歪歪漫画

ON CHUB LAKE 鈥� It was 93 degrees in the shade with hardly a breath of wind, but Jack Hakala and John Pagelkopf kept at it, kept fishing, kept casting.

And kept catching. Bass, that is.

On a practice day with less than two weeks before 鈥渟tate,鈥欌�� Pagelkopf and Hakala were fine-tuning their skills for their fourth consecutive trip to the state high school championship bass tournament.

Esko is one of three Northland schools, along with Grand Rapids and Northwestern in Maple, Wisconsin, sending teams to the Minnesota Junior BASS Nation High 歪歪漫画 State Championship set for Sept. 7-8 on the Mississippi River out of Wabasha. The winners will take home a trophy and move on to the national high school championship next year.

This year鈥檚 success continues a recent tradition of northern programs, from the land where walleyes are king, doing well fishing for what might once have been considered more of a southern species.

John Myers / Duluth Media Group

Seniors Hakala and Pagelkopf finished in first place this summer in the Greater North Division of the Minnesota BASS program in which teams are affiliated with schools but operate as independent clubs, separate from the usual high school sports programs.

The two anglers, both 17, say they get a little nervous heading into big tournaments like the state championship, 鈥淏ut it's a good nervous. 鈥� It goes away once you start fishing, or after you catch the first fish,鈥欌�� Hakala said.

The two had been involved in other sports, "But this is pretty much all we do now: fish,鈥欌�� Pagelkopf said.

They work like a well-oiled machine in the boat, taking turns running the bow-mounted trolling motor and netting each other's fish as quickly and efficiently as possible during contests, said Jeff Hakala, Jack's dad and the team鈥檚 adult boat captain.

There鈥檚 little downtime between casts. More casts equals more fish.

For Jack Halaka, his favorite part of competitive fishing is the morning launch, with the sun still low in the sky and the national anthem playing over a loudspeaker. For Pagelkopf, the best part of the day is the weigh-in, especially if they think they are at or near the top of the leaderboard.

John Myers / Duluth Media Group

For his part, Jeff Hakala stays out of the boys鈥� way, only running the big motor when needed during tournaments.

鈥淚 was never much of a fisherman like a lot of the dads in the boats, so I think that actually helps John and Jack,鈥欌�� Jeff said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 100% them figuring out where the fish are and how to catch them every day they are out there.鈥�

Subscribers Only

Northland Outdoors

ALSO READ: Some Lake Superior anglers still mistake coho salmon, steelhead trout

Minnesota Sea Grant offers new identification decals to tell the silvery fish apart.

Jun 28, 2024

 · 

By  John Myers

Both boys hope to go on to fish competitively in college. Pagelkopf is considering Alexandria Technical & Community College and Hakala is looking at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

Their highest finish in their first three trips to state was 35th, but the boys think they have a chance to win it this year. They鈥檒l make at least one more trip to Wabasha to 鈥減re-fish鈥欌�� the tournament, scouting for fish patterns.

鈥淲e鈥檙e getting some good information from down there,鈥欌�� Hakala said. 鈥淭he fish are going to be shallow.鈥�

How shallow, though, he wasn鈥檛 ready to tell in a newspaper article. After all, those Grand Rapids guys might be reading.

Grand Rapids, which has one of the oldest and largest high school fishing clubs in the Northland, has been a powerhouse in recent years, sending four teams to state in 2021, three in 2022, one last year and three this year.

Grand Rapids was the home team for now red-hot professional bass angler who won the state high school championship and college national championship before turning pro last year.

This year, cousins Ryder Miskovich and Joey Miskovich are the top team from Grand Rapids heading to state, followed by Hunter Thunshelle and Mason Sgarlata and Trevor Zimmer with Jens Aunan.

Contributed / Grand Rapids High 歪歪漫画 Fishing Team

Chris Stanley, head coach of the Grand Rapids team, said there were 36 student anglers in the program this year, including high school and junior high members 鈥� just about double from when the program first began.

鈥淎bout half of those take it really seriously, and they usually do pretty well,鈥欌�� said Stanley, whose son, Drew, is on the team.

Chris Stanley said several Grand Rapids fishing duos also did well this year in the separate Student Angler Tourney Trail series of fishing tournaments, which is similar but separate from the BASS high school tournament series.

Landa Zimmer, coach of the Esko program, said most kids who join have some fishing background, but usually for panfish or walleyes.

鈥淢ost kids have had a pole in their hands before. Most of their parents fish at least some. But a few have never fished for bass before joining the team,鈥欌�� Zimmer said.

The student anglers usually have a friend in mind for a boat partner when joining the program, so they often join as a two-person boat team, but not always. In most cases, one of the parents has a boat and becomes the team鈥檚 adult captain. The adult is required to drive the boat when it is moving at speed during contests, but otherwise generally stays out of the effort.

Contributed / Esko High 歪歪漫画 Fishing Team

鈥淲e could still use more volunteers who have boats and time to offer but who don't necessarily have students in the program,鈥欌�� said Zimmer, whose son, Isaac, a junior, is in the program.

The commitment for anglers and coaches is for at least three local tournaments during the summer, a regional event, and, if they qualify, the state tournament. But there are also a lot of hours on the water practicing.

Of course, it is fishing.

Esko started its program in 2021 and has been growing ever since, Zimmer said. The students seem to grow along the way, she said, not just becoming better anglers but maybe better team members as well.

鈥淭he biggest thing I notice is that they can stay out there from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m fishing and have to get along with their teammate,鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淭hey don't always agree on the best place to fish. But they take turns, and they have to deal with the other person鈥檚 choices, the decisions. They have to compromise. It鈥檚 real teamwork.鈥�

This year, Esko had eight students on the junior team, sixth to eighth graders, and 14 on the high school team.

Many of the high school fishing programs also do community service projects. The Esko anglers hosted fishing seminars and tackle giveaways for children at this summer鈥檚 Esko Fun Days. The Grand Rapids anglers held a fish fry for senior citizens last week.

Dan Williamson / File / Duluth Media Group

Northwestern鈥檚 state-bound anglers are Finley Nelson and Jack Mickus. The team is allowed to play in the Minnesota organization because there are no other Wisconsin teams nearby.

Other teams in the Greater North Conference include Wrenshall, Rock Ridge, North Woods and Floodwood.

The Wabasha event will include 70 two-angler teams from across the state that qualified in regional tournaments and play-in tournaments. Forest Lake tops all schools with five two-angler teams in the tournament, while Anoka-Ramsey has four teams.