DECATUR, Ala. — Ninety-nine of the nation’s top high school anglers gathered for the fifth annual Skeeter Boats Bassmaster High School Combine over the past weekend in Decatur, Ala. The Combine provides an incredible opportunity for the next generation of anglers to plan for their future and meet one-on-one with some of the best fishing colleges and coaches in the country. Over the course of the three-day event, high school anglers met with their favorite college fishing teams and discovered others that they may not have considered. Having the opportunity to meet face-to-face with multiple colleges helps anglers get a feel for where they fit in and helps give them the best opportunity to succeed on the water and in the classroom.
To add to the excitement, the high school anglers competed in three skills challenges: Casting Accuracy, Long Distance Casting and Technical. 125 points were up for grabs at each event, as well as 15 bonus points. Awards were given to the Top 3 anglers in each event, and top honors went to the angler with the most cumulative points.
After the dust settled, two anglers remained tied for the Overall Skills Challenge title. Logan Brown of Broadway, Va., and Charlie Sojourner of Crystal Springs, Miss., both racked up 354 points, requiring them to compete in a final tie-breaking competition. Combining long distance and accuracy, Brown and Sojourner battled for who could cast closest to a target that was 35 yards away. The challenge was best-out-of-three with head-to-head casts, and Brown won the first two rounds, earning him the top spot.
Brown took home top honors in both Overall Skills and the Technical Challenge. And while the junior was more focused on exploring college options, he found his competitive nature pushing him to beat out the rest of the field. “It was amazing, I wanted to walk around and get to know a lot of the coaches and ask them a few questions about their universities. That was my main thing; I wasn’t really worried about the skills stuff, but I’m really competitive. When I do something, I want to win.”
Looking back on the skills competition, Brown mentioned that his competitiveness really is what helped him. “I thought I could do good; I don’t think a lot of these guys are really as competitive as I am. When I do something, I don’t go in and halfway do it; I want to do it and do good in it.”
The Technical Challenge involved trolling a 20-foot Skeeter bass boat around a buoy and hitting a target with a bait. Brown had the best time at 60.46 seconds, just barely edging out second-place Fulshear, Texas, angler Ace Outhier, who completed the challenge in 60.59 seconds. Brown earned the total 125 achievable points and attributed his success to his fishing style and recent practice of covering lots of water with LiveScope. “Staying on the trolling motor was very important in this one, and keeping it on 10,” Brown said. “My favorite style of fishing is going down the bank and flipping and throwing moving baits, but recently I’ve picked up a minnow and a jig going around ’Scoping because you have to be good at it, and I’ve been getting pretty good at it.”
His flipping experience definitely helped Brown in the Casting Accuracy challenge, as he accumulated 110 points to place 16th in that event. Brown completed the course, which consisted of five targets at various distances, in just 69 seconds. His toughest event turned out to be the Long Distance Casting Challenge, but Brown still placed 21st with a 50.2-yard cast. Brown also earned 14 of the available 15 bonus points.
When it came down to the overall tie breaker, Brown leaned into his confidence to give him an advantage in the high-pressure situation with everyone watching. “That (tiebreaker) was cool. I thought it was going to be fun, and it really was. A little bit nerve-racking having all those people out there,” said Brown. “I had high confidence in myself that I was going to win; (you) just have to stay calm in those situations. I knew I had to get very close because he (Sojourner) did very good yesterday.”
Competition aside, Brown enjoyed his experience meeting with college coaches from around the country.
“It was a great experience; I recommend it to everyone who’s looking to go to the next level out of high school,” Brown said. “You learn a lot going around talking to these people and get answers from universities you wouldn’t have talked to otherwise. They’re all really good guys; they all want to see you succeed.”
Long Distance Casting Challenge
The longest cast of the challenge came on the very last cast of the day. Will Heath was the last angler to take on the challenge and overtook second-place Murphy Childers form Union Grove, Ala., by over a yard with a cast that went 64.4 yards. Each angler was equipped with a Lew’s Accel combo, 15-pound monofilament line and a Strike King Sexy Dawg topwater bait. One practice cast was allowed, then each angler had 60 seconds to get the farthest cast possible out of two attempts.
Heath, a senior from Stuart, Va., attributed his success to the Lord, the wind and his experience in throwing lighter baits in strong winds.
“I just really have to thank the good Lord for blessing me with just a little bit of wind to get behind my lure, and I feel like that’s what helped me,” said Heath. “I fish in a lot of wind, and I just have to give it 100% to the Lord, that’s the only reason I feel I won it.
“Our home lake is super-deep and super-clear. I throw a lot of lighter jerkbaits, and I usually have to bomb cast them out across points. That’s what I think gave me a little bit of an advantage.”
Heath mentions that he came into the skills challenges with a positive attitude, knowing they were more for the fun aspect. “I really wasn’t thinking about it, so I really had no nerves. I kind of just did my thing, and it worked out.”
The overall experience was very helpful for Heath in weighing his options for schools. “It was a great experience, I’m going to recommend it to a couple of buddies. You get to meet a whole lot of colleges and learn what they have to offer, and it’s a fit for you. You also get to meet a bunch of other really nice guys that have the same passion as you.”
Heath is still weighing his options for schools while he determines what he wants to go to school for and what major to pursue.
Casting Accuracy Challenge
The Casting Accuracy Challenge entailed a five-bucket course where anglers would try to cast into each bucket with a 1/2-ounce jig in the quickest time possible. Like the other challenges, the scores were extremely tight, with under a second separating first and second place. Peyton Mixon from nearby Hartselle, Ala., completed the challenge in a blazing 30 seconds flat, just barely beating out Sojourner by .93 of a second.
Mixon, a Decatur area local, attributes his LiveScope experience to giving him an edge in the Casting Accuracy Challenge. “Learning LiveScope, I’ve been able to cast pretty accurately when trying to hit the dot. I think that definitely helped me in this challenge because I’ve gotten the feel for rods now, and I’ve gotten the feel for casting exactly where I want to put my bait.”
The current high school junior is looking forward to continuing his education as a business major. “I came to the Combine wanting to meet different schools and talk to coaches I hadn’t heard of and also talk to the current college students. I wanted to better understand the environment of the colleges and get a feel for what I want to do after high school.”
Mixon went on to say that he came into the Combine looking at some of the large schools, but, after several meetings, found that some of the smaller schools may be a better fit for him personally. “I came out of it wanting to look more into some of the smaller schools. The Combine showed me what they had to offer and all the things they incorporate into the team.”
The 2025 Skeeter Bassmaster High School Combine was hosted by Decatur Morgan County Tourism.
For more information, visit Bassmaster.com/high-school.
