Led by experienced coaches Scott Green and Rich Wilbur, 2023 state champion Harwood Bass Fishing teams place 6th and 7th in this year’s VPA Bass Fishing state championship on Lake Champlain’s Inland Sea.
As a rising sport in America, bass fishing has begun to make its way into High School sports in states such as Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, New Hampshire, and Vermont, making for very unique experiences.
The sport of bass fishing consists of tournaments, each team consisting of one-two boats competing separately. Each boat goes out on the water, and is given a certain amount of time to catch the heaviest “bag” of fish. There is a six fish limit, with the heaviest bag winning the tournament. This sport is so popular that it’s hit a national level, with large prizes given out to the top placements.
Harwood’s team, founded in 2018, since then has consistently placed in the top 75%. This year’s state championship, hosted by the Vermont Principals Association has upheld this streak. Harwood’s varsity team placed seventh, and the junior varsity team placed sixth. After winning 2023’s state championship, and setting a state record of biggest tournament bag of bass at 24 pounds, there has been a common goal for the team to work hard to maintain their place.
Harwood’s team is very lucky to have experienced coaches who have turned Bass Fishing into a lifestyle. Scott Green, one of Harwood’s coaches, exposed to the outdoors at a young age, has been fishing his entire life. To Scott, fishing was less about the sport, and more about the adventure. His common thought process is that “there is always another hole around the next point. There is always another 6 pound fish waiting to be caught.” In the early 90’s, he began to hear more and more about the sport of bass fishing. Magazines made by Bassmaster, the prominent host of tournaments during the 90’s drew him in. It wasn’t long after that he began to participate in club tournaments throughout the United States.
To some, tournament fishing may seem based on luck, but in reality there is in fact a lot of skill involved. There are so many different factors that affect how fish behave, whether it is biological, such as feeding patterns, vegetation growth, or based on weather conditions, both air and water temperatures, and wind. Lure presentation is crucial in bass fishing, because as Scott Green likes to say during practice, “You could bounce a lure off the fish’s head and they won’t bite it.” All fish will react differently to a presented lure, but a pattern can be identified determined by their source of food and the current surrounding underwater condition. Though there is a pattern, simply the tiniest variation in weight, affecting how the lure falls can change how the fish reacts. It is the job of the angler to control as many of these factors as possible, and adapt to any you can’t control, such as weather.
Harwood’s team spends their practice time studying these variables to become as prepared as possible for their tournaments. On weekends they go out on the water to scout out what is happening underwater at the time, study patterns, and find spots for the tournament.
According to team member Ryan Lacey, the last practice on the water before the tournament couldn’t have been better. In Saint Albans Bay, they found copious numbers of fish, and caught a big enough bag to win the state championship. But as coach Scott Green likes to refrain, “Even within a day, fishing conditions can change completely,” so it is our job to prepare for these changes, by making a concrete plan, that must be stuck to, and involves adaptation plans in case something changes. Fish are moving creatures, and will never stay in one place unless in unique conditions, such as in the fall, when the majority of fish stick to objects that hold heat. Sometimes fish simply won’t bite, mostly due to the fact that they aren’t feeding at the time. During the week leading up to the tournament the fish moved, resulting in the absence of notably big fish in Saint Albans Bay. Even throughout all this, Harwood managed to work through and place 6th and 7th out of 30 teams.
As Scott Green says, “Harwood will continue to keep its Bass fishing team going as long as there are folks who are interested in fishing,” so for readers who enjoy fishing or want to get into fishing, Harwood’s bass fishing team could be a great way to learn new fishing skills through a very unique experience.
