COOKSON, Okla. — There have been days when Connor Gartman and Blake Starr believed they were in line to win a tournament, only to finish second or third to a team with a kicker bass. The Arkansas Youth Anglers duo sealed the deal this time at the Bassmaster High School Series tournament at Lake Tenkiller, landing a five-bass limit weighing 18 pounds, 3 ounces. They anchored their winning catch with a 5-pound largemouth.
“This feels amazing,” Gartman said. “I’ve been one good bite away in many tournaments. We caught our kicker today, and we had four good ones to go with it. We did it the way we like to — power fishing. It was windy and cloudy, perfect conditions for it.”
Fellow Arkansas Youth Anglers Tayson Hathorn and Tristin Hathorn finished second in the 78-boat field with 16-7 and landed the Big Bass of the Day, a 5-2 bass. Cale Compton and Adam Reed from the Moore High School Fishing Club finished third with 16-3.
Clouds and wind prevailed in eastern Oklahoma on Sunday, but plenty of bass were caught on Lake Tenkiller. Forty-seven teams caught a limit of bass during the one-day tournament and nearly 699 pounds were brought to the scales.
Hailing from central Arkansas, Gartman and Starr have been fishing together since the seventh grade but had never fished Lake Tenkiller prior to this week. After spending plenty of time looking at Google Earth, it didn’t take long for them to get comfortable.
“We’ve gotten comfortable with being uncomfortable,” Starr said. “This week was the best practice we’ve ever had. We had 19 or 20 pounds in practice and today it just happened for us.”
Two areas with prominent points produced the bulk of their weight during the tournament. They tossed a ½-ounce football jig paired with either a Strike King Rage Craw or a Strike King Menace trailer, but their best bites came using a 6-inch Megabass Magdraft swimbait. Gartman and Starr would position the boat so one of them could toss the football jig into deeper water and the other could throw the swimbait in shallow water.
“We kept the boat in 14 feet of water,” Starr said. “We tried to position it so we could parallel the bank with the Magdraft and then get the football jig into the deeper water. It really worked out. We were on as windy of a bank as we could get with as big of rock as we could find.”
“With that Magdraft, I had it in no more than 5 feet of water,” Gartman added.
While they caught quality smallmouth in practice, the duo landed mostly largemouth on tournament day. They filled out their limit around 10 a.m., which allowed them to pick up their “big-fish baits” later in the day. The Magdraft produced a 3-pounder and their 5-pounder, which rounded out their bag and lifted them to victory.
The Top 8 teams punched their tickets to the 2025 Bassmaster High School National Championship at Clarks Hill Reservoir, which is scheduled for July 31-Aug. 2. Teams will have one final chance to qualify at Buggs Island in Virginia on May 4.
2025 Bassmaster High School Series Tournament at Lake Tenkiller 3/30-3/30
Standings
Angler Club/School Pts
1. Connor Gartman - Blake Starr Arkansas Youth Anglers 0
Day 1: 5 18-03 Total: 5 18-03
2. Tayson Hathorn - Tristin Hathorn Arkansas Youth Anglers 0
Day 1: 5 16-07 Total: 5 16-07
3. Cale Compton - Adam Reed Moore HS Fishing Club 0
Day 1: 5 16-03 Total: 5 16-03
4. Porter Morrison - Catholic High School Fishing 0
Day 1: 5 15-10 Total: 5 15-10
5. Jace Hannon - Parker Eubanks Eagles Fishing 0
Day 1: 5 15-07 Total: 5 15-07
6. Brayden Rivest - Grace Olsen Off the Hook Jr Bassmasters - IL 0
Day 1: 5 14-12 Total: 5 14-12
6. Carl Robbins - Logan Taulbee Tahlequah Sequoyah High School 0
Day 1: 5 14-12 Total: 5 14-12
8. Griffin Ralph - Grayson Goss Lakeside Rams Bass Club 0
Day 1: 5 14-05 Total: 5 14-05
9. Augie Precht - Miles Peterson Iowa Youth Fishing League High S 0
Day 1: 5 14-04 Total: 5 14-04
9. Dylan Sorrells - Andrew Waters Hp Bass Team 0
Day 1: 5 14-04 Total: 5 14-04
11. Presley Lannom - Mt. Juliet High School - TN 0
Day 1: 5 13-12 Total: 5 13-12
12. Colson Hayes - Cade Shaffer Northeastern Oklahoma Hs Bass Cl 0
Day 1: 5 13-10 Total: 5 13-10
13. Caden Ball - William Kuzemka Gloria Deo High School 0
Day 1: 5 13-09 Total: 5 13-09
14. Hooper Harris - Ben Barstad Hp Bass Team 0
Day 1: 5 13-02 Total: 5 13-02
15. Ty Anderson - Kainan Baker Owasso High School 0
Day 1: 5 13-00 Total: 5 13-00
15. Drew Turner - Mason Bright Sapulpa Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 5 13-00 Total: 5 13-00
17. Tucker Oakes - Owen Hartman Batavia High School - IL 0
Day 1: 5 12-10 Total: 5 12-10
17. Jake Williams - Jeremy Nichols Mannford High School Bass Fishin 0
Day 1: 5 12-10 Total: 5 12-10
19. Kaden Dorman - Owen Nepple Iowa Youth Fishing League High S 0
Day 1: 5 12-06 Total: 5 12-06
19. Jack Varnado - Dylan Johnson Denham Springs High School 0
Day 1: 5 12-06 Total: 5 12-06
21. Brayden Tisdale - Reece Kilian Emerald Coast Youth Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 5 12-04 Total: 5 12-04
22. Zachary Stall - Lakes Community High School 0
Day 1: 5 12-03 Total: 5 12-03
23. Carson Holbert - Eagleton Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 5 12-02 Total: 5 12-02
24. Max Flatten - Sam Spies Glacial Lakes High School Bass F 0
Day 1: 5 11-15 Total: 5 11-15
25. Brody Brinson - Mt Juliet Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 5 11-13 Total: 5 11-13
25. Logan Parker - Hudson Howell Cherokee Bass Team 0
Day 1: 5 11-13 Total: 5 11-13
27. Kyler Harsh - Annabella Youngblood Sulphur Fishing Team - Sulphur H 0
Day 1: 5 11-11 Total: 5 11-11
28. Anderson Thrower - John Paul Nelson Vestavia Hills Rebel Anglers 0
Day 1: 5 11-09 Total: 5 11-09
29. Brooks Putnam - Daylin Doak Mt. Juliet High School - TN 0
Day 1: 5 11-07 Total: 5 11-07
30. Jase Hobbs - Brock Flanagan Inola High School Fishing 0
Day 1: 5 11-06 Total: 5 11-06
31. Bryce Steel - Drake Naylor Wagoner High School Bass Nation 0
Day 1: 5 11-05 Total: 5 11-05
32. Andy Evans - Jackson Cleveland Rogers County Bass Anglers 0
Day 1: 5 11-02 Total: 5 11-02
33. Parker Bilbrey - Tyler Thompson Monterey Anglers 0
Day 1: 5 11-00 Total: 5 11-00
33. Rhiauna Switzer - Abigail Panak Berryhill 1 0
Day 1: 5 11-00 Total: 5 11-00
35. Dierks Beck - Gavin Wecker Carthage High School 0
Day 1: 3 10-14 Total: 3 10-14
36. Caleb Mccord - Arkansas Youth Anglers 0
Day 1: 5 10-11 Total: 5 10-11
37. Michael Harris - Noah Unland Mt Juliet Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 5 10-09 Total: 5 10-09
38. Tristan Stewart - DJ Johnson Mt. Pleasant Junior Bass Team - 0
Day 1: 5 10-08 Total: 5 10-08
38. Nash Taylor - Kolby Michael Aybn Southern High School 0
Day 1: 5 10-08 Total: 5 10-08
40. Cody Torkleson - Maddox Houtman 0
Day 1: 5 10-07 Total: 5 10-07
41. Caleb Toubia - Isaac Toubia Kickback High School - KS 0
Day 1: 5 10-04 Total: 5 10-04
42. Joshua Burows - Brylee Williams Teurlings Rebel Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 5 10-00 Total: 5 10-00
43. Conner Balthis - Cooper Johnson Mannford High School - OK 0
Day 1: 5 09-13 Total: 5 09-13
43. Huntlee York - Colton Smith Arkansas Youth Anglers 0
Day 1: 5 09-13 Total: 5 09-13
45. Tate Turner - Hoover High School 0
Day 1: 5 09-11 Total: 5 09-11
46. Carson Robertson - Jack Major Northeastern Oklahoma Hs Bass Cl 0
Day 1: 4 09-11 Total: 4 09-11
47. Landon Gabby - Kolby Baker Marion High School Bass Fishing 0
Day 1: 5 09-09 Total: 5 09-09
48. Marshall Nesheim - Reece Loney Iowa Youth Fishing League High S 0
Day 1: 5 09-03 Total: 5 09-03
49. Brody Baber - Presley Cook Ark-La-Tex Bassmaster High Schoo 0
Day 1: 5 09-02 Total: 5 09-02
50. Dean Austin - Caleb Moore Off The Hook Jr. Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 4 08-15 Total: 4 08-15
51. Bryce Youngblood - Bodhi Trahan Sulphur Fishing Team - Sulphur H 0
Day 1: 4 08-12 Total: 4 08-12
52. Kutter Smith - Gradee Adair Northeastern Oklahoma Hs Bass Cl 0
Day 1: 2 08-03 Total: 2 08-03
53. Landon Guillory - Trenton Brashear Sulphur Fishing Team - Sulphur H 0
Day 1: 4 07-11 Total: 4 07-11
54. Franklin Mangrum - Kaden Mangrum Sulphur Fishing Team - Sulphur H 0
Day 1: 4 06-09 Total: 4 06-09
55. Fisher Tyler - Blake Ingram Arkansas Youth Anglers 0
Day 1: 2 06-09 Total: 2 06-09
56. Jacob Burkhead - Carter Berry Benton Panther Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 3 06-05 Total: 3 06-05
57. Daniel Lowhorn - Mt Juliet Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 2 06-01 Total: 2 06-01
58. Wyatt Crow - Seth Golin Lipscomb Academy 0
Day 1: 3 06-00 Total: 3 06-00
59. Gavin Burnett - Justin Ackel Sulphur Fishing Team - Sulphur H 0
Day 1: 3 05-00 Total: 3 05-00
60. Landon Parker - Jake Watson Dewitt High School Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 2 04-04 Total: 2 04-04
61. Carter Elliott - Tucker Robertson Meigs County High School Fishing 0
Day 1: 2 04-02 Total: 2 04-02
61. Conley Tyler - Tripp Martin Arkansas Youth Anglers 0
Day 1: 2 04-02 Total: 2 04-02
63. Zaydin Wooten - Jaxon Thomas Ark-La-Tex Bassmaster High Schoo 0
Day 1: 2 04-01 Total: 2 04-01
64. Mark Murdock - Kenneth Justice Rison Bass Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 1 04-00 Total: 1 04-00
65. Hayden Hatchel - Kelson Hamilton Northeastern Oklahoma Hs Bass Cl 0
Day 1: 2 03-10 Total: 2 03-10
66. PJ Mortenson III - Noah Mazzarisi Oregon Panthers 0
Day 1: 1 02-13 Total: 1 02-13
67. Isaac Garvin - Kaedon Roberts Arkansas Youth Anglers 0
Day 1: 1 02-10 Total: 1 02-10
68. James Stevens - Bo Jack Michigan A1 Anglers 0
Day 1: 1 01-11 Total: 1 01-11
69. Tj Akers - Austen Dixon Northeastern Oklahoma Hs Bass Cl 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
69. Liam Babbitt - Keegan Custar Owasso High School 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
69. Caleb Butts - Lucas Treat Inola High School Fishing 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
69. Jett Griswold - Landon Roach Oologah Talala Mustangs 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
69. Boone Hodson - Taven Fentress Northeastern Oklahoma Hs Bass Cl 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
69. Noah Kelsey - Owasso High School 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
69. Chance Lawrence - Eli Rogers Northeastern Oklahoma Hs Bass Cl 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
69. Jack Sharpe - Sumner County Bass Team - TN 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
69. Connor Strachan - Connor Fleming Bryant High School 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
69. Noah Wheeler - Northeast Wisconsin High School/ 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
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BIG BASS OF TOURN
Tayson Hathorn Elm Springs, AR 05-02 $0.00
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Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 47 287 698-15
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47 287 698-15