Stanford-Glass finish 27th in state fishing tournament
Published 8:19 pm Sunday, May 21, 2023
- Representing Colquitt County at the GHSA bass fishing championship on Saturday at Clarks Hill Lake were the teams of, from left, Andrew Stanford and Haydyn Glass; Jake Wilkes and Joseph Jackson; and Hardin Roberts and Jacob Brightwell.
MOULTRIE, Ga. — The Colquitt County High bass fishing team of Andrew Stanford and Haydyn Glass caught four fish for 9 pounds and 1 ounce to finish 27th in GHSA’s bass fishing state championship held Saturday at Clarks Hill Lake.
The event drew 106 two-man teams to Georgia’s largest lake.
The Lanier County team of Bryson Dover and Angel Cornejo finished first with five fish for 20 pounds, 8 ounces.
Jackson Thomas and Cole Bradley of Kings Ridge finished second with five fish weighing 16 pounds, 7 ounces.
Colquitt County had two other teams entered in the state championship.
Jacob Brightwell and Hardin Roberts caught two fish weighing 5 pounds, 13 ounces, good for 59th place.
Jake Wilkes and Joseph Jackson had two fish weighing 2 pounds, 9 ounces.
This year’s state championship was the third sponsored by the Georgia High School Association and second in a row held at 71,000-acre Clarks Hill.
The first state championship was held in 2021 at Lake Lanier.
Two-man teams competed in four regional events, seeking to qualify for the state tournament.
Qualifiers were held on Jan. 21 at Lake Seminole in Bainbridge; Feb. 18, at Lake Oconee; March 18, at West Point Lake; and April 15, at Lake Hartwell.
The GHSA state record was set in 2021, when Bainbridge’s Bowynn Brown and Shane Dill reeled in 25 pounds, 15 ounces in the qualifier at Lake Seminole.
Jayden Faulkner and Davis Madden of Evans High won the first state tournament in 2021 with 20 pounds, 3 ounces.
Brown and Dill won last year’s state championship with a catch of 16 pounds, 12 ounces.
The top catch this season was 21 pounds, 6 ounces by Bainbridge’s Hayden Reynolds and Caleb Logue in the season-opening qualifier at Lake Seminole.
Colquitt County’s Brightwell and Roberts qualified this season at Lake Seminole; Wilkes and Jackson at Lake Oconee; and Stanford and Glass at Lake Hartwell.
Brightwell has qualified for the state championship each of the last three seasons. In 2021 and 2022, he teamed cup with Hunter Horne.
Wilkes and Roberts were making their second trips to the finals.
The Packer bass fishing team, coached by Will Stuckey, had 22 team members.
