Teen Anglers Tournament held on Stockton Lake

The winning team at the Teen Anglers Stockton Lake Tournament Sunday display four of the five bass they caught. Wade Beeson and Grant Harris from Glendale High School weighed in more than 14 pounds of fish including the largest fish of the day, a 6.40 pound lunker. (Photo by Ken White/Daily Mail)

More than 2,000 individuals attended the weigh-in at the Teen Anglers Tournament held on Stockton Lake Sunday. They watched as the young anglers brought in their catch to be weighed. There were 166 teams of two anglers representing 54 Missouri middle and high schools.

At the Stockton tournament, boaters were able to launch their boat at any ramp around the lake. J.P. Sell, vice president of Teen Anglers, said, "We have boats scattered all over the lake so they are able to see all areas of the lake and clear the lake of any congestion instead of just one take-off point. The Corp was generous to let us have the event here where we have plenty of room, so we were very excited to hold the event here."

President of Teen Anglers Inc, Randy Conlon, said, "The entire event went amazingly well from start to finish. We appreciate all the help and support of the community, Corp of Engineers and all the volunteers who made the tournament a big success. Even the weather was as good as it gets in May."

The winning team of Grant Harris and Wade Beeson from Glendale High School, weighed in 14.16 pounds of bass including the largest fish of the tournament, a 6.40 pound lunker. Finishing in second place was the team of Phelps-Fletcher who weighed in 13.58 pounds of bass, including the second largest fish, a 5.45 pounder. Their point total was 237.58 just behind the winners whose point total was 239.16.

Each boat had a boat captain who could not fish, but could help net a fish.

The young bass anglers caught a total of 345 bass that had a total weight of 659.57 pounds in the Stockton Lake tournament.

Each team received 25 points just for showing up. Points start at 200 for first and descend one point for each place dropped. Each team also received one point for each pound of bass weighed which is rounded to the nearest whole number. In the Middle School Division the teams can weigh in two fish while the High School Division teams can weigh in five fish.

The Team of the Year went to a brother-sister team ---- Keeney and Dalton Combs of Ozark High School.

The brother and sister team of Dalton and Keeley Combs, from Ozark High School, were named as the Team of the Year at the finish of the Stockton Lake Tournament. (Photo by Ken White/Special to the Daily Mail)

The Stockton Tournament was the final of three tournaments leading up to the Championship Tournament to be held on Table Rock Lake June 18-19.

Sell said he expects around 200 teams will be competing in that contest to be held at Kimberling City. The earlier tournaments were held at Lake of the Ozarks and Table Rock Lake. Sell reported that in the Championship tournament there will be $20,000 worth of scholarships to be paid to the top 10 teams.

Sell said, "Any team that fishes the three tournaments will be automatically qualified for the championship tournament."

Anglers in Action has announced that the winner of the June championship will be able to compete in the 2016 Angler in Action Tournament of Champions at Grand lake in Oklahoma November 5-6. They will be competing against some of the best anglers in the Midwest as well as competing for a new ranger 2519 boat and 225 H.P. outboard motor.

Teen Anglers Inc. is a not-for-profit organization designed for enhancing the Middle and High School fishing program to help promote the sport of bass fishing to the young people of today.