Three and a half hours into the LMSD Fishing Tournament at Lake Dixie, and with just an hour to go in the competition, Louisville senior Zach Halford had not had a nibble and he was thinking it wasn't his day. “I was ready to give up.”
Then he landed a real whopper, a six pound, 15 ounce bass, the largest he had ever caught, netting him the first place trophy. That was more than 2½ pounds larger than any other finish taken by 46 students last Saturday.
His reaction when he was announced as the winner? “I thought they miscalculated. I knew it was a nice fish, but other people were catching more than one, so I didn't think it would put me first.”
Nanih Waiya freshman J.D. Eaves was second with a four-pound, three-ounce catch and Noxapater junior Taylor Buchanan third at three pounds 14 ounces.
The meet was open to students in grades 7 to 12 at Louisville, Nanih Waiya and Noxapater.
“We wanted to start something and Ellis Houston allowed us to use his pond,” said Louisville Municipal School District superintendent Randy Grierson.
The school district will hold at least one tournament a year. There is a possibility of expanding it in future years to allow participants from other counties.
The Mississippi High School Activities Association has approved bass fishing as an activity for a two-year pilot program. The pilot program will involve approximately 20 schools, including Louisville, that have bass fishing clubs.
MHSAA will hold an invitational tournament for the schools in the pilot program at the Ross Barnett Reservoir March 28, 2020.
“You have to have a certain number of schools to have a valid state championship,” said MHSAA executive director Don Hinton. “Hopefully in two years we can move to some type of state championship.”
MHSAA classifies bass fishing as an activity, like cheerleading and band, rather than as a sport like football. There can be participation in an activity at any time during the school year, but a sport must be confined to a season like fall for football and winter for basketball.
Hinton said as an activity there can be bass fishing whenever there is good weather. “They could do it when school starts in late August and they could come back in the spring.”
Hinton credited Grierson for playing a key role in bass fishing as an MHSAA activity. “He is one of the superintendents who have been very instrumental in promoting the program.”
