Congrats to one of our own- MO State High School Champ!

[dtrs5kprs]

Folks...just got off the phone with Darren Combs. You may remember Darren and his son Dalton from the OA one bass derby back in March. Well as great as that 2nd place finish was, Dalton and his partner went and topped it over the weekend, winning the MO high school championship at Stockton.

Other than passing on congratulations I am really just the photo monkey, helping out with getting pics up. Will let Dalton and his dad fill in as many details as they would like to.

[BATCAB27]

Awesome!

[abkeenan]

Very cool. What a kicker fish.

[Codywskeeter1521]

Wow awesome Job guys. The future is bright. Love that they let these young men and women get involved in fishing early.

[Champ188]

Donna and I met Dalton and his dad Darren a few months back at Danna's in West Branson. Absolutely first-class folks.

Darren has had the privilege in recent years of fishing in team tournaments with Dave Barker, who has easily won more money and championships in regional tournaments than anyone in the Midwest. I'm sure Mr. Barker's knowledge has been passed down to Dalton.

More importantly, Dalton reflects the values that his dad has passed along, including a very polite and gentlemanly nature. Congrats all around and continued best wishes.

[Ketchup]

Congrats.

[darrencombs]

Thank you Dave for getting the pics uploaded for me. Champ I appreciate your kind words. I have to start by saying I'm a very proud dad. Secondly I want to thank Randy Conlon for putting together Teen Angler Circuit for these high school fisherman. Also to LEW'S for all their commitment in sponsoring the event.

The event was last weekend at Stockton Lake. My son and his partner caught 16 keepers the first day but all were about the same size weighing in at 8# and some change.

Sunday they started kinda slow and they finally caught on keeper then caught two more by ten o'clock. My son picked up a 1/4 ounce shakey head with a magnum finesse trick worm and made a cast. He got a bite and missed it on the hook set. We were talking about the bite and he threw it back out and said well there's another bite. As he set the hook and when I say set the hook my son gets his money worth when he jerks. I could tell by the load on the rod that it was a good one. The fish came up and we got a look at it. You could probably hear all three of us screaming at this point. His partner got her netted and the celebration started. That fished weighed 6.50. They caught 5 more keepers after this fish. Their weigh was 13.20 for a total of 21.99 for two days. They bairly beat out a great team from Republic Gill and Durr by (.12). Pretty close!

They caught a ton of walleye and drum over the weekend. They caught 25 keeps in two days. They caught over half on the Ned rig using Dave's head. Going between Canadian Crawl and Dirt color. Using 1/8 but more on a 3/16 due to the wind. My son also threw a finesse trick worm on a 3/16 shakey head. He would throw it out and more drag it rather than shaking it.

We fished from Mutton Creek to the dam. We fished what I would call do nothing points. They would be more round rather than a bluff end. However there needs to be some deeper water close. Main lake points seemed better. We would set the boat in 25' of water. They would start every point with the Ned to get bit then when fish were locate they would throw a bigger worm. It seemed they would have to fish several points to find one with fish.

My son is a freshman and the memories from this weekend were priceless. However, setting in a boat for 17 hours and not be able to fish is kinda tough ,but I would do it again this weekend to spend time with him. Thanks to all and I'm ready for another OAF get together.

[Quillback]

Congrats!

[m&m]

Congratulations on a job well done to both father and son. A freshman wow! Remember that name it won't be the last time we hear it. And a polite teen also. Dad, you raised him right.

Mike

[magicwormman]

Great job Darren! I love to see competitive fishing at high school and college levels. It is a great way for many of our young men and women to get introduced to the wonderful sport of bass fishing. It was also a great report from Dad. It made you feel like you were in the boat watching the competition.