Parker Stalvey and Jacob Deel of Clay High School have won the 2022 Abu Garcia Bassmaster High School Classic presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors with 16 pounds, 4 ounces. Photo by Chris Mitchell /B.A.S.S.

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Parker Stalvey and Jacob Deel of Clay High School in Florida capitalized on an early discovery to sack up a five-bass limit of 16 pounds, 4 ounces and win the Abu Garcia Bassmaster High School Classic presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors on Lake Keowee.

As Deel explained, the deep reservoir presented a stark contrast to the shallow stained water he and Stalvey are used to fishing.

“It’s a lot different here — it’s clear water,” he said. “We were going down the river and found schooling fish so we stopped in 100 feet of water. We picked up an Alabama rig and it was almost every other cast. We had a lot of fun.”

Deel said the average depth where they caught bass was about 52 feet. Their Alabama rigs carried 3/16-ounce swimbait heads on the rig’s perimeter and a 1/4-ounce head in the center “target” position. All of the heads held white 3.3 Keitech Swing Impact Fat swimbaits.

“We kind of figured out from the get-go that if we just burned the rig nothing happened,” Deel said. “So, we said, ‘Alright, let’s do the complete opposite. We reeled it as slow as day and started getting more bites on it.

“Sometimes we would kind of rip it off the bottom. We’d reel it up to a certain point in the water column and just kept it there. You had to find that point in the water column every few casts. Once we found where the fish were suspended, we’d get to catching them.”

Stalvey said the Alabama rig contributed four of the winning bass. The fifth bit a topwater bait.

“Our first fish ate a big chrome-colored Heddon Zara Spook — the biggest one they make,” Stalvey said. “As soon as we shut down this morning, they started schooling. I grabbed the Spook and, literally, my first cast was the biggest fish we had — it was a spot about 3 to 3 1/2 pounds.”

The winning anglers ended up catching all of their fish out of schooling activity. They boated a quick limit in the first hour and hopped around to various spots where they had seen schoolers in practice.

Noting that he and Deel completed their winning weight by about 1:30 p.m., Stalvey said a stealthy approach seemed to keep the fish in a more cooperative mood.

“When we shut down the back graphs, we started getting a lot more bites,” he said. “I guess they can pick up the frequency on that graph.

“Also, making long casts helped — as long as you could throw. They wanted a very active retrieve.”

2022 Bassmaster High School Series Presenting Sponsor: Academy Sports + Outdoors
2022 Bassmaster High School Series Platinum Sponsor: Toyota
2022 Bassmaster High School Series Premier Sponsors: Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Progressive Insurance, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha
2022 Bassmaster High School Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Daiwa, Garmin, Huk Performance Fishing, Marathon, Strike King, Triton Boats, VMC
2022 Bassmaster High School Series Youth Sponsors: Shimano, SPRO

About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S., which encompasses the Bassmaster tournament leagues, events and media platforms, is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 515,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), TV show, radio show, social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.

The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series presented by Mossy Oak Fishing, TNT Fireworks B.A.S.S. Nation Series, Strike King Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Abu Garcia Bassmaster High School Series presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Team Championship, Yamaha Rightwaters Bassmaster Kayak Series powered by TourneyX, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Huk.

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Media Contact: Emily Harley, B.A.S.S. Communications Manager, 205-313-0945, eharley@bassmaster.com