FISHING: NSM three-peats as Jackson County Fishing champ

North Sand Mountain fishing team will continue its reign as Jackson County fishing champ for another year.

NSM won the 2025 Jackson County Tournament, fished on Lake Guntersville out of the Goose Pond Colony ramp in Scottsboro last Saturday.

The Bison took the crown this season with a team score of 199, six points in front of runner-up Skyline and third place Pisgah. Skyline and Pisgah both posted 193 points, but the big-fish tiebreaker gave the Vikings the second spot.

NSM seniors Sadie Sanders and Avery Cooper, the team’s lone returning varsity anglers from a season ago, took the angler duo county championship. Sanders and Cooper, who this season became the second ever all-female angler duo team to win an Alabama Student Angler Bass Fishing Association Tournament,  caught five bass weighing 16.74 pounds, including the tournament’s biggest fish of 4.54 pounds.

NSM coach Jeremy Moore said the country tournament results were another “pleasant surprise” in season that began with some uncertainty due to the overall experience of the team. Despite that, the Bison have won four of the five ASABFA senior division tournaments they’ve fished thus far this season.

”This year has been a year of surprises and numerous firsts for the program,” Moore said. “The county tournament win is another pleasant surprise to an amazing season and only fitting that the senior girls once again lead the team with a first-place finish and won the big fish of the tournament in their last county tournament of their high school career. Winning the Jackson County Tournament was our last step before the ASABFA State Classic in May…we are currently leading in our division and we hope to carry this momentum to secure our first ASABFA State Championship.”

NSM’s Hank Schrimsher and Ella Holcomb finished second in the angler duo standings with five fish weighing 14.59 pounds (big fish of 3.61 pounds) while NSM’s Weston Butler and Jake Keener caught four fish totaling 9.77 pounds and Ainsley Kennedy and Madalynn Haswell caught two fish for 4.47 pounds.

Skyline’s Luke Baugh, fishing solo, finished fourth in the angler standings with five fish weighing 13.82 pounds, including the tournament’s second largest bass of 4.47 pounds. Cayden Smith finished fifth with five fish totaling 13.49 pounds and big fish of 4.14 pounds for the Vikings, and Landon Rousseau and Dalton Adkins had vie fishing weight 12.16 pounds while Brody Berninger and Jacob Baugh had five fish for 11.64 pounds.

Pisgah was led by third-place anger duo standings finisher Brycen Bernstein and Braxton Taylor, which weighed in five bass totaling 14.06 pounds. Also for the Eagles, Mason Thrasher and Britton Hancock caught five bass weighing 13.47 pounds, Eli Goins and Rhett Gant had three fishing weighing 6.81 pounds, Dax Beavers and Brody Blizzard had three fishing totaling 6.79 pounds, Tucker Johnson and Neyland Johnson had two fishing weighing 5.02 pounds and Khloe Miller and Sadie Harper had one fishing weighing 2.69 pounds.