SHORELINES

Angling for fun Bass fishing lures high schoolers T emperatures hovered in the mid30s on a blustery, February day on Weiss Lake. Winds gusting to 25 mph cut through the layers of clothing worn by the young fishermen and their families and friends. It was barely daylight, yet hundreds of people had gathered to watch 394 high school bass anglers launch their boats in the first Alabama Student Angler Bass Fishing Association (ASABFA) tournament of 2013. While the young anglers took off to battle the conditions and look for bass, their family members and volunteers scooted off to the Gadsden State Cherokee Arena in Centre to prepare chili, coffee and hot chocolate for the high school anglers' return. Hours later, several thousand cheering fans greeted the half-frozen anglers as they brought their catch to the weigh-in at the arena. Welcome to high school bass fishing. Not since soccer became a high school sport in Alabama has a new sport come along that has piqued the interest of so many students, parents and communities. the success of high school bass fishing," says Doug Powell of Alabama Power. Not only do Alabama Power lakes like Weiss, Logan Martin, Lay, Mitchell, Jordan, Martin and Smith play host to most of the tournaments, the company is also instrumental in partnering with high school bass teams on projects that earn grants to provide muchneeded operating revenue. Alabama Power provides money-making opportunities to the individual high school "Alabama Power is proud to teams through its Renew Our Rivers play a part in the success of program. High school bass teams across much of the state assist Alabama Power high school bass fishing." in building fish-attracting devices that are placed in lakes to provide quality fish Calera, but when they said they weren't habitat. Those young anglers also assist going to have a fishing team I transferred in shoreline cleanup and the seeding of eroded shorelines. to Thompson so I could fish." In return, each team that completes 250 The move has paid off for Tate. He and his fishing partner finished 17th of 197 teams hours of community service receives a at a recent tournament on Weiss Lake. Tate $500 conservation grant from the Alabama hopes to get a scholarship to Tennessee's Bass Trail. That money can be used for Bethel College, one of the colleges that any team-related expense. The monetary awards are made possible by private now offer fishing scholarships. "Alabama Power is proud to play a part in corporations such as Pepsi. More than 60 high schools have started fishing teams over the past four years, and more are coming on board every week. Fishing is so important to Hunter Tate, a junior at Thompson High School, that he changed schools so he could be on a fishing team. "I've fished since I was a little kid and I love it," he says. "I played baseball at Facing: Thompson High School's Austin Herring at weigh-in on Lake Mitchell for the chapter/district tournament in December 2012. 21

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