Student Fishing Team Hope to Reel in a Win at Nationals

Heaton, Miller prepare to fish on the Mississippi

A pair of Marlow anglers will be competing in the 14th annual High School Fishing World Finals and National Championship in LaCrosse, WI, next week. Both young men are students at Marlow High School.

Kadan Heaton and Hunter Miller will be leaving this weekend for the competition which is set for June 20-24. There are no entry fees, but up for grabs on the dock are $3.3 million in scholarships and prizes. World Finals is open to all Student Angler Federation (SAF) members and anyone can fish with a chance to earn those prizes.

The event will be filmed for TV viewing on the Pursuit Channel. The competition takes place on the Mississippi River in LaCrosse. The top two from each state advance to the HSFWF and then the top 10 in National Championship standings also advance.

Tamela Heaton, mother of Kadan, said the trip is a 12-hour drive, and that Sunday through Tuesday is pre-fishing time, and the actual tournament begins Wednesday and Thursday.

Heaton and Miller qualified for the nationals when they won the Texoma Team Trail (Bass Federation) here in Oklahoma

with a score of 394 points. That competition is sanctioned by the Student Angler Federation.

During the past year, the pair have fished at Texoma, Keystone, Arbuckle, Ellsworth and the state contest at Grand Lake. There were 83 boats at the state event. It sounds like a big event, but it is small fish compared to the upcoming competition in which several hundred teams will be on the Mississippi River as they vie for the jackpot prizes. The event will be televised and live-streamed, she said.

“It’s an honor just for them to qualify to go, but it’s also an opportunity and experience,” Tamela said.

“Only one tournament did they place below 3rd.” Their record this year includes two 1st place, one 3rd, one 4th and two Big Bass wins.

Heaton said that when the rules changed in July 2022, it really opened up the world of high school fishing nationwide. Prior to that time, school administrators had to sign off on a student taking part in fishing events. That is no longer the rule. The student fishing team must also have a boat captain on board at all times when competing. It usually is one of their fathers.

Heaton, who will be a junior this upcoming school year, is the son of Tamela and Adam Heaton, and Miller, a senior, is the son of Brandi and Jeremy Miller.

To learn more, visit: highschoolfishing.org

Published in our print edition, June 15, 2023