LAY LAKE, Ala. — Pell City High School grinded out a victory in a “day to remember” at the Alabama B.A.S.S. Nation Championship on Lay Lake.
Hayden Bartee and Zeke Gossett, Pell City High School Bass Team, show off their freshly won first place trophies. Chris Mitchell photo
Hayden Bartee and Zeke Gossett caught 5 fish weighing 15.29 pounds on a crisp fall day in central Alabama. Seventy boats left the dock in the morning, more than twice the number from last year, according to the Alabama B.A.S.S. Nation.
The win didn’t come easy for Bartee and Gossett. Their first fish came around 9 a.m. upriver by the dam on a topwater. The bite was better late morning, concluding with a 3-pounder around 1:30 p.m. that gave them the winning bag. Bartee says he used a Strike King spinnerbait and Big Bite soft plastic for flipping.
Hayden Bartee and Zeke Gossett hold up their winning bag of Lay Lake bass. Chris Mitchell photo
Coach and father Curtis Gossett had a front row seat, and he says it wasn’t an easy cruise to victory.
“It’s tough to watch your son struggle. Watching them getting bites and missing them is harder than just not getting bites.” Gossett says he watched his son and friend grind it out though, not letting the adversity get to them.
Click here for the full results.
Ryan Shields and Austin Hale of Hazel Green High finished a close second place with 14.37 pounds.
“By 8 a.m., we had 3 fish and 12 pounds,” Ryan Shields said, “It got real slow after that, but we added a few and ended up with 14.”
Robbie Shields, another coach and father combination, says the team caught their fish on a ChatterBait in
Brianna Tucker’s big fish winner.
the morning and flipping a jig under boathouses in the afternoon.
Both teams advance to the B.A.S.S. High School Championship next summer at a location to be determined. By winning this event, Pell City will get to participate in the Bassmaster Classic High School Exhibition, which will allow them to weigh in on the iconic Bassmaster Classic stage.
At third place with 13.31 pounds was the Decatur Heritage Christian Academy’s Mitchell Gowen and Brianna Tucker. Tucker also took tournament big fish honors with a 5.47 pound hawg. The Gowen-Tucker team won the first B.A.S.S. High School event ever held earlier this year on Wheeler Lake that qualified them for the Bassmaster Classic High School Exhibition.
Story (edited) by BASSMASTER’s Chris Mitchell
