By JOSH ROUSE
Special to TopSports.news
Topeka twins Nick and Kyle Herrman won the first of two Kansas BASS Nation high school fishing tournaments this past weekend on central Kansas’ Wilson Reservoir.
From left, Topeka twins Kyle and Nick Herrman hold up their winning five-fish bag of 14.67 pounds during the Kansas BASS Nation Youth Series tournament weigh-in Saturday, Oct. 8, at Wilson Reservoir. [Submitted]
Topeka’s Kyle and Nick Herrman, center, hold up their winning hardware Saturday, Oct. 8, following the Kansas BASS Nation Youth Series tournament on Wilson Reservoir. Buhler’s Drew Stivers and Logan Snyder, right, finished second, followed by Hanover’s Maxwell Sawin and Brandt Beikmann, left. [Submitted]
The twins used ChatterBaits and Zara Spooks to target the feeding frenzy that takes place in shallower waters during the fall and secured the season-opening win after falling just shy of a win several times last season.
“We wanted to focus on areas where we knew there would be bait and fish in,” Kyle Herrman said. “We had some baits on deck that we felt we could catch fish on. Our main area worked out, producing four keepers in the morning and later, as well. Our other areas also produced fish. So our game plan going into the tournament went well.”
The local siblings weighed their five-bass limit of 14.67 pounds to edge out Buhler’s Drew Stivers and Logan Snyder, who finished second with 13.75 pounds. Maxwell Sawin and Brandt Beikmann finished third for the Hanover KnotHeads fishing club with 10.77 pounds.
“Heading into the tournament, we felt like we had a solid game plan,” Nick Herrman said. “We spent a lot of time the weekend before the tournament trying to figure Wilson out. This paid off tremendously because one of the things we found in practice was the topwater bite, which is how we caught almost all of our keepers.
“It felt really good to get a win right off the bat. With getting second place three times last year, we were really excited we were able to break through and get a win.
Rounding out the top five were solo angler Blake Streck, representing the Panther Bass Fishing Club, with 10.42 pounds of fish, followed by Parker Welch and Maxwell Coughlin, for Kansas City’s Kickback Club, weighing 8.05 pounds.
The Herrmans’ fellow Capital City Fishing Club members, Laiken Emanuel and Hunter Hanson, finished 27th on Saturday after weighing just one fish for 1.28 pounds.
In the second high school tournament of the weekend, Louisburg’s Lucas Sheafer followed up his ninth-place performance Saturday (7.04 pounds) with a 16.34-pound bag Sunday to secure a victory over Kickback Club’s Cale Harlan and Derek Landis (14.55).
Levi Sorenson and Ethan Tripe, representing the Basehor-Linwood Bobcat Bass club, took third with 9.78 pounds, followed by Hanover’s Garrett Martin and Levi Griffith with 9.30 pounds for fourth place and Welch and Coughlin with 8.72 for fifth.
JUNIORS DIVISION
In the Juniors Division, Anderson Mesplay and Kelby Conrady had a strong weekend, finishing first and second on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
The Mid-Kansas Kastmasters club weighed three fish for 8.42 pounds Saturday to pick up the victory over the Bobcat Bass team of Jackson Burns and Levi Comba (2.04 pounds), then weighed 4.95 pounds Sunday to fall just shy of another Bobcat Bass team in Dempsey Hoppes and Brock Blaser.
Hoppes and Blaser weighed a 5.52-pound bag for the victory Sunday. The Topeka Junior Hawgs team of Garreson Currie and Greyson Harper finished third Sunday with 1.77 pounds. Hanover’s Aysha and Myles Wolfgang (1.65 pounds) and Topeka’s Heston Hoffman and Jake Bartley (1.62) rounded out the top five.
Topeka’s Trey Herrman and Reid Currie also competed Sunday but did not weigh a fish.
NEXT UP
The next KBN Youth Series tournaments will take place Oct. 28 and 29 at Milford Reservoir in Junction City. For more information about competing in the youth tournaments, contact KBN youth director Travis Burch by phone at 913-562-4660 or by email at
KANSAS BASS NATION HIGH SCHOOL
Results Oct. 8 at Wilson Reservoir
Anglers, club … Pounds of fish
- N. Herrman/K. Herrman, Capital City … 14.67
- Stivers/Snyder, Buhler … 13.75
- Sawin/Beikmann, KnotHeads … 10.77
- Strek, Panthers … 10.42
- Welch/Coughlin, Kickback … 8.05
- Essex/Seume, Kickback … 7.99
- Ruda/Thetford, Buhler … 7.61
- Gull/Perish, Circle … 7.13
- Sheafer, Louisburg … 7.04
- T. Cowman/Chadwell, Circle … 6.82
- Clevenger/Leep, Circle … 6.61
- Razey/H. Cowman, Circle … 5.24
- Loper/Hoffman, Olathe East … 4.90
- Stude/Cook, Panthers … 4.81
- McClellan/Carter, OutCast … 4.46
- Hamblin/Baumgartner, Derby … 3.94
- Bean/Rausch, MHK … 3.87
- Henry/Winters, Buhler … 3.67
- Thiem/Wilcox, MHK … 3.60
- Harmon/Lopez, MHK … 3.55
- Foos/Abbott, MHK … 3.05
- Markley/G. Denney, Bobcat Bass … 2.49
- Harlan/Landis, Kickback … 2.46
- Co. Hutchinson/Cy. Hutchinson, Bobcat Bass … 1.93
- Vice/Barnes, Bluestem … 1.86
- W. Clements/Westbrook, Circle … 1.57
- Emanuel/Hanson, Capital City … 1.28
Results Oct. 9 at Wilson Reservoir
Anglers, club … Pounds of fish
- Sheafer, Louisburg … 16.34
- Harlan/Landis, Kickback … 14.55
- Sorenson/Tripe, Bobcat Bass … 9.78
- Martin/Griffith, KnotHeads … 9.30
- Welch/Coughlin, Kickback … 8.72
- Clevenger/Leep, Circle … 7.80
- Swinson/Tagtow, Circle … 6.88
- Schulte/Rynerson, Boothill Bass Club … 5.21
- Hynek/T. Bruna, KnotHeads … 4.82
- Gull/Perish, Circle … 3.88
- Goering/Stubbs, Buhler … 3.74
- Lobb/Grantham, Bobcat Bass … 3.41
- Ruda/Thetford, Buhler … 3.22
- Stivers/Snyder, Buhler … 3.20
- McCloy/Nickel, Buhler … 2.84
- Vice/Barnes, Bluestem … 2.52
- McClellan/Carter, OutCast … 2.33
- Stude/Cook, Panthers … 2.16
- Razey/H. Cowman, Circle … 1.90
- Essex/Seume, Kickback … 1.63
- Staines/Barkley, Kickback … 1.60
- Holzman/Tecklenburg, N/A … 1.52
- T. Cowman/Chadwell, Circle … 0.00
- Crosley/Curtis, OutCast … 0.00
- Henry/Winters, Buhler … 0.00
- Jerke/Vratil, Panthers … 0.00
KANSAS BASS NATION JUNIORS
Results Oct. 8 at Wilson Reservoir
Anglers, club … Pounds of fish
- Mesplay/Conrady, Mid-Kansas Kastmasters … 8.42
- Burns/L. Comba, Bobcat Bass … 2.04
- G. Clements, Circle … 0.00
- C. Denney/Lawler-White, Bobcat Bass … 0.00
- Nesmith/Swafford, Butler Co. … 0.00
- C. Toubia/I. Toubia, Wheat State Anglers … 0.00
Results Oct. 9 at Wilson Reservoir
Anglers, club … Pounds of fish
- Hoppes/Blaser, Bobcat Bass … 5.52
- Mesplay/Conrady, Mid-Kansas Kastmasters … 4.95
- G. Currie/Harper, Topeka Jr. Hawgs … 1.77
- A. Wolfgang/M. Wolfgang, KnotHeads … 1.65
- Hoffman/Bartley, Topeka Jr. Hawgs … 1.62
- Tr. Herrman/R. Currie, Topeka Jr. Hawgs … 0.00
- Komarek/Rochel, Bobcat Bass … 0.00
- C. Toubia/I. Toubia, Wheat State Anglers … 0.00
