By Allen Hamrick
Most of us lads and lassies who are at the age of gray hair can remember a time when there wasn’t a stream, river or lake that we didn’t wet a line in. We spent days on the water searching for the elusive bass, trout, catfish, mud sucker, walleye or muskie. There is nothing quite like the adrenaline rush of hooking a fish, especially a large or small mouth bass, also known as bucket mouth and small jaws.
They fight like caged bears and do everything they can to get off the hook and for the angler. All reasoning, daily chores, bills, jobs are meaningless when the hook is set; everything changes. It’s just you and it, bass verses human and ultimately who wins, nothing else matters.
The fact is that all down through the ages men, women, boys and girls have all experienced the tug of fishing and wet a line at one time or another. It was a rite of passage to bring home dinner for the family. Mothers stood over wood stoves in their aprons buttering the fresh caught walleye that you wrestled out from under brush, as your mouth watered and you nearly passed out from the smell.
As time goes on, technology, jobs, and just daily living have left their marks on the rivers and lakes. An angler used to search the river or lake up and down for the proverbial hot spot, and now they are wide open for the most part. There are still a good many anglers that still hit the waters, but their population has dwindled, especially among the youth, as life has a way of turning them towards other options.
Right here in Clay County, we have some boys that live by the Hank Williams code, “A country boy can survive.” As part of the song goes, “We can skin a buck, we can run a trot line, and a country boy can survive.”Well, these boys can bass fish, too, and if you think, “Ah they’re just boys,” think again. These boys can wrap lines around anybody on the water including some of the pipe smoking gray hairs.
Luke Stewart, son of Holli and Mikey Samples, and Austin Craze, son of Lindsay and Nathin Pritt, have proven themselves time and time again on the lakes as the ones who can match their rigs against anybody on the water. And, they have the trophies to prove it.
They each have the necessary skill and knowledge, and they are constantly in search of the bass, honing their skills to be the best. Luke will be an 11th grader at Clay County High School while Austin will be starting 9th grade. Make no mistake, these boys are the real thing – true country boys who have the skill to fish like no other, who pull in pounds not ounces. Last season, these boys fished in five trail tournaments and won all but one of them, missing out on first in that one by a single ounce.
This success qualified them to compete in the Bassmaster High School Championship to be held in Appling, Georgia, on Clark’s Hill Reservoir July 31 through August 2. Luke also qualified to fish the High School Fishing World Finals for the National Championship on June 24 through 28 in Grove, Oklahoma. He and his high school fishing partner Bo Hollen from Buckhannon will compete against some of the best high school youth anglers in the nation.
These Clay County boys live, eat and breathe bass fishing; they live in a state of mind that can only be understood by another angler. Bent rods and bass tail dancing on once still water, the slight tug of an eight-pound bucket mouth bass deep in cover on a Texas rig all spring a fight that is primal – humans understanding nature and capitalizing on it. These boys do it best.
They have dedicated their young lives to the sport and are mentally ready for their shot at a national championship. Now, they need our help to get there. CJ’s Barbecue will be hosting a fundraiser for the boys’ trips. The fundraiser will be held on June 14 beside the Clay Family Pharmacy with food being sold starting at 11 a.m., and it will end when the food is gone. So, get there quickly before the deliciousness runs out. These boys deserve a shot at the titles, so let’s help them get there. All the money raised will go toward their expenses for the two trips.
