole Thompson lost a 6-pounder at the boat on Saturday in the state championship that could have meant a berth in the national championships.
Carter and Thompson had to settle for 21st at Clarks Hill in the GHSA's fourth state championship tournament. The state championship drew 126 boats from 61 schools.
Colquitt County had a school-record seven teams qualify, the most of any school that competed in rainy conditions on Saturday.
Six of those seven Packer twosomes took fish to the scales.
The West Laurens team of Ryan Soles and James Brooks took first place in the championships, with five fish weighing 20 pounds, 12 ounces.
Bryson Dover and Angel Cornejo of Lanier came in second with five fish weighing 17 pounds, 12 ounces.
Even without the one that got away, Carter and Thompson had five fish weighing 11 pounds, 10 ounces.
Packers Joseph Jackson and Jake Wilkes had five weighing 9 pounds, 10 ounces. Also for the Packers, Andrew Stanford and Haydyn Glass had five for 9 pounds, 10 ounces; CJ Bryant and Carl Brown Jr., five for 7 pounds, 10 ounces; Braden Venet and Canyon Cook, three for 3 pounds, 9 ounces; and Brayden Bell and Walker Story, one for 2 pounds, 2 ounces.
The Packer bass fishing team finishes its 2024 season on Saturday with the Packer Classic at Lake Seminole.
It will be the last team derby and help decide its team of the year, which is decided by weight accumulated over the course of five derbies, four of which have already been held.
The teams and their weight heading into the Classic are:
—Haydyn Glass/Andrew Stanford, 43-08
—Hayden Hamm/JD Summerlin, 33-11
—Jake Wilkes/Joseph Jackson, 32-10
—Cole Thompson/Brayden Carter, 27-07
—Brayden Bell/Walker Story, 17-01
—Canyon Cook/Braden Venet, 10-12
—Turner McDaniel/Parker May, 9-00
—Harrison Brown/Owen Croft, 5-13
—Carl Brown/CJ Bryant, 4-06
—Gage Raynor/Connor Norman, 3-06
—Brady Holloway, 2-06.
