Arkansas Team Takes The Lead In Bassmaster Junior Championship

McCoy Vereen (left) and Beau Browning of the Anvil Jaw Junior Bassmasters out of Arkansas lead Day 1 of the Costa Bassmaster Junior Championship on Carroll County 1,000 Acre Recreational Lake with 14 pounds, 9 ounces.

August 2, 2016

Arkansas Team Takes The Lead In Bassmaster Junior Championship

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HUNTINGDON, Tenn. — Beau Browning and McCoy Vereen came into last year’s inaugural Costa Bassmaster Junior Championship with high hopes, but they didn’t catch a single legal-size bass in two days of competition.

Fast-forward a year, and things have changed drastically.

The 14-year-old Arkansas junior anglers nearly doubled up the total of their nearest competing team on the first day of the 2016 Costa Bassmaster Junior Championship on Carroll County 1,000 Acre Recreational Lake in western Tennessee. Browning and Vereen, who fish with the Anvil Jaw team out of Hot Springs, Ark., had a five-bass limit weighing 14 pounds, 9 ounces.

That haul gave the Arkansas team a stranglehold on the Day 1 lead; well in front of second-place team — the New Hampshire Junior Bassmasters — whose Jack Armstrong and Logan Daniels caught five fish that totaled 7-15. Only three of the other 29 teams competing in the junior championship are within 10 pounds of the Arkansas duo.

Fishing teams from Michigan (4-12), Louisiana (4-11), and Mississippi (4-10) round out the Top 5 squads after the first day. In all, 28 state champion teams (and another from Canada,) are fishing for the national title. Competition ends Wednesday. Anglers must be 14 years old or younger to compete in the junior championship.

Browning and Vereen, who both will soon enter the ninth grade, located their fish early in the morning when skies were overcast and the temperature had yet to climb above 90 degrees. They had a limit in the livewell within 30 minutes of the 6 a.m. launch, but the bite slowed as fishing pressure increased.

“We got out to our spot pretty close to the ramp, and we had a good solid limit in 30 minutes,” Browning said. “But by the time everyone had taken off, we had five boats on top of us. We ended up catching a 6-pounder, which bumped us up there. That gave us momentum. But fishing slowed down from there. It got hot, and we started struggling a bit.”

The duo lost another lunker bass a while later, but boated a 5-pounder in the afternoon that has them feeling good going into the final round.

The boys are captained/coached by Bassmaster Elite Series pro Stephen Browning, who is Beau’s father. Though coaches are able to talk with their young charges during junior competitions, the elder Browning indicated that Tuesday’s success was all a result of Beau’s and McCoy’s skills, and their resiliency.

“They learned a lot from last year,” Stephen Browning said. “When they left here, they knew more about the lake. It helped them prepare mentally. This is not one of those lakes where you’re going to run out and catch a huge bag. It’s a mental thing. They kept their heads down, and they hooked into a couple big ones. Them keeping it together was the most rewarding thing for me to see.”

The leaders know they’ll probably have to produce another decent limit on Wednesday to win the Costa Bassmaster Junior Championship. Last year, the Oklahoma team boated 28 pounds on Carroll County 1,000 Acre Recreational Lake on the final day to storm past the field.

“We’ll have to do the same thing we did today or better tomorrow,” Beau said. “Hopefully we can get a win.”

The second day of the Costa Bassmaster Junior Championship will begin with a 6 a.m. launch from Carroll County 1,000 Acre Recreation Lake in Huntingdon, Tenn. The weigh-in is scheduled to start at 1:45 p.m. in downtown Huntingdon.

Junior Bassmaster Championship8/2/2016 – 8/3/2016Carroll County 1,000 Acre – Recreational Lake – Huntingdon, TNSTANDINGS BOATER DAY 1

Today’s Activity# Fish Lbs – OzAccumulativeName # Live # Fish # Live Lbs – Oz1 Beau Browning – McCoy Vereen AR – Anvil Jaw Jr Bassmasters 5 3 14- 9 5 3 14- 92 Jack Armstrong – Logan Daniels NH – NH Jr Bass Masters 5 5 7-15 5 5 7-153 Remington Barkley – Nathan Elsey Michigan – Junior MI Bass Anglers 5 4 4-12 5 4 4-124 Hanson Chaney – Jackson Landry LA – Jr Southwest Bassmasters 5 5 4-11 5 5 4-115 Bradlee Parish – Tyler Guin MS – Monroe County Youth Bassmasters 5 5 4-10 5 5 4-106 Samuel Ambrose – Trevor Albanese WV – Berkeley Springs Jr Fishing Club 5 5 4- 6 5 5 4- 67 Andrew Lavoie – Matthew Lavoie RI – RI Jr Bassmasters 5 5 4- 3 5 5 4- 38 Bennett Bauer – Hunter White NC – Southfork Jr Bassmasters 5 5 4- 2 5 5 4- 29 Chris Mussat – Matthew Piho ON – Hamilton Jr Bassmasters 5 5 4- 0 5 5 4- 010 Miller Dowling – Chandlar Hollingsworth AL – West Alabama Jr Bass 5 4 3-11 5 4 3-1111 Roger Weigle Jr – Jeffrey Worthy Jr FL – Lakeland Jr Bassmasters 4 4 3-10 4 4 3-1012 Gavin Enders – Cadin Sheesley PA – Susquehanna Valley Fishing Team 4 4 3- 9 4 4 3- 913 Rein Golubjatnikov – Garrett Lawton NY – Rochester Jr Bassmasters 4 4 3- 8 4 4 3- 814 Kurtis Swanson – Chaney Weick KY – Bottomline Jr Club 3 3 2-11 3 3 2-1115 Jake Rossi – Charles Jones OH – SS Minnows 2 2 2-10 2 2 2-1016 Hayden Hedrick – Cale Carr VA – 3 3 2- 7 3 3 2- 716 Brayden Stotler – Ezra Elkins IN – Southside Anglers 3 3 2- 7 3 3 2- 718 Ryder Mains – Daniel Gutgesell KS – Kickback Jr Bass Club 3 3 2- 6 3 3 2- 619 Cameron Meadows – Austin Hubbard OK – OKC Jr Bassmasters 2 2 2- 3 2 2 2- 320 Cullen Behen – Bode Meader ME – Mainely Jr Bass 2 2 1-14 2 2 1-1421 Ty Keller – Clayton Capilla CO – Denver Jr Bassmasters 2 1 1-11 2 1 1-1122 Reece Keeney – Bryce Moder WI – Waupaca Jr Bass Busters 2 2 1- 8 2 2 1- 823 Jake Schiavi – Lorin Valenti CT – Bass Lightning 1 1 0-15 1 1 0-1524 Dylan Draper – Luis Flores IL – Off the Hook 1 1 0-14 1 1 0-1425 Bentley Fletcher – Tristin Wilcox IA – Cedar Rapids Jr Bassmasters 1 1 0-11 1 1 0-1125 Joseph Gorman – Bryan Oelrich MN – Bassinators 1 1 0-11 1 1 0-1127 Lanie Birdsong – Hunter Davis GA – Bainbridge Basscats 2 2 0- 7 2 2 0- 728 Jameson Peterson – Jordan Bryant TX – East Texas Youth Bass Club 0 0 0- 0 0 0 0- 029 Noah Jones – Manning Feldner SC – Conway Middle School 1 1 -0- 3 1 1 -0- 3Name City,State Lbs-OzBIG BASSDay1 Beau Browning – McCoy Vereen Hot Springs, AR 5-10Day # Live Lbs-Oz # LimitsTOTALS# Fish1 91 86 90-14 102 0 0 0- 0 0

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