BUCKSPORT— Silver Lake in Bucksport was the site of the 2015 Student Angler Federation Maine State High School Bass Fishing Championship on May 9. The student federation is part of the Bass Federation and is in partnership with the Fishing League Worldwide, The tournament was coordinated locally by the volunteers with Bangor Bass Club.
The bass fishing team of Hunter Pate of Orrington and Jacob Gauvin of Bucksport successfully defended their 2014 title with a weigh-in of 12.27 pounds. Pate is a senior at John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor. Gauvin is a junior at Bucksport High School. Gauvin also caught the biggest fish of the day, a 4.14 lb. smallmouth bass. Both young men have been fishing competitively for the past three years with the Bangor Bass Club and the Outcast Bass Club.
In second place in the competition were first-time competitors Tyler Heath and Jacob Wilson of Bucksport High School. Their five-fish bag netted 9.37 pounds.
Pate and Gauvin will now represent Maine in the Conference Championship Sept. 18-19 on Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire. They will compete against the top high school bass fishermen from Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Ontario.
Students and parents can go to HighSchoolFishing.org for details on the Student Angler Federation.