All Easton Morrow and RJ Sanger think about is fishing at Lakeland Christian School.
Luckily, it’s the summertime and school isn’t in session right now. Yet, both recently advanced to the 2023 High School Championship Bassmaster Tournament at Lake Hartwell in Anderson, South Carolina over the weekend. The dynamic fishing duo placed 170 out of 409 pairings in boats. It’s the first time a Lakeland Christian School duo has advanced this far in the high school fishing season.
“It feels good, but we could have done a little bit better and executed a little bit better. But from fishing on a new lake and a new fish that we’ve never fished before, we did alright,” Morrow said.
In a 20-foot Ranger boat, the Lakeland Christian fishermen finished 170 by fishing to their strengths: The two fished at the bank, throwing topwater, drop shot, wacky worms, fluke, and buzz bait to capture five largemouth bass on day one and two.
It took a good amount of experience for the two to know exactly how to accomplish their goal. The fishing season starts in September with regionals and nationals transpiring in the summer. Lakeland Christian’s team placed in regionals in the top 12 on Lake Harris on Jan. 29, while also placing top seven in points in the entire Florida Bass Nation. Both caught 16 pounds of fish in around three hours time that culminated on Lake Apopka.
It’s not over for Morrow and Sanger, as both have been indoctrinated into the world of fishing thanks to their families who take fishing seriously.
The two met at Lakeland Christian School in fourth grade in 2016. That year, Lakeland Christian started a fishing team. And while at the fishing meeting, Morrow walked up to Sanger and simply asked if he wanted to be his partner. Sanger agreed.
Now the two work as a cohesive fishing unit. Sanger is in the front, running the troll motors and throwing the moving baits, while Morrow is throwing the slower baits, including the worm, among other baits. Constant communication is the norm as the young fishermen progress through the fishing season.
With the season now over, both will gear up for their junior years of school and wait for the 2023 fishing season, which starts and ends with journeying around different cities in Florida. But the goal for them is to qualify for nationals and do better than 170 in 2024.