Triad Boat places 11th at IHSA Bass Fishing Finals
By Ray Popkess
Cast (left), Johnson and Coach Klueter pose with their Biggest Bass award after hauling in a 5 lb. 9 oz. mammoth on day two. (Photo courtesy of Triad Bass Fishing on Facebook)
Out of 62 competing teams at the IHSA Bass Fishing Finals, Brett Johnson, Bryce Cast and Head Coach Brian Klueter took home 11th place and came away with the biggest bass caught in the tournament.
Johnson (left) and Cast hoist up their day two catches that landed them in 11th place at the State Final on Lake Shelbyville.
On day one, Johnson and Cast hauled in a five bass total of eight pounds, 10 ounces. On day two, the pairing jumped way up through the standings with a five bass total of 12 lbs., 9 oz. Johnson hooked the largest fish of the tournament, weighing in at five pounds, nine ounces.
During the weigh-in Johnson shared that he hooked the monster on a rock crawler crankbait. Initially, he thought he had hooked a catfish on his line since the team had reeled in a blue catfish and a muskie on day one.
Coach Klueter had this to share on the Triad Bass Fishing Facebook page:
“11TH PLACE IN THE STATE TOURNAMENT. Highest finish Triad has ever had to my knowledge. ONLY BIG BASS AWARD IN SCHOOL HISTORY! WE ARE IN THE RECORD BOOKS! These boys killed it the last several days and never stopped casting. We stuck to our plan and it worked out pretty well. 28th place after day one and fished our rears off to bring in a much bigger bag on day two. Our whole team made this possible – not just these two guys. There isn’t a person on this fishing team that I wouldn’t welcome on my boat. Parents of all of these kids should be so proud – even if they didn’t fish much. We are getting our name out there in this competition for all the right reasons. Thank you to all the parents, families, and boat captains. 11th isn’t exactly where we want to be, but it’s us fighting in the right direction. We are so very proud of these kids and this accomplishment. Thanks to Kenny D for letting me run with this. Bigger and better to come. Thank you to all of the people and businesses that have helped us out. I’ll be tagging you all in a separate post down the line. Keep casting! Let’s go to bed.”
