Three fishing teams from Vermilion Parish qualify for Bassmaster National tourney

Three two-angler teams from Vermilion Parish will compete in next month’s Bassmaster High School and Junior Series on the renowned waters of Lake Hartwell in South Carolina.
The two-day fishing tournament will be held July 27-29, and there will be as many as 440 high school two-angler teams from 39 states.
Gearing up to fish the national tournament from the parish are the team of Cole Hargrave and Noah Vincent. Both attend Kaplan High School.
Max Deroche and Jesse Boudreaux are from North Vermilion High School.
Fishing the junior national tournament from North Vermilion Middle School is the Sawyer Knickerbocker and Conner Tate team.
This will be Sawyer’s fourth time fishing in the junior national tournament.
The three teams recently found out they qualified for Nationals.
Deroche, a recent graduate of NV, reacted when he heard the news.
“It was pretty insane,” said Deroche.
Deroche admitted his final season as a high school fisherman was rough. Fish were hard to find throughout the season, he said. Nevertheless, he said that qualifying for the state tournament was a thrill for him.
After the state tournament, he spoke with classmate Jesse Boudreaux, a sophomore, about teaming up with him to fish a National qualifying tournament in the Red River in Louisiana.
In their only tournament together, they finished 16th place with 7.1 pounds, earning them a trip to South Carolina.
“There was no pressure on us,” said Boudreaux about fishing the qualifying tournament.

The two young men qualified for nationals by the skin of their teeth. On the last day and with time winding down, they needed one more fish to reach their five-fish limit and hope for the best.
The two saw a bass attack something on top of the water, so Boudreaux tossed his plastic worm in the area of the bass. When the worm hit the water, the bass attacked it, and Boudreaux set the hook.
The fish only weighed one pound, but that one pound lifted them into 16th place.
“We got in because of that fish,” said Boudreaux. “Without it, we are probably staying home.”
Deroche said fishing with Boudreaux was enjoyable.
“Jesse made the day so relaxing. It took the pressure off,” said Deroche.
Boudreaux said he also enjoyed fishing with the senior.
The way the high school fishing tournament works is that two anglers in one boat fish for eight hours for two days in hopes of catching the five heaviest bass. However, catching five fish is only sometimes a guarantee.
At the end of each day, the anglers weigh their fish, and the team with the heaviest weight total is on top of the leaderboard.
On the boat, an adult, usually a parent, drives them to the location. The boat operator is not allowed to help net a fish, change out lures or offer advice on where to throw the bait.
The two anglers decide everything.
The Kaplan anglers have been fishing together for four years. They just completed their first year at Kaplan High and will compete in the national tournament as one of the youngest teams.
“It is an honor to go to nationals,” said Vincent. “At the start of the season, we only wanted to qualify for state. However, we did better than expected.”
Hargrave added, “I was happy to hear we qualified for nationals. But I could not believe it when I got the phone call.”
All six anglers from the parish have never fished Lake Hartwell. They will drive up there and try to get in as much fishing as possible before the tournament begins.
In the meantime, Hargrave said he and his partner have been searching on the internet for any fishing maps they could find of Lake Hartwell.
High school fishing is a two-angler team sport. Therefore, if one fisherman is not catching, there is a chance your partner can haul in the fish.
“If I am not catching, my partner may be,” said Hargrave. “We make a good team because we agree on many things.”
There are 41 Louisiana teams heading to Nationals, seven of which 41 are from the Acadiana area.
Teurlings High has two teams, including Drake Carret and Evan Lebouef. Drake is the son of Neil Carret, who is a 1989 Abbeville High graduate. Neil is also the boat captain.
The Bassmaster High School Series debuted in 2013 and has grown immensely since its inception. The program emphasizes sportsmanship, academics and conservation while allowing young anglers to improve and test their fishing skills in competition among their peers.