Another year for this event has come and gone. For the past seven years, Tournament Director Todd Reed (
www.fishingwithtoddreed.com) has been able to give this opportunity to kids from all over the state. "It is an honor to work with my sponsors to bring this event to the youth of Iowa." This OPEN bass tournament, not requiring and formal club or organization, is for all kids across the state. There are a few bass clubs in the state but not as many as you would think. This event allows anyone to grab a partner, an adult, a boat and come fishing for a part of $4,000 in fishing awards and gear. This year the event took place on Lake MacBride near Solon, Iowa. There were 57 boats, or 114 kids fishing on the day from 20 different schools. They were; Benton Community, Cascade, Cedar Falls, Charles City, Waverly/ShellRock, CR Prairie, Anamosa, Des Moines Roosevelt, Gilbert, Independence, Johnston, Louisa Muscatine, Midland, Mt. Pleasant, North Linn, Prince of Peace, Solon, Tipton, West Delaware, and Wilton.
The weather was beautiful on this day and the bass were biting. This event is unique as there are a couple different competitions going on simultaneously. First, like a typical bass tournament each boat weighs in their five biggest bass from the day. The other part is the "TEAM" portion. The two top boats from the same school are added together for the "team score". It has been a fun twist to High School fishing, as the sport will grow fastest if we connect with schools. In 2024, it was the Indee Bass Club from Independence taking home the Championship. Let's take a look at how things panned out in 2025.
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| Max with the BIG BASS |
Since the inception of this event in 2019, there has never been a repeat school champion. That held true agin in 2025. The Cedar Rapids Prairie School team took home the Championship this year. Their combined weight of their top two boats was 23.08 pounds. This was the schools first championship. In second place was Johnston School. They had a combined weight of 22.15 pounds. This was the highest Johnston has ever finished. In third place was last years returning champs, the Indee Bass Club. They weighed in 15.99 pounds. This was the 5th straight year the Indee Bass Club has finished in the top three!
Probably the biggest surprise at the scales on this day was the "Strike King Big Bass" that was brought in by Max of Des Moines Roosevelt. The largemouth bass weighed 5.19 pounds, a HUGE bass for anywhere in the Midwest, a big congratulations to them for catching that monster during the event.
As for the individual boats it was a mix boat from Waverly/ShellRock and Charles City that claimed the trophy for 2025. Clay and Will had five keeper bass that weighed 11.91#. In second place was the team from CR Prairie, Nolan and Max weighing in 11.76 pounds. In third place was Tyson and Kallen from Johnston with 11.63 pounds. Coming in at forth place was Tucker and Micah from CR Prairie with 11.32 pounds. Rounding out the top five was Marshall and Reese from Johnston with 10.52 pounds.
Prizes were given out to the top three teams placing in the school portion of this event, as well as the top 15 individual boats. Over $4,000 in awards and fishing gear was given away. Rods, reels, tackle, life vests, fishing tools, trophies and the Championship Rings were all possible by our great sponsors. A HUGE shoutout to the Cedar Falls SCHEELS store for their continued support of this event. We are already planning and thinking about the 2026!!! Strike King, Lew's Fishing and Hot Rod Baits were contributing sponsors as well.
Lastly, a HUGE thank you to the tournament volunteers, Chad O'Brien, James Cook, Garry Anderson and Jeremia Matz from SCHEELS for making this event go smoothly for everyone. THANK YOU ALL!
