Sevier County’s Chase McCarter (left) and Ty Trentham. (Photo: submitted).
By DAVE LINK
Chase McCarter knows what to do when the fishing gets tough.
All he needs to do is look back on Oct. 2 when he and Ty Trentham – two sophomores on Sevier County’s fishing team – weren’t having the greatest of bites on Percy Priest Lake near Nashville.
They were competing in a North Central Region tournament on the Tennessee BASS Nation Series, the governing body for high school fishing in the state.
“You just have to think like a bass, and that’s what we do,” McCarter said. “You just have to read the conditions and make adjustments. Sometimes things don’t work out. It’s always hard to do well. It’s never a for-sure thing in bass fishing. It’s always a gamble.”
McCarter and Trentham know from experience. They finished second in the Southeast Region of the Tennessee BASS Nation Series in 2020-21 and qualified for the nationals at Chickamauga Lake.
“Most kids on fishing teams don’t even make it to nationals,” said Doug Trentham, Ty’s father and a boat captain for the team. “For two freshmen to make it is pretty rare, but they don’t really realize it. They’re just two boys out there fishing, having a good time.”
Yet on Oct. 2, in their most recent tournament, McCarter and Trentham were left a bit frustrated by not getting a big bass – despite finishing fourth out of 75 boats. Each duo of fishermen per boat weighed their five biggest bass; McCarter and Trentham had five bass weighing a total of 9.92 pounds, but none were in the 3-pound range.
“We weren’t expecting to kill ’em,” Ty Trentham said. “It was about what we expected. Nobody was really catching good ones. We just didn’t get a big one. That was the problem. You can have five (bass), but you really need a big one to win.”
All the bass they landed were largemouth, caught using topwater lures.
McCarter said they didn’t lose any big fish.
“We caught everything that bit us,” he said. “We weren’t really getting a big bite. You just never know when you’re going to get a big bite, but when you do, you’ve got to get it in. That’s the key to winning, getting a big fish or two.”
Not always. Eli Pelham and Jon Hare of Cannon County caught the big bass of the day in the Oct. 2 tournament – a 5.42-pound largemouth – but it was their only bass of the day. They finished in 17th place with 5.42 pounds.
Corbin Bornstein and Wyatt Crow of Backwoods Bassin’ – a team out of the Nashville area – won with five bass weighing a total of 14.56 pounds. Their biggest bass was 3.3 pounds.
BECOMING TEAMMATES
McCarter and Trentham have fished most of their lives. So have their fathers – Chad McCarter and Doug Trentham — who became friends while at Sevier County High School.
Early in the 2020-21 season, McCarter was fishing with Garrett Hawkins, who also plays football for the Sevier County and decided to devote his time to that sport (although he’s still on the fishing team). After their two dads talked, Ty Trentham, who was already on Sevier County’s team, joined the boat with Chase McCarter for most of last year’s season.
And their fathers are still heavily involved.
One of the rules in high school fishing is an adult or parent must drive the boat; Chad McCarter often drives the boat, while Doug Trentham follows in a spectator sport. Both are registered as boat captains for Sevier County’s fishing team.
Sevier County has about a dozen members on the fishing team, but only one boat in which to fish tournaments.
“Our goal is to grow the team and make it bigger,” Doug Trentham said.
One other requirement is each school’s fishing team must have a coach who is employed by the school system. Chad McCarter and Doug Trentham have other fulltime jobs.
Sevier County has a new coach – Chad’s daughter and Chase’s sister, Rachel McCarter, employed by Sevier County Schools.
“Normally she was coming to tournaments anyway to watch Chase,” Doug Trentham said.
Once Ty and Chase got teamed together, they’re fishing clicked. They won back-to-back tournaments on Fort Loudon Lake last spring on their way to their way reaching the nationals.
And they had a blast.
“It’s fun pretty much all the time because it’s what you love to do,” Chase said. “Anytime you’re on the water, it’s a good time. Some days are better than others, but it’s always fun.”
Their fathers haven’t lost the fishing bug, either. They often take their sons for test runs at lakes prior to upcoming events and fish other non-high school events with their sons.
“Once we fished a high school tournament on a Saturday, drove for an hour or two, and fished a tournament at night,” Doug Trentham said.
WHAT’S AHEAD IN THE WATERS
Trentham and McCarter will fish about 25 tournaments during the high school season, which lasts the entire school year. However, they take a break from Dec. 4 to Feb. 26 due to with winter weather.
Their goal is another trip to the Junior National Championship, which is under the Bassmaster umbrella.
“After the year they had last year, it will be hard to have as good a year,” Doug Trentham said, “but as long as they’re steady, they’ll be fine. They could have an even better year.”
Trentham said he was told by a BASS Nation official that Ty and Chase are “on the radar” of nine colleges seeking fishing recruits.
Ty and Chase would both like to fish in college.
“I’m hoping to get a scholarship to college,” McCarter said. “I’d accept any offer. That’s my goal, but to do that, I’ll have to keep performing. My wish is for college fishing, and it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to get there.”
They could be on their way.
Their next Tennessee BASS Nation tournament is on South Holston Lake near Bristol.
“I hope I get to go to college for free through fishing,” Trentham said. “That’s the goal, really.”