To say that our local Seminole Junior Anglers High School Bass Teams are at the top of their game is a huge under statement! This young group of High School bass heads can catch the green fish all over the state of Florida. Most recently their top teams that qualified and fished in the State Championship held on Lake Seminole on the FL/GA boarder against more than 100 other teams. Last year they won the event, this time 2 teams finished in the top 10, Temperly/Grace and Lawrence/ Windham. The teams of Kenyon/Ashley and DiMauro/DiMauro finished in the top 20. With the points they received with their top 20 finish the team of brothers, Davis & Bryce DiMauro won the title of Florida BASS Nation High School Team of the Year. Winning Team of the Year once is a huge accomplishment fishing against 240 other High School teams but winning this covenant title back to back is huge and something that has never happened since the High School BASS Nation events have been taking place.
Congrats to this pair of brothers and fish catching anglers. These boys have caught them all over the state from Lake Okeechobee, Kissimmee Chain, Harris Chain of Lakes, St. Johns River, Lake Talquin and Lake Seminole. In 17 events this season the pair of brothers had 6 Top-20 finishes, 6 Top-10 finishes including wins at Lk. Okeechobee, St Johns River, and 2nd at Lk. Seminole. Bryce also caught the Biggest Bass of the season at the Harris Chain at a whopping 10.74 lbs. all while competing against 100 plus team per event. Davis is a senior this year while his younger brother Bryce will be a sophomore with 3 more years to compete at the High School level. Bryce wants to continue his education by attending college like his older brother Connor who is already fishing for Bryan College in Southern Tennessee. Connor recently finished in second place at the BASS Nation College Series while going to school with a paid scholarship for fishing. Now that Davis has graduated high school, he has decided to try his hand in the construction trade, training in plumbing and the HVAC trade.
The brothers’ recent finish at the State Championship qualifies them as well as the team of Grady Windham & Justin Lawrence to represent Team Florida at the BASS Nation High School National event scheduled in October of this year in Kentucky. Only a small handful of young anglers qualify for this prestigious event and to have 2 teams from the Seminole Jr. Angler is quite a feat, not to mention they have sent 2 or more teams the last 3 years. The National Event is a week-long event sending the 2 angler teams as well as their boat Captain to Kentucky for 3 days of practice and up to 4 days of competition and it’s very expensive. The teams are looking for sponsor help, if you, a business you know, or a club is willing to help with support or cash donations it takes about $2,500 per team. Please contact Coach Dave DiMauro at 407-353-4575 or Phil Wolf with Orlando Coastal Angler Magazine at 407-790-9515 – any donation amount will be a great help and dearly appreciated.
Seminole Jr. Anglers’ program has been providing a platform for High School Anglers since 2012 and our staff and local advertisers have been long time supporters of their group. The anglers are from serval local area High Schools in both Seminole and Orange Counties. They are taught how to compete at the next level of competition and are required to get involved in local community service projects and events. Annually the Jr. Anglers’ as well as their parents provide their services to the Gumbo Wars event held at Fish on Fire Restaurant where all proceeds raised are donated to local Youth fishing programs like theirs, water conservation efforts and college scholarship funds for Teen Sportfishing Assocation and F.O.W.A. (Florida Outdoor Writers Assocation). Seminole Jr. Anglers new season starts in August of this year and are looking for High School anglers, if you know so kids that love to fish and have any interest in getting involved contact Dave or Phil for more info. These anglers also need Captains for each of their events t provide a boat to fish out of. If you would like to put a smile on a young anglers face and are into bass fishing it is a great way to mentor these kids teaching them different techniques and spending a fun day on the water. Captains provide the service of driving the anglers around and are not allowed to fish, help with landing bass and are not allowed to run the trolling motor. The anglers pay for the fuel used in the vessel and pay their require entry fees. The group is always looking for sponsor help either from products or donations for expenses for their National events. If you can help in anyway please let us know! Their Annual Fund Raiser “Bass Bash” Tournament to be held in February of 2021 at Boat Tree on the St. Johns River is open to the public and is always a huge success, join us for the weigh-in or get involved by volunteering your services.
Please congratulate these fine young anglers for their success and wish them the best of luck at the Nationals in October in Kentucky. Bring the title back to Seminole Junior Anglers!
