James Lane (left) and Jackson Daugherty of the Kingston Fishing Team.
BY DAVE LINK
James Lane and Jackson Daugherty of the Kingston Fishing Team didn’t wait for all the weigh-ins after the Tennessee Bass Nation No. 5 State Open event April 26, also known as the Battle of Chickamauga Lake.
They had big plans for later.
It was senior prom night for the co-anglers, Lane at Kingston High and Daugherty at Oliver Springs.
Their itinerary: fish the Battle of Chick, head their separate ways for proms, and maybe meet up later that night.
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Without pre-fishing the tournament, Daugherty and Lane went to a spot on Chickamauga they knew about, fish there until noon, and were the first boat for weigh-ins at Dayton Boat Dock.
“We’d fished (Chickamauga) before,” Lane said. “We didn’t get to practice, and we knew there should be fish (at the spot). We were hoping we’d go and catch a few off of it, and it turned into something more than just a few. It was epic.”
Their winning catch for the high school division had the five-bass limit weighing 25.84 pounds and included a 9.74-pounder, all largemouth bass.
And they hardly burned any gasoline doing it.
“Really, we only fished one spot,” Daugherty said. “We stayed in one spot the whole time we were out on the water. It was just a spot that we knew had big fish in it and we knew that it was good around this time of year.
“We didn’t practice at all. We had no idea. We just ran to the spot. We kind of knew what was up a little bit, and we just happened to get on a little bit of a topwater bite.”
They weren’t the only ones on the bite.
Trig McHone and Tripp Jackson of Meigs County Junior Bass had the biggest bag of the day, weighing in 26.81 pounds, including a 10.37-pounder, and winning the juniors (middle school) division.
Daugherty and Lane weren’t surprised by the big catch.
“They have a live score tracker,” Daugherty said. “We saw they had 26 and a 10 (pounder). Right now is definitely the time to catch ’em.”
Lane and Daugherty won the high school division by more than 3 pounds. Lane’s grandfather, Ron Bean, was their boat captain.
LANE: “KINDA STRESSFUL”
When they left Chickamauga, Daugherty and Lane had no idea they had the winning bag.
“We didn’t wait. We left,” Daugherty said. “James had pictures, and I had to get ready (for prom). My dad (Ryan Daugherty) went back down there during weighs ins and picked up the plaques and checks. Later, me and James met up again and we got pictures with the plaques and our prom suits.”
Finishing second in the high school division was Kaden Casey and Collin French of Montgomery County (22.53 pounds, 6.58-pounder), followed by third-place Jake Anderson and Ayden Smith of Bledsoe County (20.05 pounds, 6.87-pounder), fourth-place Peyton Bishop and Logan McDowell of Meigs County (18.88 pounds, 9.62-pounder), and fifth-place Hayden Barnett and Camdyn Cranfill of Kingston (18.63 pounds, 4.87-pounder).
In the juniors, Hunter Smith and Epic Blankenship of Bledsoe County Junior Bass were second (21.27 pounds, 7.75-pounder), Braxton Davis and Gracen Davis of Whitwell Junior Bass were third (18.23 pounds, 8.33-pounder), and Summitt Blankenship and Onry Blankenship of Bledsoe County Junior Bass were fourth (15.70 pounds).
Lane said they used a variety of baits for the winning catch.
“We caught ’em on flipping a beaver, caught ’em on topwater, some on chatter bait, some on a wacky rig sinko on a spinning reel and a spinner bait,” Lane said.
HOT SPOT, BIG BASS
Lane caught the 9.74-pounder at about 8 a.m., and by about 9, he and Daugherty had their limit.
They culled their bass two or three times, staying in the same general area.
Daugherty had a premonition on their big bass.
“We’re fishing the spot, and we came around a point,” Lane said. “It had a grass line on it, and after that grass line, it was more of a shell bed. Jackson was like, ‘Why don’t you make a long cast on that point?’
“I made a super long cast up over the point. I get it about halfway, I’m working that topwater about halfway over it, and that 9.74, it just kind of sucked the bait under.”
Lane had no idea how big it was.
“At first, I thought it was like a 4- or 5-pounder,” he said, “so I just kind of started horsing it in. Well, it jumps, and both of our hearts just stopped. We’re like, ‘Oh, my gosh, that’s like a 10-pound bass.’”
And their net almost wasn’t big enough.
“It took a couple of minutes for him to get it in,” Daugherty said. “It barely fit in the net. The moment we got it in the boat, we were just ecstatic.”
The bite didn’t let up.
“After we caught that one,” Daugherty said, “that’s when it really started picking up. We really caught our limit in like 30 minutes after that happened. We just went back and forth on the bank. It was about a 100-yard stretch, back and forth. It was nuts.”
Their next-biggest bass was a 7- or 8-pounder, also caught by Lane.
“I filled out the rest of the limit, but he caught the (two) big ones,” Daugherty said.
Although they go to different high schools, Lane and Daugherty are longtime friends. They won’t forget their senior proms and the day on Chickamauga Lake.
“That tournament was awesome,” Lane said. “It was an experience, for sure.”