Top two anglers from each state took to the water today for Day 1 of the 2014 TBF Junior World Championship presented by FLW Outdoors. It proved to be a tough fishing just like it is for the best in the world on the FLW Tour who are fishing on nearby Lake Murray during the Forrest Wood Cup.
The TBF Junior World Championship is the culmination of more than a year of effort by young TBF anglers in two age groups, 11-14 and 15-18. Each TBF state federation holds qualifying tournaments to qualifier their top anglers in these two age groups and send them to this one of a kind championship, where the top angler in each age group form each state square off for the titles of world champions and their share of over $10,000.00 in Scholarships and prizes that is on the line. So while we always here about everyone at a event being a “winner” it is certainly true in this case as everyone who attended is a reigning state champion!
Lake Wateree greeted the anglers today with a light fog and a cool breeze, all of which lasted a full 5 minutes after the last boat took off, then the legend of Lake Wateree kicked in. Wateree is known for being tougher than tough when the lake lays flat with no wind and it was perfectly flat today.
To keep the event as fair as possible each angler only competes against anglers from their home geographically division. For instance only the western states complete against the western states this way no matter where the event is held in the US, the angler only compete against other anglers from their same general or distance away. The states are divided into 6 divisions and the top angler form each division advances to Saturdays final shootout for the title of World Champion.
All the Division Champions who will be fishing tomorrow were tight lipped about details as they did not want to give anything specific away. However Hank Parker, celebrity host weigh master of the event each year did mange one after another to coax out of them comments on Shaky Heads and Jigs as playing a key role in their catches so far. We will see what Saturday’s final round holds for them.
Be sure and check out the home page for video coverage of today weigh in.
Here are the 12 division champions who will fish the final day tomorrow.
In the 11-14 year old age group
James Fields, Anthem, AZ. Western Division Champion
Jacob Ferrell, Vernon Hills, VA. Mid-Atlantic Division Champion
Cole Moore, Anacoco.LA. Central Division Champion
Harrison Norman, Covington, GA. Southern Division Champion
Stephen Stroz, Shrewsbury, MA. Eastern Division Champion
Joe Stolski, Baxter, MN. Northern Division Champion
In the 15-18 year old age group
Sean King, Villa Hills, KY. Southern Division Champion
Richard Davey Jr., Richland, WA. Western Division Champion
Hunter Daniel, Lamar, AR., Central Division Champion
Perry Marvin, Peru, NY. Eastern Division Champion
Steven Sellnow, Waterown, WI. Northern Division Champion
Caleb Bruss, Bernardsville, NJ. Mid-Atlantic Division Champion
Weights will be zeroed for the final day tomorrow.
For Full Standings 2014 JWC Overall Standings Day 1
For Standings By Division 2014 JWC Standings by Division D1
For Day 1 Photo Gallery CLICK HERE
