A day spent fishing on the lake may seem relaxing for some, but for Northeast Ohio teens Connor Bower and Hoyt Nicely, it's much more than that.
It's not a secret the two love to fish. They spend most of their free time doing just that, but for them, it's more than a hobby; it's their sport.
"Pedal to the metal everywhere…even when me and him are going out fishing for fun, it's always a competition," Connor said.
The two teens don't go to high school together. Connor goes to Aurora, Hoyt to Hoover. Neither school offers fishing as a sport, so they each joined a club in order to fish competitively.
"I don't think a lot of people know that there are high school fishing teams. It's a growing sport, 100%," Hoyt said. "It's not as big as football or basketball or soccer. And most schools don't have it. Me and Connor's school don't have it. So that's kind of why we're in a club and kind of how we met each other."
Connor and Hoyt are part of Prime Time Junior Bass Anglers out of Cleveland, a club for competitive high school fishing. A few years ago, the two were doing a trash clean-up through the club and instantly hit it off.
"We both threw the trash in the can at the same time, started talking and we've just been fishing ever since," Connor said.
Since that day, Connor and Hoyt have been a team, fishing together in tournaments here in Ohio and around the country. As a team, the teens have flourished in the sport, reeling in a haul of accomplishments on the water.
Just this spring, the two took first place in the prestigious Major League Fishing/Abu Garcia High School Championship Series on Lake Guntersville in Alabama. That qualified them to compete in the National Championship this summer on Lake Hartwell in South Carolina.
Numerous top-10 and top-five finishes show just how well the two teens fish together. They hold their own against teams and junior anglers in places where the sport is much more prominent—where their schools offer it.
"I think that both of our ideas kind of collide sometimes and he'll think of something off the wall and I'll think of something off the wall and then if that works, we can kind of build off it," Hoyt said.
While their high schools don't offer the sport, both believe that won't always be the case. While they continue fishing with their club for one more year of high school, they're hoping to hook a future in the sport collegiality.
But in the meantime, they'll enjoy their time on the lakes, fishing together and proving why the sport is one to watch here in Northeast Ohio. Because for them, fishing is a way of life.
"Catching fish is always next. You got to catch some fish once you get to the lake or else it was a bad day—so you got to do that," Connor said.
"Always fishing. 24/7," Hoyt added.
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