CARSON FALK WINS BASSMASTER HIGH SCHOOL TOURNEY

Carson Falk, left, and team member Trey Blackmon III, right, fishing as Capital City Bass Hunters, with guide Brent Randall, center.

SPECIAL TO THE SUN

DAYTON, Tenn. — A beautiful spring day on famed Chickamauga Lake became even better for the Florida team of Carson Falk and Trey Blackmon III of Capital City Bass Hunters. In front of a large crowd, the dynamic duo was able weigh a five-bass limit of 25 pounds, 3 ounces to best a huge field of talented high school anglers at the 2023 Strike King Bassmaster High School Series at Chickamauga Lake presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors.
Although it was an eight-hour drive from the Tallahassee, Fla., area, the pair was able to find water that looked and fished similarly to Lake Seminole, their home lake.
“We started off on a bed fish this morning that we figured was around 4 1/2 pounds but we eventually had to leave it,” said 15-year-old Falk. “We stayed in the lower portion of the lake all day because it just set up perfectly for what we’re best at. It had clear water, stumps and grass which is a perfect combination.”
During practice, Falk and Blackmon used large swimbaits like the Megabass Magdraft and Bass Mafia Daingerous. The big bass would follow the swimbaits out of the grass and as soon as the bass showed themselves, the anglers would quickly get the swimbaits back into the boat and mark a GPS waypoint in order to return on tournament day.
“They were eating big crappie while also spawning on those grass flats,” Falk said. “We used your typical grass baits such as bladed jigs to catch the fish that previously followed our big baits. The conditions lined up perfectly and we were able to fish with our favorite baits and had a blast.”