Gilbert, SC (Paul Kirby) – Two Gilbert High School students recently returned to South Carolina from La Crosse, Wisconsin as the winners of the 2020 High School Bass Fishing World Championship. Tucker Veronee and Landon Gramling fished the tournament on the upper Mississippi River in late June of this year.
The two teens have a natural love of fishing according to Tucker’s father Chris. He is their mentor, biggest fan, and supporter. After accompanying the two boys to Wisconsin, he said in a video interview with the Carolina Crazy Outdoors YouTube channel, “To be able to sit in the boat and watch these two guys, which by the way are the best two guys in the world in high school fishing, we proved it,” was something he’d never forget. Chris credited the boys’ passion and dedication to honing their skills and the amount of time they spend practicing as a big part of why they are improving every day. “They love it, they eat sleep and breathe bass fishing,” he said.
Chris also credits the boys’ attitudes, behavior, and discipline as a factor that took them to the top. He said that’s why they have the resiliency to work through even the toughest days on the water. He said they’re both just good boys and that Landon is also like a part of his family.
The pair practice bass fishing every moment they can trying to learn new techniques that will improve their skills, according to Chris. He said that last Easter morning, his family was preparing to go to church. When they were about to leave, he looked toward Lake Murray and saw Tucker in his good clothes on the boat ramp at their home fishing. “It’s just what they do,” Chris said. “When they’re not fishing, they’re watching it on YouTube or on the internet, that’s just what they do,” he concluded.
The boys certainly had to prove their resiliency in Wisconsin against tough times. Their first day on the water, they ran up on submerged rocks and ruined their boat’s propeller. Having to stop and address the broken boat made them weigh in just what they had in the boat before the accident. Their day’s catch put them in a dismal spot that was close to the 150th place. Still, they persevered and fished on.
Another day, the trolling motor on their boat went down. Even though that put them at a disadvantage, they fished on until they could have it repaired. Landon admitted at that point he had little hope of climbing to the top of the leader board.
In the final two days, the boys were on the fish. They had an 11-pound, 9-ounce weigh in on the next to the last day. On the final day, they had drawn close to the win, but other anglers had some good bags of fish too. When Landon and Tucker finally weighed in after waiting near the end of the line of boats, their fish, which was about 9 pounds, put them over the top for the win!
According to the website highschoolfishing.org, the win earned Tucker and Landon a variety of lucrative scholarship offers, including a $56,000 scholarship offer from Bethel University in Tennessee, $120,000 scholarship offer from Simpson University in California, $100,000 scholarship offer from Kentucky Christian University in Kentucky, and $12,000 cash back-up Scholarship offer from The Bass Federation (TBF) to any college or trade school of their choice should they choose not to accept any of the above offers.
More about the boys and their fishing techniques and skills can be seen in the attached video by just clicking on it.
