Coffee County Anglers Nab 9th Place Finish at State Championship

Coffee County Youth Bass Club members Garrett Fellers(left) and Hunter Haley(right) with boat captain Jeff Haley(middle) show off their 9th place plaques from the TN State Championship that concluded on Saturday.[Photo provided]

The team of Garrett Fellers and Hunter Haley used a stringer of 10 fish with a total weight of 20.71 pounds to capture 9^th place in the TN Bass Nation High School State Championship on Saturday held at Tims Ford Lake. The team was the highest finisher for the Raider anglers who fielded 6 boats in the state championship against 123 other boats from across Tennessee.

The boat of Issac Turner and Cam Rutledge finished in 28^th place with a total catch of 10.87 pounds. The team of Blake Mangrum and Jacob Garms finished in 41^st place with a total catch of 8.45 pounds. Braeden and Colby Thurmond finished in 54^th place, Hunter Sanders and Brayden Majors finished in 79^th place and Shannah Frame and Hogan Scott came in 124^th place.

The championship brought to a close the 2016-2017 TN Bass Nation Points Championship. The Coffee County team of Braeden and Colby Thurmond finished in 21^st place which qualified them for the BASS Nationals Tournament. The top 25 teams in the state qualify for the National tournament. The team of Issac Turner and Cam Rutledge finished in 34^th place as they were the only other Coffee County boat to finish in the top 50. The Costa Bassmaster High School National Championship will be held on June 22^nd thru 24^th on Kentucky Lake and Barkley Lake. Official launch point will be Paris Landing State Park.