Juniors sweep North, place second statewide

D’IBERVILLE, Miss. • Two West Union youngsters represented themselves and their school well with a second-place finish in the junior division of the BASSMASTER High School state tournament, held May 3 and 4 in freshwater estuaries along the Gulf Coast. Captained by adult volunteer Ed Houston, of Saltillo, Baylor McCuiston and Lem Tate, of West Union, performed extraordinarily well as a team from north Mississippi fishing for the first time in and upstream of the unfamiliar brackish, tidal-affected conditions of the Pascagoula and Biloxi River mouths.

“They had to put in in salt water and run to fresh water,” said Marlee Camp, of Pine Grove in Tippah County. She coordinates the BASSMASTER High School tournaments in the North Mississippi division, where most competitive fishing is done in the waters of Bay Springs, Pickwick and similar elements of the Tennessee River.

“It’s amazing to have a northern team come qualify for the nationals by placing highly here,” she said.

By way of their state championship finish, McCuiston and Tate qualify to fish the BASSMASTER High School national championship, which will be held in July on Lake Chickamauga in Tennessee.

While others may be pleasantly surprised, Ed Houston, the volunteer captain for the two boys, was not surprised at all.

“Lem started fishing with me when he was 9,” Houston said, “and they both just turned 12.”

To qualify for the state championship event, teams had to fish in at least three of the four tournaments hosted in the northern region this year. McCuiston and Tate not only fished in all four, they won them as well.

“The junior side didn’t have a whole lot of boats in it, though the high school side always had a good turnout,” Houston said. “Really though, we didn’t know how good the two guys would be together until they fished the D’Iberville tournament.”

In the state showdown’s junior high school division, the two stood second among 19 teams after the first day. Their day-one five-fish limit weighed 6.68 pounds. They held onto second place with an additional 6.19 pounds on day two, accumulating a two-day total of 12.87 pounds. That left them less than a pound behind the tournament’s ultimate first place team, a pair from hometown D’Iberville that recorded 13.74 pounds of fish over two days. Tate and McCuiston finished ahead of third place by a half pound exactly.

The two got to experience not only the trials and the joys of excellent competition, but some of the experiences that go along with winning tournaments at a high level. Organizers shot live interviews with the two on both the morning and afternoon of Day Two. They also stood on stage, holding their fish and describing their days’ experiences.

“More than 100 colleges and universities are awarding bass fishing scholarships now, and their coaches and recruiters come to these events to watch how the anglers handle themselves on stage, and see how they deal with both victory and defeat,” Camp said. “There are opportunities after opportunities for kids to go to college and fish.”

She said a great share of the credit should always go to the volunteer captains. Anglers in the senior high school division are allowed to run the trolling motors for themselves but, otherwise, all the driving has to be done by the adult volunteer captains, who donate the use of their boat, plus their time, knowledge and gas, all for the kids.

“They’ll spend a whole day on the water and aren’t allowed to pick up a rod,” Camp said. “The captains are fishermen, but they’re fishers of men, mainly. It’s a ministry, and I cannot brag enough on them. They experience every bit of the same heartache and the joy as the kids, maybe even more. The smiles are always just as big on the captains’ faces as they are on the kids’.”

“I’ve fished now for 50 years or more, and I just want to keep the sport going,” Houston said. “I want to carry it on and see these little guys who love to fish and pass the experiences on to them.

“It’s been really rewarding. As much as I like to catch fish, I love to see them do the same. The excitement they have when they catch a fish is tremendous. To get to see the two little guys get up on stage and get trophies and talk about what they caught their fish on was just phenomenal. That’s what it’s all about — being able to help those guys and see the excitement on their faces when they caught one.”

Houston helped his own kids compete in tournaments in their day, but now they’re grown.

“My preacher said his son loved to fish,” Houston said, “so I took him (Lem Tate) one day and saw he didn’t just like it, but loved it.”

Soon, Houston was volunteering to captain for Lem and his fishing partner Baylor in tournaments.

“There are several different high school and junior high school trails out there, and this year we decided to fish the one associated with BASSMASTERS,” Houston said. “The trail was really well run. Marlee was very organized. We fished mainly Bay Springs and Pickwick, which I liked as well.”

The high school and junior high tournament trails are open to both boys and girls.

“It’s a family event,” Camp said. “You’ll hear the National Anthem and a prayer, most anglers on stage thank the Good Lord above. You’ll see kids there with their brothers, sisters, parents and grandparents. Every tournament is always a good event.”

To get involved or to learn more about BASSMASTER’s youth events, search BASSMASTER High School on Google or Facebook.

McCouiston and Tate compete in the national championship tournament this summer, and the Daily Journal will be sure to follow up with them once that event is done.