A total of 145 high school teams and 46 junior teams (6th through 8th grade) competed recently in the 12th annual Bradley Roy High School Open at Lake Cumberland in Jamestown, Ky., and the Top 5 fished at Mill Creek Lake in Tompkinsville, Ky,, the following day to determine the champions.
The tournament is an officially sanctioned high school event by the Kentucky Bass Nation. Two
spots in the 2025 High School National Championship were awarded to Saturday’s top finishers: Zavian Smith and Hagan Wheeldon of Lake Cumberland Bass (1st) and Brandon Smith and Phoenix Parks of Park Hill Athletic Club (2nd).
The winning team weighed a bag of five fish totaling 14.15 pounds, while the runners-up weighed five fish for 11.50 pounds. Dawson and Austin Carrico of the Thomas Nelson High School team took big-bass honors with a 4.41-pounder.
Smith also won the 2022 Bradley Roy High School Open, making him the first angler to repeat as champion. In 2022 he fished without a partner.
Roy, a five-year veteran of the Bass Pro Tour, convened the Top 5 teams at 4:30 a.m. on Sunday morning and led a convoy southwest, passing famed Dale Hollow Lake on the way. The teams didn’t know their destination until they arrived at Mill Creek Lake.
“I wanted to mix things up for the mystery lake this year," Roy said. "I did my research, talked to Kentucky Fisheries staff members and took a successful scouting trip to Mill Creek Lake a few weeks ago. It was fun watching these high school anglers tackle a new lake, knowing it was a first for all 10 anglers in the field.”
Each team was assigned boat officials trained by Roy and provided two sets of MLF-supplied scales. Teams were given 15 minutes to scout around the 99-acre, electric-motor-only lake.
The teams fished two 2 1/2-hour sessions, with a 15-minute break in between.
On Sunday, Kentucky Christian University and Campbellsville University offered four-year scholarships to teams in the Top 5. The potential scholarships totaled over $700,000.
On Sunday, Smith/Wheeldon and Smith/Parks earned berths in the 2025 High School National Championships.
“I want to thank everyone who helped us pull this tournament off for the 12th consecutive year. If you have ever run a tournament, you know the work involved,” said Roy. “We have an awesome staff, family, and sponsors. Even though this tournament has my name on it, I am just a small part, and none of this happens without them.”
For a video of the event, visit https://youtu.be/MdlWJ8AdCN4?si=q6bqCLneJdMcL5ua. For complete tournament results, go to https://kybassnation.org/tournament-results/.
