Recent Indian Creek graduates Donnie Hoskins, left, and Blayden Mann helped lead the way to a fourth consecutive state championship.
Submitted photo
Fishing dynasties don’t usually inspire headlines the way more mainstream athletic endeavors do.
If the Indian Creek Anglers have to conduct business under the radar, so be it.
On June 2, the Anglers, coached by J.T. Volz, picked up the Indiana Bass Nation State Championship at Brookville Reservoir, located in rural southeastern Indiana, for a fourth consecutive year.
Four Indian Creek duos placed in the top 25, led by Blayden Mann and Donnie Hoskins, who won the state title. Their five largest bass weighed a combined 13.16 pounds, eclipsing the second-place tandem by more than a pound.
The Mann-Hoskins pairing is qualified for the Strike King Bassmaster High School National Championship, which will take place at Chickamauga Lake in southeastern Tennessee on Aug. 1.
Hoskins, who spent his senior year at Indian Creek after previously attending Brown County, is guilty of impeccable timing — and, like his partner, being a pretty darned good fisherman.
“It was a blast. There’s not much that I’ve ever done or experienced that’s much more fun than that,” Hoskins said. “Just all of us being competitive, and that one of our teams was going to do really good.
“Blayden and I, we’re kind of similar. We were hunters before we were fishermen. Just being in the outdoors. It’s a game. The same kind of chess match as hunting deer. There’s a pattern, and you have to find that pattern.”
The Indian Creek pairing of Henry Fleetwood and Jackson Neibert placed fifth at state, one spot ahead of Trent Volz and Carson Volz. In 20th place was Brycen Bergman and Cash Burke, while Blake Hopkins and Devan Royality were in 24th.
Wyatt Wise, fishing solo, notched the 25th spot.
Pre-event strategizing went into the Anglers’ success. Approximately twice a month, the team would meet to go over technique, have casting competitions and do whatever was necessary to improve individually and collectively.
Prior to competition, there is scouting.
“When you’re getting ready to go somewhere, you kind of have a game plan,” J.T. Volz said. “We went and pre-fished Friday the week before, and Thursday and Friday the week of. It’s finding fish, what depth they’re at and just putting things together. You try to get in that mindset to see why they’re doing what they’re doing.”
During competition, each high school boat includes has two anglers and a captain. Only the students are permitted to fish, while the captain drives the boat. They earn points catching largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass and weighing a maximum of five bass meeting the length requirement.
The standings are determined by the overall weight of the fish each boat brings in.
Captains — usually a father of one or two of the Anglers — drive the boat and are able to give advice to the high schoolers, if requested. In no way are they allowed to visually demonstrate technique by using a rod.
“A lot of it comes from the captains being knowledgeable about what they’re doing,” J.T. Volz said. “All the kids have to do is fish.”
