By CAM Staff
Wow, what a great season for the Seminole Junior Anglers. This Central Florida group of High Schoolers had so many teams that finished in the Top 20 at most every event of this years’ season that there are just too many to list. Finishing on top of all the Bass Nation High School Bass Series is the Seminole Jr. Anglers “Team of the Year” Davis and Bryce DiMauro (brothers). These brothers seem to catch big bags of fish at every event, never finishing below 14th all season. Winning events on both Lake Okeechobee and most recently on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes, hosted at Lake Toho for the 2019 High School State Championship and the deciding event for the Bass Nation High School Team of the Year!
The Toho event brought cloudy, rainy, difficult conditions and lots of wind, but the brothers worked their way to catching a 21 lb. bag on day one followed by an even better day 2 with over 23 lbs., competing against over 120 teams. Davis and Bryce walked away with the “Team of the Year” title as well as a birth to the Bass Nation High School National Championship this summer on Kentucky Lake in Tennessee, as well as the FLW World High school Finals in Alabama on Lake Pickwick. Over 300 plus – two angler teams will be competing on the Nations’ largest High School Bass Fishing platform for the title of High School “Worlds Champs”! These brothers are no newcomers to success, finishing 1st and 2nd for the previous 2 seasons while fishing with Team Sportfishing Association, fishing in the same boat but against each other for points at each of several events. Davis (17yrs) a High School Junior and Bryce (14yrs) in 8th grade attend a hybrid school at International Community School and are also home schooled by their parents. This gives them the chance to work on schoolwork when the fish aren’t biting. They give lots of credit to their success to their wonderful parents for getting them out fishing and into the outdoors for as long as they both can remember. Their father has also been their Team Captain for this season’s events. Teams must have a boat Captain to drive the boat, but they are not allowed to fish themselves, help with netting a bass, or operation of the trolling motor on the front deck unless a case of emergency. They can offer suggestions on what to do or baits to use or techniques, Captains just can’t wet a fishing line. The boys also give credit to Captains Nate Bloom, Bobby Blakewell Jr. and one of their Dad’s best friends Craig Mathews. The pair have worked hard prepping for their events by getting on the water for a few days before the events and almost always the weekend prior for a day or two. Getting to know the lakes, cover, depth and types of structure and trying to establish a pattern on what the fish are doing or feeding cycles has been key to their success. Davis the older brother works at Bitter’s Bait and Tackle in Longwood a few days a week, so Bryce and his Dad go and try to find some fish willing to bite. The brothers like most don’t always get along or agree on what bait or where they should be fishing but both agreed when speaking with them that both complement each other with their own strengths. Bryce said that Davis is really good at the flipping technique while Davis said his brother’s strength comes from figuring out what other ways or locations, he can catch keepers fishing in the same area, but doing something different than his brother.
Some may say they are lucky, as we all know the “Fishing God’s” are looking down on all us anglers but the brothers have surely proved that they can put them in the boat and bring them to the scales even if luck has something to do with getting the bites they need. The competition at this level gets better each year as the local programs and anglers get better with time and experience on the water at different lake venues. Some teams do better on one lake or another, but this pair of brothers have caught nice bags of bass at nearly all of this season’s events from north Florida’s Lake Talquin, Central Harris Chain, Kissimmee Chain and down south on Lake Okeechobee and Lake Istokpoga. The best thing is that they have one more school year to fish as a (brother) team before Davis graduates and heads off to college leaving brother Bryce to find a new team partner. Given Bryce’s talent, record and years of success I think he probably won’t have a problem finding someone who wants to be his partner, the problem will be deciding from several anglers that want to fish with him.
To say these brothers have a had a terrific season would be understatement. Having won the High School State Championship, local “Team of the Year” and Bass Nation High School “Team of the Year” is as good as it gets…next for the brothers? Top 10 at the National events this summer would be a great ending to a killer season!
If you would like to help support these up and coming next generation of anglers and stewards of our Florida waterways and fisheries, please contact Coach Jason Foss seminolejranglers@gmail.com or Phil Wolf phillip@coastalanglermagazine.com. It has been a pleasure helping the Junior Anglers program grow over the last several years. Your support is needed – it costs over $2000 per team to go to the National events – every dollar helps. Thanks to our annual supporters and business sponsors, we can’t get there without your help