Butch Lefebvre, the head fishing coach at Stone Memorial High School, was pretty pleased with his team’s performance last weekend at the third event of the East Tennessee BASS Nation High School and Youth Trail.
Out of five boats competing in the competition at Chickamauga Lake near Chattanooga, Stone Memorial had one boat reach the tournament’s weigh-in. Considering the Panthers hadn’t fished in over a month, Lefebvre thought it was a good weekend.
“This was our first competition since the Christmas break,” Lefebvre said. “You always want the best for all these students. It would have been nice to have more boats hit the scale, even if they only had one fish. It’s just always a good day when these kids are standing up there holding fish to be weighed. It’s rewarding.”
Stone’s team of Sawyer Cumby and Gracie Blankenship, a new duo for the Panthers, caught three fish for a total of 7.66 pounds. That was good enough to put the SMHS duo in 51st out of the 165 teams competing in the meet.
“The water at Chickamauga, or anywhere we fish, can also be a factor,” Lefebvre said. “Is it shallow? Is it deep? What’s the weather, is it cold or warm?”
Lefebvre wasn’t surprised at Cumby and Blankenship’s effort in the tournament. He said both athletes come from fishing families, so they probably grew up on the water.
“It probably runs in the family for those two,” Lefebvre said. “And by actually catching fish, the weight is recorded and they are now ranked in the top 50. That will qualify them for the state meet at the end of the season. It is great for them.”
Stone still has several meets to compete in before the end of the school year. Lefebvre said he’s working to keep all of his teams focused on the ultimate goal of getting to the state.
“I believe that everybody that we have on our fishing team right now has a natural drive for fishing and just wants to do well,” Lefebvre said. “We don’t want them to be discouraged because there will be good days and bad days. There will be days when you don’t catch any fish. The next day you might catch five.”
Lefebvre said the Stone Memorial anglers will be back on the water March 7.