Friday, March 29, 2024
Kasson-Mantorville students competed this year in the High School Bass Nation League where they caught their fish and brought them to a live weigh-in to record their catch before the fish were released.

Youth fishing team reels in victories during its second season

At about three-quarters of the way through the season, the Kasson-Mantorville Youth Fishing team is having an amazing second season, the coach reports.

Tony Heaser said the youth team started in 2020 with about 21 anglers. This year the team exploded into four separate teams with more than 65 anglers competing all over the state. The Youth Team is comprised of more than 30 first through sixth-grade boys and girls and is lead by Coach Warren Schroden.

“The young anglers learn about tying knots, fishing/boater safety, basic fishing techniques, and how to be part of an amazing team,” Heaser said. “These anglers spent some time onshore learning the basics and also had the opportunity to fish some local reservoirs and area lakes.”

The team has one more event where they will fish another body of water in late August. This team was a great addition to the youth fishing program, Heaser said, because “it gets younger folks into the outdoors and fishing, and it teaches the basics to the youth who may not have that resource available to them at home.”

The Virtual Team was lead by Heaser and is comprised of more than 26 anglers from sixth through twelfth grade. These boys and girls competed with more than 400 other anglers across the state virtually, which means the team was able to fish our local bodies of water. In this league, local volunteer boat captains assisted these anglers by volunteering their time and equipment to get anglers out on the water.

While on the water, a fish was caught, photographed, and released. The catch was loaded into an app on the boat captain’s phone and scored against the other competing anglers across the state. This is a great league for youth anglers, Heaser said, where they can hone their skills and compete against each other and other schools without having to travel very far.

The K-M Virtual Fishing Team has completed its regular season but will compete in a Fall Jamboree on the Mighty Mississippi Pool 4 in mid-September.

The K-M Youth Fishing Team Traveling league competed in two different leagues this year. The Student Angler Tournament Trail, which is a catch, photograph, release program much like the Virtual League. And new to the group this year was the High School Bass Nation League where the youth anglers caught their fish and brought them to a live weigh-in to record their catch before the fish were released.

Coach Dave Brandeland leads these 14 anglers to some victories this year. In the Bass Nation series, KM Youth Fishing Team was represented by six anglers. Two anglers took first place in our region, two anglers took 8th place, and two anglers took 11th place out of about 60 anglers. For their first season participating in this series, K-M placed “very well and we are very proud of their accomplishments,” Heaser said.

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the water, the Student Angler Tournament Trail is still in full swing for the Traveling Team. Currently, four anglers have qualified for the Tournament of Champions on Lake Pokegama in the middle of August, and have one more opportunity to qualify as they fish the big pond, Lake Mille Lacs.

K-M will also send six of their highest-ranked anglers to the Minnesota State High School fishing tournament on Leech Lake at the end of August.

“This program has been an amazing opportunity to get our youth involved in a sport that embraces the outdoors with learned skills that will last a lifetime,” Heaser said. “The community participation and support has been absolutely amazing.”

Local sponsors and volunteers have helped shape the program, he said, making it “what it is today and we look forward to these partnerships growing in the future.”

To learn more about the K-M fishing team, go online to kmyouthfishingteam.com or visit the team’s Facebook page at facebook.com/kmyouthfishingteam. To get more information about the Student Angler Tournament Trail please visit studentangler.org. Community members who are interested in serving as a volunteer or team sponsor can reach out to the team on their website or by contacting Heaser at tony@kmyouthfishingteam.org.

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Dodge County Independent

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