Pickett County’s fishing programs are in danger of drying up.
Head Coach Anthony Scott said a steady drop in participation among younger anglers could leave the Bobcats with only high school teams next season, ending a long tradition of junior competition in Byrdstown.
“We’re hoping that they grow and get in there and want to fish but it’s hard to get people to commit,” Scott said. “It’s a lot of commitment. We travel all over the state of Tennessee fishing.”
Scott’s teams have cast their lines across Tennessee, from Pickwick to Douglas and Cherokee lakes. This season, Scott oversees two high school teams and one junior team. Scott said his focus remains the same.
“We like to see them grow as young adults, being responsible,” Scott said. “This fishing, it don’t just teach them just going out and catching fish. They have to have a commitment of getting up early just like they would in the real world, having to get up early to go to work, then of course going to work and if you got a job, you got to get up early to go to work and you got to work at that job all day long. Fishing is the same way.”
Scott said the sport requires dedication and preparation, from rigging boats before sunrise to learning new waters. His teams will fish on more than a dozen lakes across Tennessee this season.
Pickett County’s junior division includes anglers as young as second grade. By eighth grade, they can choose to move up to the high school level, a jump that Scott said can challenge the young anglers to adapt to new fishing conditions.
“Just because you can catch them on one body of water doesn’t mean you go on another body of water to catch them,” Scott said. “You have to put in that work and that homework to figure out how to catch them on a different body of water.”
The high school fishing teams return juniors Rex Reagan and Max Moody, who won the state championship last season. Scott also will see his son Braden join the high school team, alongside some new sophomores and freshmen.
The Bobcats fishing teams have picked up where they left off last season. The Bobcats secured multiple top 10 finishes among their three total teams during the first few divisional meets of the season.
