Mill Creek Leads Bassmaster High School Open

DANDRIDGE, Tenn. — For Noah Pescitelli and Westin Sachs, the game plan is all about applying local knowledge on a strange lake.

Doing so paid off today for the two anglers from Mill Creek High School located in Buford, Ga. The team’s five-bass limit weighing 17 pounds, 5 ounces has them in the lead at the Bassmaster High School Open.

The local knowledge comes from Lake Sidney Lanier. The strange water is Douglas Lake. During summer, bass can be found in both impoundments inhabiting deep, current-rich water offshore.

“I guess you can say we did bring some of our knowledge up here,” Sachs said. “We are used to fishing for spots (spotted bass) out in deep water.”

The species of bass are different, but the habitat and techniques used to catch them, again, are the same.

“We didn’t find them in practice,” Pescitelli added. “Everything came together today.”

What everything is remains a mystery for obvious reasons. The team doesn’t want to reveal too much information because they want to win.

“The best part is they capitalized on every opportunity,” added team coach and Noah’s father, Steve Pescitelli.

Moving slightly deeper, an ever-so-subtle adjustment, put a limit in the boat by 9 a.m.

The blog posts on Bassmaster.com show proof of the team’s ability to cull up. Sachs and Pescitelli did it four times over the course of the day. And as the blog photos attest, the culled bass are quality fish. They lost a fish weighing an estimated 8 pounds at boat side.

“We’re locked in on the pattern for sure,” Sachs said. “We don’t see any need to make any further adjustments.”

That could be good. Or it could be bad.

The reason why is the team holds a very slim 4-ounce lead over Hunter Silverstrim and Elmer Smith of Montgomery County High School in Clarksville, Tenn.

The Queen City Bassmasters anglers also had a banner day. The team caught their limit by 9:20 a.m. They also culled — five times.

And there is a striking similarity to the mystery strategy of the leaders.

“We moved deeper and started catching fish,” Smith said.

Another similarity is the team moved from 22 to 30 feet. Again, making an ever-so-subtle adjustment made all the difference.

Today’s Carhartt Big Bass leader is Craig Wilson of Campbell County High School in Jacksboro, Tenn. His largemouth weighed 6-2; if it remains the largest of the tournament, Wilson will earn a $1,250 scholarship.

A hallmark of this tournament is the generous awards and scholarships available to the teams and their respective high schools.

The angler weighing the biggest bass of the tournament earns a $1,250 scholarship with the Carhartt Big Bass award. Two $500 scholarships will be awarded from the Berkley Sportsmanship Award. Mud Hole Custom Tackle will provide another pair of $500 scholarships to the anglers on the team catching the heaviest overall weight. The company is also giving away a custom rod building kit to the anglers and their coach.

In all, up to $27,000 in scholarships will be awarded from B.A.S.S., the tournament sponsors and Campbellsville University.

Saturday the tournament concludes with the final weigh-in at The Point Resort, 122 Boatdock Drive, Dandridge, Tenn. The weigh-in gets underway at 2:30 p.m. ET. Takeoff is at the same location Saturday morning, beginning at 6:30 a.m. ET.

Keep up with all the coverage on Bassmaster.com.

About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S. is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), television show (The Bassmasters on ESPN2), social media programs and events. For more than 45 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.

The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Open Series presented by Allstate, B.A.S.S. Nation events, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series, Bassmaster High School Series, Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by Diet Mountain Dew and GoPro.

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Media Contact: Dave Precht, 205-313-0931, [email protected] or Helen Northcutt, 205-313-0944, [email protected].

Bassmaster High School Open
6/20/2014-6/21/2014
Douglas Lake-The Point Marina-Dandridge, TN
STANDINGS BOATER DAY 1

Names                                            School  #Fish    #Live    Lbs-Oz    #Fish    #Live    Lbs-Oz

1. Noah Pescitelli-Westin Sachs        Mill Creek High School 5    5    17-5   5    5    17-5
2. Hunter Silverstrim-Elmer Smith      Queen City Bassmasters High School 5    5    17-1    5    5    17-1
3. Kyle Ingleburger-Kyle Palmer         GCHS                 5    5    16-13    5    5    16-13
4. Cameron Brooks-Chase Geary       Muhlenberg County High School 5    5    15-12    5    5    15-12
5. Ben Stone-Christopher Bensel       Dixie High School Hornet Anglers 5    5    15-9    5    5    15-9
6. Parker Cann-DJ James                 Dixie High School Hornet Anglers 5    5    13-12    5    5    13-12
7. Andrew Ward-Hunter Bechtel         Ola High School Fishing Team 5    4    13-11    5    4    13-11
8. Laura Ann Foshee-DJ Barber         Gardendale Rockets Bass Fishing Club 5    3    12-10    5    3    12-10
9. Jake Lee-Jacob Mashburn             Clinton High School 5    4    12-8    5    4    12-8
10. Chris Carnes-Justin Grigg            York County High School Anglers 5    5    11-13    5    5    11-13
10. Tyler Phillips-Logan Stewart         Seymour High School 5    5    11-13    5    5    11-13
12. Cole Sands-Caden Watson           Walker Valley High School 5    5    10-7    5    5    10-7
13. Jake Clowers-Tyler Chumley        Cambell County High School 5    5    10-1    5    5    10-1
14. Jacob Foutz-Michael Tipton         Walker Valley High School 5    5    9-2    5    5    9-2
15. Kyle Waller-Jay Gramlich            Sheridan Generals 5    5    9-0    5    5    9-0
16. Craig Wilson-Trevor St John        Cambell County High School 3    3    8-14    3    3    8-14
17. Adam Puckett-Keaton Greenawald Bloomington High School North 3    2    8-14    3    2    8-14
18. Andrew Calvin-Grant Ray            Tuscaloosa County High School 5    5    7-13    5    5    7-13
19. Mitchell Gowen-Brianna Tucker   Decatur Heritage Fishing Eagles 3    2    7-12    3    2    7-12
20. Benjamin Currie-Aaron Bickford   Noble Knights Fishing Club 5    5    7-7    5    5    7-7
21. Beau Ashcraft-Shawn Zellers      Wabash Valley Bassmasters 4    4    7-3    4    4    7-3
22. Michael Nutter-Evan Charles       LaPlata Bass Warriors 5    5    6-11    5    5    6-11
23. Jordan Mullis-Tyler Moscrip         Bloomington High School North 4    4    6-10    4    4    6-10
24. Tommy Floyd Jr-Chris Burgess    South Florence High School 3    3    6-7    3    3    6-7
25. Jimmy Kemp-Aaron Belcher         South Side Bass Commanders 2    2    6-5    2    2    6-5
26. Cody Powell-Dylan Powell            Dixie High School Hornet Anglers 4    4    5-12    4    4    5-12
27. Dylan True-Kallen Rochelle           Lawrence County High School 2    2    5-8    2    2    5-8
28. Hunter Mabry-Brian Cox                Queen City Bassmasters High School 3    3    5-7    3    3    5-7
29. Matt Brown-Christian Warren         Corbin High School 3    3    4-9    3    3    4-9
30. Jacob Bowles-Hunter Hampton      Muhlenberg County High School 2    1    4-5    2    1    4-5
31. Chris Wilson-Austin Vandergriff     Bradley Central High School 4    4    4-2    4    4    4-2
32. Jake Mims-Reese Kingston          Alexander HS 3    3    4-1    3    3    4-1
33. Jacob Frazier-Zach Holbrook        Perry County Central High School 2    2    3-14    2    2    3-14
34. Blake Albertson-Matt Miller          Bloomington High School South 3    3    3-8    3    3    3-8
35. Ryan Nottingham-Seth Harmon    Valley High School 3    3    3-2    3    3    3-2
36. Matthew Cross-Michael Stout      Siegel High School 2    2    2-14    2    2    2-14
37. Matthew Roberts-Richard            Cornett Perry County Central High School 1    1    2-7    1    1    2-7
38. Turner Parnell-Tyler Brown          York County High School Anglers 1    1    2-4    1    1    2-4
39. Jared Baker-Abie DeBusk           Seymour High School 1    1    2-1    1    1    2-1
40. Tanner Cheeseman-Austin Stacy Bloomington High School North 1    0    2-0    1    0    2-0
41. Rashaad JW Goodson-Steven Younginer   South Florence High School 2    2    1-14    2    2    1-14
42. Ryan Winchester-Justin Burris     Clinton High School 1    1    1-14    1    1    1-14
43. Corey Elliott                               Corbin High School 1    1    1-4    1    1    1-4
44. Colton Morton-Cody Schultz        Bradley Central High School 1    1    1-2    1    1    1-2
45. Seth Sutton-Bailey Fain              Karns High School 1    1    0-14    1    1    0-14
46. Robert G Hendrick-William B Solesbee AC Reynolds High School 0    0    0-0    0    0    0-0
46. Zachary Mashburn-Shane Hooks Clinton High School 0    0    0-0    0    0    0-0
46. Micahel Rojas-Nathaniel Burris    Queen City Bassmasters High School 0    0    0-0    0    0   0-0
46. Brett Swafford-Taylor Copeland   Walker Valley High School 0    0    0-0    0    0    0-0
46. Zach Vielhauer-Connor Nimrod    Kickback High School Club 0    0    0-0    0    0    0-0

BIG BASS
Day 1
Craig Wilson Lafollette, TN 6-2

TOTALS
#Fish #Live Lbs-Oz      #Limits
153   145   334-3       18