TCHS Fishing Kicks Off Season
Courtesy of TCHS
On Saturday, September 27, the Toombs County High School Fishing Team kicked off the 2025-2026 fishing season at Lake Clark’s Hill (Augusta, GA). Hadden Outdoors hosted the High School MLF (Major League Fishing) style tournament on Lake Clark Hill.
AJ Bagby, a Junior at Toombs County High School, finished in 2nd place at the event. AJ caught 28 bass for a total weight of 42.81 pounds. Evan Beard, Senior at Greenbrier High School and reigning GA Bass Nation State Champion, won the event with 48.81 pounds.
The weather was less than ideal, with a downpour of rain and wind throughout the majority of the event. AJ Bagby caught his fish on a Zoom Winged Fluke, a Deps Sakamata Shad, and a Homegrown Jigs Boujee Shad. AJ was targeting bass that were migrating back into the creek arms, feeding on blueback herring and threadfin shad. The herring and shad migrate in the fall from their deep-water summer hideouts into the shallower creeks as they seek cooler water temperatures, better oxygenated water, and plankton to feed on. The bass follow the baitfish during this fall migration. The key is to find the baitfish and you will find the bass.
The Haddens Outdoors high school tournament is unique as the anglers all fish in specific zones of the lake and the fish are weighed live on the water by the tournament officials. The zones are randomly selected by the tournament director just before blast off. This prevents any practice fishing since the anglers do not know what zones of the lake they will be fishing until the morning of the tournament. Therefore, the anglers must make quick decisions once a zone is announced to locate and catch fish. The leaderboard is updated throughout the tournament so the anglers know exactly how many fish and the weight their competitors have caught. It is a stressful, but very fun way to fish a bass tournament.
The Toombs County Fishing Team will be fishing the GHSA and GA Bass Nation tournament trails this year. The Bulldogs will compete against over 500 Georgia high school fishing teams during these tournaments. The next tournament is scheduled for November 1st, 2025 at West Point Lake (Lagrange, GA).
