LAKE HAVASU, Ariz. >> Jason Gentle and Cooper Goff of the Lake County Fishing Club were on the verge of winning the High School Fishing Western Conference Championship on Saturday at Lake Havasu. They brought a five-fish limit of 17.25 pounds to the scales and were atop the leader board with just one team left to weigh in.
That one team, Taj White and Nathan Cummings of the Phoenix High School Bassmasters, did weigh in and they edged out Gentle and Goff, both of Kelseyville High School, for the championship with a five-fish weight of 18.01 pounds.
White-Cummings and Gentle-Goff were the only teams in the running for the title as the third-place twosome had only 12.41 pounds.
Two other Lake County teams placed sixth and seventh, respectively. Nathan Sneed and Colton Goetjen of Upper Lake High School were sixth overall with a five-fish limit of 10.9 pounds. Right behind them in seventh place was the Clear Lake High School team of Sheldon Reese and Thomas Humphrey with 10.77 pounds.
Adult boaters for the high school fishermen, who are not allowed to drive their own boat, were Dick Wells for the Gentle-Goff team, Gunnar Stanton for the Sneed-Goetjen team and Jimmy Reese for the Reese-Humphrey team.
It was the first time fishing at Lake Havasu for many members of the Lake County Fishing Club.
