Lake Area Duo Wins MLF Fishing Open Championship

Major League Fishing’s “Favorite Fishing Open” championship on Lake of the Ozarks stays in the lake area.

The two-person team of Corbin Bailey and Kaden Messina, from Camdenton High School, combined for a five fish catch weighing 12-pounds-3-ounces this past Saturday to capture the title by half-a-pound over the second place team from the CW Bass Club.

Bailey and Messina also advance into the national event coming up in Lacrosse, Wisconsin, June 20th through the 24th. Also faring well for the Lakers with a 10th place overall finish was the team of Caston Embry and Caden Kowal who weighed in two fish coming in at 5-pounds-10-ounces.

Other lake area high school fishing teams making a mark in the tournament were: Kolton Dauber and Skyler Hutzler from School of the Osage with a 15th place finish, and Tommy McElyea and Kasen Uthe from Camdenton with their 52nd place finish.

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The Camdenton High School team of Corbin Bailey and Kaden Messina brought five bass to the scale Saturday weighing 12 pounds, 3 ounces, to win the MLF High School Fishing Presented by Favorite Fishing Open on Lake of the Ozarks in Osage Beach, Missouri.

A field of 60 teams competed in the no-entry fee tournament, which was hosted by the Tri-County Lodging Association. In MLF High School Fishing competition, the top 10% of teams competing advance to the High School Fishing National Championship.

The top six teams that advanced to the 2023 High School Fishing National Championship are:

1st: Camdenton High School, Camdenton, Mo. – Corbin Bailey and Kaden Messina, five bass, 12-3
2nd: CW Bass Club – Cayden Harmon and Will Shepherd, four bass, 11-11
3rd: Kick-Back Bass Club, Kansas City, Kan.  – Derek Landis and Landon Staines, four bass, 11-9
4th: Clearwater R-1 High School, Piedmont, Mo. – Caden McAlister and Brayden Wilson, four bass, 8-14
5th: Vilonia High School, Vilonia, Ark. – John Mason Davis and Noah Yelich, four bass, 8-5
6th: Bolivar High School, Bolivar, Mo. – Colin Ames and Logan Welch, four bass, 7-8

Rounding out the top 10 teams were:

7th: Reeds Spring High School, Reeds Spring, Mo. – Jace McMasters and Dominick Willard, two bass, 7-8
8th: Oologah-Talala Public Schools, Oologah, Okla. – Corbyn Hayes and Chase Robinson, three bass, 7-5
9th: Edmond Santa Fe High School, Edmond, Okla. – Jayden Pierce and Ethan Vaughan, two bass, 6-14
10th: Camdenton High School, Camdenton, Mo. – Caston Embry and Caden Kowal, two bass, 5-10

Complete results from the event can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

MLF High School Fishing presented by Favorite Fishing tournaments are free, two-person (team) events for students in grades 7-12 and are open to any MLF and TBF Student Angler Federation-affiliated high school club. The top 10% of teams at each Open event, along with the TBF High School Fishing state championships, will advance to the 2023 High School Fishing National Championship. The 2023 MLF High School Fishing National Championship will be held on the Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wisconsin, June 20-24, and is hosted by Explore La Crosse.

The High School Fishing National Champions will each receive a $5,000 college scholarship to the school of their choice and advance to the 2023 MLF Toyota Series Championship to compete as co-anglers.

Proud sponsors of the 2023 MLF High School Fishing Presented by Favorite Fishing include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Black Rifle Coffee Company, E3, Favorite Fishing, Fox Rent a Car, General Tire, Grundens, Lawless Lures, Lew’s, Lowrance, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Wiley X and YETI.

For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular High School Fishing updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, the Discovery Channel, the Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, the World Fishing Network and on-demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 13 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.

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