Interview with the winners of the first B.A.S.S. High School tournament- Mitchell Gowen & Brianna Tucker

Southern Fishing News thought talking to the winners of the B.A.S.S. High School Invitational Tournament on Wheeler Lake was newsworthy in itself, but especially so since this tournament was the very first high school tournament B.A.S.S. has held under the new High School division. The winners of this event, Mitchell Gowen and Brianna Tucker won a ticket to the Bassmaster Classic as a result of their win in addition to other qualifying honors.

The pair is from Decatur, AL and fish on the Decatur Heritage Christian Academy (DHCA) Fishing Eagles bass fishing team. Their Boat Captain, who does not fish in the student angler tournaments, for the event was Norman Brown.  The coach for the DHCA Eagles is Mitchell’s dad Blake Gowen.

Here is the Southern Fishing News (SFN) interview with the B.A.S.S.  High School Invitational Tournament champions:

SFN– What did it mean to you, have any special significance and did you consider the historical aspect of winning the very first B.A.S.S. High School Tournament ever held?
Mitchell– I thought about it after I got home. It was really exciting. I really enjoyed the B.A.S.S. and Decatur CVB accommodations at the tournament and the way the tournament officials treated us just like the pros.
Brianna– Yes, we had a great time there and it was super fun. I always dreamed about meeting all the pros and stuff and we will finally get to do it. It means a lot to us as student anglers.
SFN– Norman Brown was your Boat Captain. A lot of people might want to know who calls the shots on where you go to fish, you or the Boat Captain?
Brianna– Most the time we discuss it as a team but Mitchell and I are always happy to hear what our Boat Captains have to say because they know a lot more than we do. So, we always value their input but it’s always the team members that make the decision about what to do.
SFN– And by “team” you mean both of you and the boat captain?
Brianna– Yes sir.
Mitchell– That day we struggled at the start of the tournament.  Brianna had

caught fish in a spot two weeks before that won a tournament so we went to that spot and did horrible. So we’re struggling at about nine o’clock  and we needed some help on what to do and where to go. Our Boat Captain helped us find the spots to win the tournament by suggesting we change fishing locations.
SFN– On the day of the tournament, did you end up going to the places you had planned on or did you have to change your strategy to catch fish?
Brianna– Our original game plan was to go toa location where we had previously caught some quality bass, but we always had a back-up location in case the first one did not produce. I guess we changed our game plan by going to our second spot but we always had it in the back of our mind as a back-up.
Mitchell– That was part of our tournament strategy. We talked about it the night before and told the Boat Captain our preference for a first location where we had previously had good luck catching bass. As it turned out, our boat captain for the day was catching larger bass a different type of location in his tournaments, and his advice turned out to be helpful.
SFN– You have been reported to have said you used DD-22s. Did you start the day using that lure or did you start with something else and change to the crankbait later?
Mitchell– We fished the DD-22 (sexy shed color) a lot during the day but  we caught the majority of our fish on swimbaits. We were cranking the swimbaits very slow.
SFN – What color swimbait were you using?

Brianna– We were using a sexy shad color.
SFN– What kind of water were you fishing the swimbait in?
Brianna– We were fishing a kind of a dropoff or ledge area on the main river channel. What really helped us out was the current. If we had not of had that current from Guntersville Dam we would not have caught our tournament bass.
SFN: Brianna you are reported to have caught the first three keepers. What was the size of those fish and did you have any throwbacks before that?

Brianna– The first fish I caught barely measured 12 inches that was our first team bass. When we got to our next location I caught three more quality bass back-to-back. Then Mitchell caught a fish and then caught another one to cull the one he had just boated. We culled a number of times after nine o’clock. We caught about ten fish. As far as sizes, the weight of the bass in our tournament sack, most were in the 3.0 lb. to 4.5 lb. class.
SFN– All these were caught on the swimbait?
Brianna– Yes sir.
SFN– Mitchell, did Brianna catching all those fish make you bear down on your fishing?
Mitchell– Yes sir!, but student angling is a team sport. I was called “net boy” during the days but I enjoyed it because not every guy gets the opportunity to have a great teammate like Brianna. So I was real excited to see her catch the  fish and I really enjoyed the day. But after she boated her fourth fish I knew I was behind and needed to start catching some fish.
SFN– Was there any particular kind of structure you were looking for that held fish?
Brianna– A dropoff or main river channel ledge, and with current, the fish stacked up. We would make a cast to the river ledge from the river channel and bring the lure back with just a slow steady retrieve with the rod tip pointed down. That was pretty much it. With no current the fish were pretty much scattered.
SFN– How far did you run from Ingalls Harbor?

Mitchell– The first place was about 20 minutes and the next was about 20 minutes so we stayed close to the harbor all day.
SFN– At any point during the day did you think you might have the tournament won?
Mitchell– Our coach Norman Brown was hard us on saying, “one more fish, one more fish”. He would never tell us he thought we were winning. Brianna’s and my thoughts were that we might not win the tournament but probably would be in the top eight places.
Brianna– What Mitchell said about Norman being hard on us was a big factor keeping us focused and fishing real hard. Mr. Brown keeping us focused on our game plan definitely helped us win the tournament.
SFN– What are your thoughts now on going to the Bassmaster Classic?
Brianna– We are going to stay focused in the 2014 B.A.S.S. High School Exhibition Tournament just like we were in the 2013 B.A.S.S. High School Invitational Tournament and try to do our best and hope that we do good.
Mitchell– I’m really excited about participating and representing DHCA Fishing Eagles and North Alabama in the B.A.S.S. High School Exhibition Tournament to be held during the 2014 Bassmaster Classic. Brianna and I being awarded a V.I.P. pass for the entire event. It is really a dream to come true for us to walk across the same stage as the PROS during the highlight of the world’s greatest contest in bass fishing – the Bassmaster Classic
SFN– Anything you would like to add?
Mitchell– Without God this thing could not happen. I think God was more important in our day than anything else.