Bailey Fain, Trevor St. John and Brandon Card

LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF) – Nobody spent as much time preparing for the 4th annual Brandon Card High School and College BASS Open as did the duo of Trevor St. John (JR/La Follette) and Bailey Fain (JR/Lenoir City).    The tournament was held on Norris Lake which is only a stone’s throw away from St. John’s backyard, and less than an hour away from the hometown of Fain. Thanks to the close commute, the team was able to practice almost every weekend leading up to the tournament and were rewarded for their efforts as they bested 40 teams to earn a 1st place finish.

Experiencing great success on Norris in the past and putting in countless hours on the water, the team knew that their best bet to come away with the win was to stay deep all day. Playing the deep game is always somewhat of a gamble on Norris because it means a decreased number of bites. However, the lack of numbers out deep is made up for with the size of the fish that live there. Keeping that in mind, the duo positioned their boat in 40 plus foot of water all day and only received five keeper bites, but they were the right ones. Their five-fish limit came in weighing 14.35 pounds which bested the second-place team by less than half a pound. The weight broke an event record as it was the heaviest stringer weighed in either the College or High School division in all 4 years of having the tournament. St. John added after the victory, “It meant a lot to me to win this event because it’s my home town. I learned how to fish on this lake. To win in front of my family and friends feels amazing.”

For the Lions next event, they will travel to Many, Louisiana to fish Toledo Bend for the first Collegiate Bassmaster Open of 2020.  (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 12/12/2019-6AM)