2001 State Team from September 10th 2000
From left to right
Danny Hoag 1st Place from Trophy Junior Bassmasters, Jacob Hout 2nd place from Tri County Junior Bassmasters, Tyler McClaren 3rd place from Trophy Junior Bassmasters, Keith Hughes, John Fabian 4th place from Young Runners, Jeff Nesham 5th place from Walnut Springs , Kenny Pheils 6th place Northwestern Junior Bassmasters.
YOUNG ANGLER WINS H.O.O.K.E.D.
State Finals a big success thanks to boat
Captains and volunteers
By Keith Hughes,O.B.C.F. Youth Director
Danny Hoag is serious. He represents the kind of "never say
die"
attitude
that our Ohio junior anglers are known for. Last year at the
H.O.O.K.E.D.
State Championship, he placed third but was too young to be on
the
State Team that traveled to Connecticut this past July. Danny was 10 but
the
minimum age at the Nationals is 11 so with O.B.C.F. board approval, we
guaranteed
him a spot on the 2001 Team. At the meeting on Saturday before
this
year's event, I told him he should go out this year and win the
championship
and let everyone know that he means business. That's exactly
what
he did! Danny weighed in one bass at 2.30 pounds to win the championship
held
on September 10th on O'Shaughnessy Reservoir in Columbus.
This year's event included teams from all six junior clubs. Thirty
anglers
competed with a record number of four female anglers. Two junior
anglers
from different clubs fished together with a boat captain from
another
club who took them out for the day. This is a real sacrifice for our
boat
captains as they can only watch and assist the kids, they're not
permitted
to fish themselves .The boat captains received shirts from Mercury
Marine
and the boaters for our top three junior fishermen received a $200
rod
from Warrior Rods, the official sponsor of the H.O.O.K.E.D. program. The
boaters
who won the rods were Bill Smith, Gary Thomas, and Mike Hochadel, all
from
the Gahanna Bass Anglers club. Our top three junior anglers also
received
a Warrior Rod. The official housing for our event was Hampton Inn so
sincere
thanks goes to Mrs. Marty Thomas there for providing rooms at a
special
rate.
Even though we got rained on at the weigh-in, the door prizes and the
hot
dogs helped keep the kids’ spirits high. I was able to get some good
"fish
stories"
out of our youngsters and a lot of the kids caught short fish that
day.
It’s amazing how even the quietest kids will talk when a microphone is
in
their face. Being emcee was my favorite part. Our weigh-in was attended by
lots
of family members and curious on lookers. We were proud to have Joe Mion
there
from the O.D.N.R., Division of Wildlife. Check out the O.B.C.F. web site
at
www.ohiobass.org for more information and pictures the bottom line is that
our
young people have a good time, and even though the fish didn't cooperate
very
well, I believe the kids enjoyed their day. I am proud of ALL of our
competitors
and I feel they represented our federation well. These kids are
the
future of our great organization and I know as long as they stay
involved
our future is bright. I would like to extend a
BIG THANK YOU TO ALL VOLUNTEERS AND BOAT CAPTAINS WHO MADE THIS EVENT POSSIBLE.
I appreciate all of
you!!!!
Here are
the Top Six who qualified for 2001
Team Ohio that will fish in Canada, July 2001.
1st
Danny Hoag Trophy Junior Bassmasters 2.30 lbs
2nd
Jacob Hout Tri-County Junior BassBusters 1.51 lbs
3rd
Tyler McClaren Trophy Junior Bassmasters .89 lbs
4th
John Fabian Young Runners .84 lbs
5th
Jeff Nesham Walnut Springs Middle School