Western Outdoor Times - Times Spent Outdoors: Priceless!

Christian Borucki and Brandon Koon of the Bad Bass Fishing Club in Phoenix won the second-ever Arizona High School Fishing State Championship at Lake Pleasant on Saturday, April 6 by weighing-in five bass totaling 12.08 pounds.

These two talented high school anglers targeted mostly post-spawn bass on what started out as a windy day at Lake Pleasant. Their coach and mentor for the event was Mike McFarland, a veteran tournament angler and guide.

Borucki and Koon will advance to the FLW Outdoors/Bass Federation High School Fishing Conference Championship that will be held in conjunction with the National Guard FLW College Fishing Conference Championship.

Cactus Shadows, Mountain Shadows

Ironically, these two champion teammates attend rival schools, at least when it comes to traditional sports. Borucki goes to Cactus Shadows High School in Cave Creek and Koon goes to Mountain Shadows High School in Phoenix.

Koon is rapidly making a name for himself — he and his former teammate, Thomas Chambers, won the 2011 National High School Fishing Championship.

For the Arizona championship last weekend, there were 16 two-person high school teams (grades 9-12) from throughout Arizona participating in this major state championship, which was conducted by the Bass Federation in partnership with FLW Outdoors and the Arizona Bass Federation.

All state championship participants qualify for the largest event in high school fishing, the 2012 High School Fishing World Finals where they can compete for thousands of dollars in college scholarship and prizes.

Ultimately, A $5,000 Scholarship

Each team that qualifies for a conference and/or national championship will receive a travel allowance to help offset expenses. Ultimately, the national champions will each receive a $5,000 scholarship to use at whatever university they choose.

Launched in 2011 by FLW and The Bass Federation Student Angler Federation, High School Fishing is the largest student-angler initiative in history. It offers students at more than 23,000 high schools across the United States and Canada the opportunity to compete in club, state, conference and national bass tournaments for the chance to earn college scholarships. Visit http://www.highschoolfishing.org for additional information.