Utah FLW Youth - TBF Anglers

FLW Youth State Champs 15-18 11-14

At 15, Zach Alexander is a sly veteran of the bass-fishing tournament world. Zach is in Hot Springs, Ark., to compete in the 2007 National Guard Junior World Championship this weekend.

This is the fifth time Zach has represented Utah in a national youth bass-fishing tournament.

"It is just like the other times; my goal is to do as well as I can and be happy with my effort," said Zach, who starts high school at Olympus High shortly after his return from Arkansas.

Joining Zach, who will fish in the 15-18 age group, is 13-year-old Lehi resident Trevor Hansen.

Trevor won the 11-to-14 age bracket during the Utah Jr. Bass Federation tournament trial and is making his first trip to nationals.

"The competition was pretty intense. I was going up against a lot of good people," Trevor said, speaking recently on his cell phone while fishing for largemouth bass at Utah Lake. "I'm way pumped and I can't wait. It is going to be sweet."

The Junior World Championship is being sponsored by The Bass Federation in conjunction with the $2 million Forrest Wood Cup Championship.

Youth anglers from 46 states will compete for a total of $30,000 in scholarships. Zach has already put scholarship money away, earning seventh-, second-, 11th- and 12th-place finishes in previous championships.

He would have won the tournament in which he finished second, but decided not to weigh a fish that would have given him the championship because he hooked the bass on the side of the head and not in the mouth.

Zach and his dad left Salt Lake last week to take advantage of a rule change that allows youth anglers to fish the tournament lake up to five days before the competition.

"One of the biggest issues is always being unfamiliar with the water. It is good to be able to go early and get some practice time in," he said. Both anglers said they would do their best to represent all the people who help make the youth tournament happen.

"I appreciate all the people who helped make the junior tournament happen. The boat captains sacrifice their time so we can go and have a good time," Hansen said.

Written by: brettp@sltrib.com

TBF/FLW Youth Go Out in Fashion

The youth of Utah held its last and final qualifier for the year June 30th at Hyrum Reservoir with a field of twenty three kids�..and to seven of those kids, the day meant everything as they shown up with gear in hand and looks of steel on their faces as they prepared to lay it all on the line in the quest of becoming the State Champ in their individual age groups.

Five youth members (Trevor Hansen, Ryan Mezenen, Colten Bodily, Ben Bodily and Justin Elnicky) in the 11-14 age group were in the running for the title, while just two members (Zach Alexander and Casey Storey) in the 15-18 age group battled it out to see which two kids would be crowned king of the bass fishing world in the state��who would it be ???????

As the kids took to the water it didn�t take long to figure out that the fishing was going to be extremely tough as temperatures pushed well into the upper 90s which has proven over and over again to take a toll on these young anglers as well as the fish themselves, but as always��someone always figures out a way to dig down a little deeper and go that extra mile. For the 11-14 age group, that young man was �The Big Guy� (Corbie) Corbin Davis as he dug out two slabs at just over two pounds (2lbs 5oz) to steal the show and the first place trophy. Right behind the big guy was Trevor Hansen, (2lbs 3oz) who finished just two ounces behind the leader to take 2nd place for the day, but more importantly ad another 99 points to his near perfect season ��totaling 199 points and resting at the top of the leader board only to be crowned �KING� of 11-14 age group. Corry Higgins (2lbs 2oz) trailed by just an ounce himself to take the 3rd place trophy.

Oh and what�s this�..do we have someone new at the top of the hill for the 15-18 age group ???? NO-WAY says Zach as once again Zach Alexander (3lbs 14oz) pulls away from the pack with a perfect 200 point season, 1st place for the day, and most important�..�KING� of the 15-18 age group in the state. Travis Richardson (3lbs 4oz) followed up with 2nd place and Sunny Hawk (2lbs 8oz) finished things off by taking 3rd place.

As we close out the 2007 season�..a very special thanks goes out to all�..kids, parents, grandparents, boat captains, state parks officials, spectators and sponsors for another great year.

Congratulations to our two finalists �..Trevor Hansen (11-14) and Zach Alexander (15-18) Way to go guys��and good luck in Arkansas.

National Sponsors: Wal-Mart, Ranger Boats, Army National Guard, Kellogg's, BP, Castrol, Fuji Film, Yamaha, Evinrude, Stren, Land-o-Lakes, Pure Fishing, M&M Mars, Pedigree, and Chevrolet.

TBF/Local Sponsors: Lowrance, Ranger Cup, Plano Molding, Solar Bat, Sportsman�s Warehouse, Berkley, Fish Tech Outfitters, Robertson�s Marine, ARAMark-Lake Powell, Marine Max, Classic Choice Catering, The Trophy Corner, JC Expeditions

Utah Jr. Bass Federation Sponsors: Sportsmen�s Warehouse, Maniac Custom Lures, Powell Rods, Yamamoto Custom Baits, West Marine, Tru-tungsten

Always remember��Keep a Sharp Hook and Don�t Forget to Take a Kid Fishing ! ! ! !

Sincerely,

Roger Mezenen
Youth Tournament Director

Excitement at the Pelican & Steinaker Tournament

If I can wrap things up �.well, let�s say in three words, it would be �Excitement, Excitement, Excitement�

But let�s not start the wrap up just yet�.actually, things are just getting warmed up.

For starters, kids that hung around the docks Friday night caught just a glimpse of what was possible on the small body of water as a young seventeen year old local from Vernal brought a beautiful 7lb plus large mouth to the docks for all to see. Everyone around stood amazed as the young local proved just what kind of sportsman he was as he leaned over and released that fish for another day�..�Awesome� was the word ��. and a very special thanks to Bubba for sharing it with us.

With that, twenty youth members of the one and only �Utah Jr Bass Federation� took to the waters Saturday morning June 9th on Pelican Lake for a chance to latch onto one of those big hogs themselves��.and Taylor Hansen was the one to show his stuff as he brought in a four and a half pounder to not only claim big fish of the day, but big fish of the tournament. Zach Alexander turned up the heat and was burning on all cylinders as he proved that it�s consistency that pays off. Zach carried a 3 pound average to the scales as he brought in a five fish limit that tipped the scales at 15 lbs 5 oz. Zach pulled in another four fish on day two at Steinaker to tally up at 21 lbs. 3 oz. to claim victory and the 1st place trophy. Casey Storey knows as well that consistency pays off as he brought in over 4 lbs day one and another 4 lbs on day two to tally up at 8 lbs. 11 oz. to sneak past Sunny Hawk and take 2nd place. Sunny Hawk raked em in on day one at Pelican weighing over 8 lbs. but struggled at Steinaker on day two allowing Casey a chance to slip past, however Sunny latched on to the 3rd place trophy with pride.

In the younger age group (11-14) it was Trevor Hansen with the hot hand as he brought in a whopping 7 lbs 8 oz. at Pelican knowing he wasn�t going to be able to stick around for day two. As luck would have it for Trevor, his weight held and will be receiving the trophy for the 1st place honors. Ben Bodily says step aside guys�..I may be small but I swing a big hammer as he pulled in almost seven pounds himself to tally up 6 lbs 14 oz. and take the 2nd place trophy. Older brother Colton Bodily says I�ll give you that one Little Brother but don�t expect any more as Colton brought in 5 lbs 12 oz. himself to the scales to clinch the deal and the 3rd place trophy.

So��What�s all the Excitement, Excitement, Excitement �.all about ???? If you haven�t noticed just yet��It�s anybodies ball game�. For the first time in a long time it�s going down to the wire and nothing has been decided just yet. With a three way tie for first place in the 11-14 age group and a two way tie in the 15-18 age group, excitements in the air and it all boils down to the final tournament which will be held June 30th at Hyrum State Park��will we see �YOU� there�Hope so  and good luck to everyone�..as I�m sure they will all be swinging for the fences.

Again, a very special �Thank You� goes out to all the boat captains for supporting the youth and volunteering their time, efforts and dollars. Thanks to: Barry McCormick, Mike Elnicky, Adrian Alexander, Jim Johnson, Jess Atwood, Tom Schulz, Ted Gardner, Jarrod Storey, Scott Hausman and Bill Bailey.

Always remember��Keep a Sharp Hook and Don�t Forget to Take a Kid Fishing ! ! ! !

Sincerely,

Roger Mezenen
Youth Tournament Director

2007 East Canyon and Echo Youth Tournament

The Utah Bass Federation kicked off the 2007 TBF/FLW tournament year for the youth program with a two day event on two Utah lakes, East Canyon May 19th and Echo Reservoir May 20th and excitement was in the air as many new faces flooded the playing field Saturday morning at a 5 A.M. kick off meeting to get things rolling.

The smallies at East Canyon had a rude awakening Saturday morning as several of our young fishermen tore the covers off and ripped them out of their spawning beds for a short boat ride to the weigh in. (DAY 1) Ryan Mezenen (5lbs 15oz) reeled in three fish throughout the day to take the lead by only 7oz. over Alex Fishback (5lbs 8oz) who brought in three fish of his own. Cody Pierson (3lbs) followed close behind and looked forward to day two with hopes of giving the other kids in the 11 to 14 age group a run for their money.

(Day 1) For the 15 to 18 year olds, the seasoned angler Sunny Hawk ripped lips tallying over twelve pounds (12lbs 1oz) to take the lead over 4 � Time Champion Zach Alexander, who brought in a full limit himself including �Big Fish� of the day for a total of 10lbs and 9oz. Casey Storey (8lbs 5oz) and Zach Pierson (6lbs 5oz) followed close behind as well in hopes of putting some pressure on the leaders come day 2.

(Day 2) Ryan Mezenen kept his focus clear and wrapped things up in record time for the 11 to 14 age group by bagging a full limit of fish at Echo in just 45 minutes of fishing time to bring his total weight to 16lbs 3oz. and taking home the 1st place trophy. Alex Fishback hung on to 2nd place with a total of 5lbs 8oz with Colton Bodily latching on to the last trophy for 3rd place and a total weight of 4lbs 4oz.

(Day 2) Casey Storey said�.� I�ll take that 3lb 3oz Big Fish�, as he threw it in with four more for a full limit totaling 17lbs 2oz. for a come from behind situation only to take the lead and the 1st place trophy for the 15 to 18 age group. Zach Alexander sneaked past best friend Sunny Hawk as well with another full limit of fish and a total weight of 16lbs 5oz for the 2nd place trophy. Sunny may have struggled day 2, but had enough weight at 14lbs 4oz. to take the 3rd place trophy and give a fair warning ��I�ll be back�.

A beautiful weekend and the best group of kids possible brought the first tournament to an end��.We look forward to the seeing you at the next event, which is scheduled for June 9th and 10th at Pelican Lake (Day 1) and Steinaker Reservoir (Day 2).

A very special �Thank You� goes out to all the boat captains for supporting the youth and volunteering their time, efforts and dollars. Thanks to: Cliff Sackett, Mike Risen, Rick Culver, Curt Cochran, Joe Cole, Dave Wilbert, Adrian Alexander, Roy Madsen, Barry McCormic, Nick Ferman, Travis Bodily, Greg Kemp, Mike Elnicky, Kent Hale, Alex Favolli, Shane Hammer, Howard Harmston and Jody Wise.

Always remember��Keep a Sharp Hook and Don�t Forget to Take a Kid Fishing ! ! ! !

Thanks,

Youth Tournament Director,

Roger Mezenen

The 2007 kick off of the 2007 TBF/FLW youth tournament year