The 2008 Nebrasaka Jr. Championship was held on Sunday May 18^th.  Hosting the tournament for our youth was the Fremont Anglers Association at their private sand pit lake just west of Fremont.  It was a beautiful springtime day with just a slight breeze and clear skies. 

Eight anglers and their families began the registration process about 5:30 am, partners were drawn and boats were launched for the 6 hours of fishing approximately 6am.  Serving as boat captains for the event were Sean Smith( Twin Rivers Bass Club) Rick Riley Sr.  and Rick Riley Jr. (both from River City Bass Club) and Al Cannia (American Bass Anglers).  In order to be as fair as possible, the 3 contestants from the 15-18 year old bracket had control of the trolling motor for the first 3 hours of the tournament. When the 11-14 year old competitors were on the front deck the boat captain operated the trolling motor.  All competitors were responsible for choosing their fishing locations, lure selection, knot tying etc.  Competitors could net each others fish but the boat captain could not assist in the netting of fish. 

In the end 3 methods were clearly the most prevalent for the competitors.  There was a short lived topwater bite and then the spinnerbait and Senko (Texas and wacky style ) took over.  A summary of the final results: 

Congratulations to Brad Schaefer and Hunter King for their winning the 2008 State Jr. Championship.  Brad and Hunter will become an official part of the State Team that will be competing on the upper Missouri at the Central Divisional for the right to advance onto the Nationals this November at Milford Lake, KS. GOOD LUCK HUNTER and BRAD.

After the tournament concluded the Fremont Bassmasters hosted a hot dog feed for the competitors and their families.  The Federation would again like to Thank all who made the tournament a  success: The Fremont Anglers Association, The Fremont Bassmasters, Sean Smith for his assistance in securing the facility, Boat Captains: Sean Smith, Rick Riley Sr., Rick Riley Jr., and Al Cannia.

The first ever Nebraska Jr. State Championship was held on Sunday October 7, 2007. The event was hosted by the Fremont Anglers Association at their private lake located just west of Fremont, NE. This turned out to be an excellent location as due to the private nature of the lake, none of the competitors had previously fished there.

Competing in the event were the champions of the Junior Bass Clubs of Nebraska. Representing Lincoln County Junior Bassmasters in the 11-14 age group was Shea Baumgartner and Jacob Pyzer represented Lincoln County in the 15-18 age group. Representing the Young Rods Bass Club in the 11-14 age group was Brad Schaefer.

The sponsoring clubs are Lincoln County Bassmasters and River City Bass Club respectively. The day dawned with an overcast and the threat of showers as the competitors and their boat captains oozed off from the ramp. Although the rain held off for most of the event we did experience a significant shower about half way thru the day. The rapidly changing weather patterns may have put a damper on the bite but in the end each competitor ended up bringing two fish each to the scales. Since Jacob had a walk thru this year , the real drama was between Shea and Brad. I am not sure who was more nervous the kids or Julie Baumgartner and Randy Schaefer as they rode along with their kids but were not allowed to offer any advice as to what to do. In the end, Brad Schaefer ended up edging Shea for the right to represent Nebraska at the National 2008 Jr. World Championships. Brad reported catching his fish on topwater and Senkos. Jacob caught his keepers on a spinnerbait and tube. Shea caught her fish on topwater. After the weigh-in, the competitors ,their families, and volunteers were treated to a hot dog roast hosted by the Fremont Bassmasters. The Nebraska Bass Federation would like to recognize the following who helped may this event a success. The Fremont Anglers Association, Fremont Bassmasters, Boat Captains: Rick Riley Sr., Rick Riley Jr. and Dave Greer (all from River City Bass Club). A special thank you to Sean Smith of Twin Rivers Bass Club who made the initial contact and did much of the legwork to secure the location.