Prior Lake HS fishing team prepares for another year
SAVAGE, Minn. — What’s that on the horizon? Fishing season—and the Prior Lake High School (PLHS) Fishing Team is angling for another spectacular year! If you have been considering joining them, now is the time. They will be holding an informational meeting in February to go over rules and expectations and from there it’s a short wait until the season officially starts.
The PLHS Fishing Team provides a wonderful opportunity for students to fish, learn, and grow as anglers. But there is more.
“We have multiple opportunities for our anglers to give back to the community by volunteering at various events,” Coach Paul VandenHoek said. “We also participate in the Student Angler Tournament Trail (SATT) and the Minnesota Junior Bass Nation.”
To join the team, students must be in 9th-12th grade. Team members can also earn a varsity letter which is a great opportunity and achievement.
The team’s accomplishments are impressive, but Coach VandenHoek reminds us of their number one goal.
“We aim to always have fun and to enjoy being out on the water,” he said. “Fishing is a great way to get outdoors, it teaches patience and perseverance. Waiting on the water, sometimes for hours at a time, for a bite is an opportunity for students to learn that being patient and not quitting is a key to success. There are a variety of challenges that come with fishing like the weather, time of day, or color of the lure, that can all contribute to the fish biting—or not. Learning to adapt to these challenges will no doubt come in handy in all aspects of life.”
There is another distinctive aspect of the fishing team that Coach VandenHoek explains.
“Fishing is more of an individual sport than a team one,” he said. “Our anglers fish in pairs (the same pair throughout the season), but we compete against our own teammates so a lot of strategy does not get shared. We certainly root each other on and celebrate our teammates success, but we do not have traditional team practice like other team sports do.”
When it comes to competing, the PLHS team did exceptionally well.
“We had one team finish in first at a SATT tournament; these are the statewide tournaments where the anglers were fishing against close to 200 other teams,” he said. “This was a huge accomplishment. We also had five more of our teams make the Minnesota Junior Bass Nation State Tournament. These are both two-day tournaments and to have six of our 13 teams make State is an awesome season!”
Teams who made the state tournaments.
SATT State – Big Stone – September 10-11th
Gunnar Rausch and Nic Hawke
MN Junior Bass Nation – Whitefish – September 10-11th
Tyler Kuboushek and Noah Kuboushek
Jordan VandenHoek and Ethan Mejia
Xander Gronneberg and Jackson Koenig
Tyler Newlin and Zane Miller
Maverick Nevin and Cade Wozney
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