2014 High School Fishing World Finals Returns to Lake Dardanelle
OutdoorHub 03.26.14
The Bass Federation (TBF), is pleased to announce that the 2014 High School Fishing World Finals will once again return to legendary Lake Dardanelle and the city of Russellville, Ark. The event dates are July 15-19 at Lake Dardanelle State Park.
“We are thrilled to host this event again in the city of Russellville,” Executive Director of Tourism for Russellville, Christie Graham, stated. “This event continues to grow every year and has become a terrific family destination for high school anglers across the country. Our community loves bringing this group in as it allows us to showcase our entire area as a family vacation destination.”
“Our expanded format last year built a lot of excitement for this event,” TBF National Youth Director, Mark Gintert, said. “Adding the semi-final and consolation rounds as well as another full day of fishing was well received by our anglers and their families. Combine that with the expansion of Saturday’s final to 20 teams and we had a lot of final day excitement,” Gintert added. “To spruce things up this year we’ll be expanding tournament waters to allow locking into the rest of the Arkansas River system so our teams will have more water to fish and some additional strategies to contend with.”
‘The High School Fishing World Finals has done more to grow high school fishing nationwide than any other event,” TBF President, Robert Cartlidge, stated. “Several states that now have high school fishing teams and programs can trace their roots back to teams participating in this event,” Cartlidge added. “Our staff works very hard to make this a showcase event for high school fishing and at the same time keep it exciting for our anglers and their families. The staff and facilities at Lake Dardanelle State Park are absolutely top-notch and it’s central US location right on I-40 make it a great family vacation.”
As always, the HSFWF is open to all high school anglers in the country. For active SAF members there are no entry fees. For non-SAF members the $25/yr membership can be purchased online at the time of registration. All anglers can register in advance at highschoolfishing.org by clicking on HSFWF on the homepage.
Official practice begins Sunday, July 13. The check-in and rules meeting banquet will be Tuesday, July 15 at Russellville High School starting at 3:30pm with the rules meeting and dinner to follow at 6pm.
This year’s format will once again have the top two teams from each state or country advancing to Friday’s semi-final round of competition. Those not making the semi-final round will have a chance to fish their way back into Saturday’s top 20 final through the consolation round. For Saturday’s final round the top 20 weights will compete (the top 10 from the semi-final round and the next 10 highest weights overall).
A host of scholarships and prizes await the winners, as well as, advancement to the prestigious Boat US Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship where they can compete against the top college teams in the country. The winners at that event could also advance to fish for a chance at the Forrest Wood Cup and the TBF “Living the Dream” package, which has the potential to launch a professional fishing career.
The event will be televised on Federation Angler TV series on NBC Sports next fall.
Event Details:
Sign-up: PRE-REGISTER ONLINE at HighSchoolFishing.org or a $25 late registration fee applies to those registering onsite. The best way is to pre-register online at highschoolfishing.org.
Mandatory Check-in: Tuesday, July 15 at Russellville High School. Check in starts at 3:30pm with the rules meeting and dinner to start at 6pm CST.
Takeoff & Weigh-in: Wednesday, July 16 at Lake Dardenelle State Park. Take-off at safe light. Weigh-in at 3pm. Questions? 580-765-9031
Tournament Waters: Lake Dardenelle (Locking is permitted at our own risk to other pools of the Arkansas River)
