Clinton High School fishing team brings home state championship
CLINTON, Tennessee — For Clinton High School Junior Mason Chambers, the school fishing team is a big part of his life.
"I really joined my sophomore year and I really got into it. (The) First few tournaments I fell in love with it, it's something I've always grown up doing," Chambers said.
Chambers joined the fishing team in his sophomore year and has been working to get more people involved. He said the team has been around for a while but hasn't been very active in recent years.
Chambers said earlier this school year he met Dylan Byrge and invited him to the team.
"One day we (were) just talking, and we weren't even friends. Then, senior year just came around and me and him just started talking," Byrge said.
Byrge said their shared love of fishing brought them together, and now the two, who started the school year as strangers, are walking away as state champions.
"He was like, 'We both like to fish,' and this and that. Like I said, we just went off with it and joined the fishing team and now we're at this spot now," said Byrge.
The team qualified for the Tennessee Bass Federation tournament and took home the title, but that win didn't come easy.
"The first two days we got there, we blew a trailer tire bearing on the way there and we got a few hours off of practice but that didn't really stop us. It was looking rough, that day one we only caught one fish in practice and then we caught 12-14 lbs in day two," Chambers said.
The team is now preparing to compete in the national fishing tournament in June, but in the meantime, Chambers is continuing to build the team for years to come.
"We need to bring more people in, we really do. If you could come, you're welcome because we need more boats and we need more people. Anybody to carry it on," Chambers said.
Chambers plans to continue his competitive fishing career in college and is hoping to gain some scholarships from competition soon.
Byrge is currently working on building up his landscaping business, DRB Landscaping, but he hopes someday he can buy his own boat and compete in local competitions.