More than 500 middle school, high school and college anglers and 200 volunteers will converge on Lake Hartwell this weekend for the Palmetto Boat Center College Tournament Trail and High School Tournament Trail.
Friday, December 10, is the first day of the PBC College Tournament Trail Championship. Saturday, December 11, will be day two of the college tournament and stop number four for the PBC High School Tournament Trail.
“One of the goals the PBC Tournament Trail set out last year was to blend our high school and college series together,” said Palmetto Boat Center College Tournament Trail Director Chris Kanute. “We felt like this would be a great platform to showcase the talent the state had to offer the sport of fishing. This event on Lake Hartwell will be the first, but certainly not the last, combined event and the facilities at Green Pond are the perfect venue to continue to showcase these young anglers and Anderson County.”
Blast off will be approximately 6:45 a.m. each day. Weigh in for middle school teams will begin at 1:30 p.m., followed by college and high school teams at 3:00 p.m. The event will be held at the Green Pond Landing & Event Center, 470 Green Pond Road, Anderson, SC 29625, and is free to the public.
Student anglers will be competing for the heaviest five bass limit, and for a number of prizes, including a $2,000 scholarship for the winning team in each class sponsored by Palmetto Boat Center. The trail will crown an Angler of the Year and School of the Year for the college series on Saturday.
The Palmetto Boat Center High School Tournament Trail was established in the fall of 2015 to create a large-scale competitive environment for the high school fishing teams and clubs in South Carolina. The Palmetto Boat Center College Tournament Trail was established in the fall of 2020 and has rapidly expanded to a regional trail drawing participants from South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee.
High school bass fishing has exploded, with the PBC Tournament trail providing a platform for high school anglers to gain access to college coaches and recruiters with the end result in many cases being a college bass fishing scholarship, according to Tournament Weigh Master Rob Daniels.
Coach Mark Stone from the Wren Bass Fishing Team said, “The PBC Trail is a great outlet for these young men and women to get out and showcase their talent. Not everyone is cut out for baseball, football or basketball. So, this trail gives them a chance to be part of a team on a smaller scale and gives them that sense of accomplishment. Hats off to Marty Walker and the PBC team for all that they do.”
The event is sponsored by Palmetto Boat Center, Academy Sports & Outdoors, Shimano Fishing, Nitro Performance Bass Boats, Phoenix Bass Boats, Tracker Off Road, Mercury Marine, Trick Step, Visit Anderson and Anderson County Parks & Recreation Department.
For more information on the tournament trail, contact Marty Walker at 864-561-2026, martyw@palmettoboatcenter.com.
Photos courtesy of Visit Anderson.
