Turner Tharpe and Blake James of Rhea County, Tenn., have won the 2020 Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster Junior National Championship with a two-day total of 13 pounds, 15 ounces.

Photo by Emily Hand/B.A.S.S.

October 20, 2020

HUNTINGDON, Tenn. — Thanks in part to an afternoon flurry, Rhea County (Tenn.) seventh graders Turner Tharpe and Blake James caught 8 pounds, 2 ounces on Championship Tuesday to claim the Mossy Oak Fishing Junior Bassmaster National Championship on the Carroll County 1000 Acre Recreational Lake with a two-day total of 13-15.

They earned a $2,500 scholarship.

“It feels amazing,” Turner said. “I’m not sure if we will be able to do this ever again, but I hope we will.”

Turner and James threw a wacky rig around shallow, offshore brush in a pocket most of Day 1, boat captain Brent Tharpe said. On Day 2, Turner and James started on the same structure but bright skies and calm conditions slowed the bite.

“I just told them to keep their head in the game and don’t get distracted and worry about other boats,” Brent Tharpe said.

James and Turner had just one fish by midday, but conditions started to change as wind and some clouds entered the area.

“The sun went behind the clouds and it started to get a little windy,” James said. “Yesterday, that seemed to be when we caught them, because it was cloudy, so that helped after lunch.”

Along with the weather change, Turner and James moved away from their shallow cover to a ditch in the middle of the pocket that had trees stacked in it. They filled their limit there with a drop shot.

“We figured out that they weren’t up shallow, so we moved out and started catching some fish,” Turner said.

Logan Lopossa and Koby Sollars from the Southside Anglers in Indiana finished second with a two-day total of 12-8 after catching four fish for 4-13 on Day 2. They earned a $1,000 scholarship.

Sollars said he and Lopossa caught all of their fish in the morning and, while they had bites during the afternoon, they couldn’t find another keeper.

The duo landed one fish in the afternoon that fell just shy of the 12-inch size limit. Lopossa and Sollars previously qualified for the 2019 National Championship, and they used their experience from that tournament to help them during this event.

“We were catching them on a shaky head and a paddletail worm,” Lopossa said. “We were here last year and we caught them on that (plum) color. So, we threw it on a shaky head and they just kept destroying it.”

Lopossa and Sollars moved back and forth from deep to shallow, but one particular dropoff with stumps and gravel produced all their bites on Day 2.

Kasen Pemberton and Hunter Prough from the Chipley High fishing team finished third with 12-3 and won an $800 scholarship, while Kyle and Nicholas Herrman from the Topeka Jr. Hawgs program held onto the Big Bass award with a 5-4 largemouth they caught on Day 1, earning them a $200 scholarship.

With the Junior Championship complete, the focus shifts to the Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster High School National Championship at Kentucky Lake presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors Oct. 22-24. Action begins Thursday at 7 a.m. CT from Paris Landing State Park with weigh-in starting at 3 p.m.

2020 Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster Junior National Championship 10/19-10/20
Carroll County 1000 Acre Recreational Lake, Huntingdon TN.
(BOATER) Standings Day 2

Angler Club/School Pts

1. Turner Tharpe – Blake James Rhea County 0
Day 1: 5 05-13 Day 2: 5 08-02 Total: 10 13-15
2. Logan Lopossa – Koby Sollars Southside Anglers 0
Day 1: 5 07-11 Day 2: 4 04-13 Total: 9 12-08
3. Kasen Pemberton – Hunter Prough Chipley High 0
Day 1: 5 05-12 Day 2: 5 06-07 Total: 10 12-03
4. Jaylin White – Colden Baker Lugoff-Elgin Middle 0
Day 1: 5 04-08 Day 2: 5 07-04 Total: 10 11-12
5. Jack Myers – Lucas Gerlach Denver Jr. Bassmaster 0
Day 1: 4 09-01 Day 2: 2 02-01 Total: 6 11-02
6. Pate Anderson – Bobby Miller Susquehanna Valley Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 4 04-07 Day 2: 5 06-04 Total: 9 10-11
7. Dakota Carter – Preston Keller OKC Junior Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 4 03-12 Day 2: 4 06-11 Total: 8 10-07
8. Zane Parker – Garrett Wilson 0
Day 1: 5 04-09 Day 2: 5 05-11 Total: 10 10-04
9. Langston Martin – Coleman Mezick Lee County Anglers 0
Day 1: 5 05-13 Day 2: 4 04-06 Total: 9 10-03
10. Carson Harrell – Colton Harrell chapman panthers 0
Day 1: 3 04-07 Day 2: 5 05-03 Total: 8 09-10
11. Trent Volz – Carson Volz Indian Creek 0
Day 1: 4 04-06 Day 2: 3 04-08 Total: 7 08-14
12. Charles Klug – PJ Jacobs Junior High 0
Day 1: 5 04-12 Day 2: 4 03-15 Total: 9 08-11
13. Holten Phillips – Griffin Ralph Lakeside 0
Day 1: 5 05-03 Day 2: 3 02-13 Total: 8 08-00
14. Kyle Herrman – Nicholas Herrman Topeka Jr Hawgs 0
Day 1: 4 07-15 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 4 07-15
15. Annabel Hellum – Ben Lewis Phoenix Junior Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 4 04-03 Day 2: 3 03-12 Total: 7 07-15
16. Landon Pierce – Korbin Neat Casey County 0
Day 1: 3 03-12 Day 2: 5 04-00 Total: 8 07-12
17. Peter Duffy – Bryce Formsma GR Bass boys Northview 0
Day 1: 5 05-00 Day 2: 3 02-10 Total: 8 07-10
18. Mason Dople – Gabryel St John Jellico Middle 0
Day 1: 1 03-07 Day 2: 4 03-14 Total: 5 07-05
19. Bo Hollen – Ari Clark Mon Valley Bassmaster’s 0
Day 1: 4 03-08 Day 2: 4 03-10 Total: 8 07-02
20. Colt Sitton – Ryan Grace North OKC Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 2 02-01 Day 2: 3 05-00 Total: 5 07-01
21. Sawyer Knickerbocker – Gage Dowers SWLA Jr Anglers 0
Day 1: 5 05-08 Day 2: 2 01-02 Total: 7 06-10
22. Gavin White – Brandon Smith LA Junior Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 4 04-15 Day 2: 1 01-06 Total: 5 06-05
23. Jack Meiser – Blake Meiser Eureka 0
Day 1: 4 04-14 Day 2: 1 01-05 Total: 5 06-03
24. Brody Kellum – Carson Thompson Franklin County Middle School 0
Day 1: 5 05-01 Day 2: 1 01-00 Total: 6 06-01
25. Garret Crow – Brayzon Riddle Lone Star Jr Bassmaster 0
Day 1: 2 03-08 Day 2: 2 02-06 Total: 4 05-14
26. Jace Buxton – Ethan Graham Jackson County 0
Day 1: 2 01-15 Day 2: 3 03-10 Total: 5 05-09
27. Caleb Roblin – Jackson Landry Jr Southwest Bassmasters- LA 0
Day 1: 2 02-01 Day 2: 4 03-08 Total: 6 05-09
28. William Griswold – Seth Schnoebelen Center Point 0
Day 1: 2 01-15 Day 2: 2 03-08 Total: 4 05-07
29. Kyle Johnson – Jared Johnson Black Swamp Youth Bass Club 0
Day 1: 2 02-04 Day 2: 3 03-03 Total: 5 05-07
30. Lucas Sheafer – Steele Smith Louisburg middle school 0
Day 1: 1 01-11 Day 2: 4 03-10 Total: 5 05-05
31. Beau McQuade – Curtis Russler Jr. Potomac River Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 2 02-07 Day 2: 2 02-09 Total: 4 05-00
32. Mason Carden – Dawson Bryant Columbiana Middle School 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 5 04-15 Total: 5 04-15
33. Alex Meland – Carter Michalek Eastern Iowa Jr Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 5 04-14 Total: 5 04-14
34. Judd Byrd – Samuel Nicholas Oak Grove 0
Day 1: 2 02-09 Day 2: 2 02-05 Total: 4 04-14
35. Joey Elliott – Aiden Pihaylic Anchor Bay 0
Day 1: 4 04-12 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 4 04-12
36. Ian Reed – Mason Everts Hartleys Hawgs 0
Day 1: 2 02-05 Day 2: 2 02-01 Total: 4 04-06
37. Bryce Cast – Ayden Cast St. Louis Area Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 2 02-12 Day 2: 1 01-09 Total: 3 04-05
38. Ridge Faircloth – Jake Burns Liberty County High School 0
Day 1: 2 02-10 Day 2: 1 01-06 Total: 3 04-00
39. Chan Cawthon – Troy Harper Indian Creek 0
Day 1: 1 01-00 Day 2: 3 02-12 Total: 4 03-12
40. Luke Ankrom – Williamstown 0
Day 1: 1 01-08 Day 2: 2 02-01 Total: 3 03-09
41. Connor Young – Brent Christopher Boyle County Rebels 0
Day 1: 1 03-04 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 1 03-04
42. Jarren Crowder – Elijah Ambrose Jr. Potomac River Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 2 02-02 Day 2: 1 00-15 Total: 3 03-01
43. Ryder Milam – Colton Milam Mecklenburg County 0
Day 1: 1 01-01 Day 2: 2 01-14 Total: 3 02-15
44. Jack Varnado – Hunter Robertson Jr. Southwest Bassmasters of Den 0
Day 1: 3 02-13 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 3 02-13
45. Landon Gabby – Easton Hillard Southern Illinois Future Anglers 0
Day 1: 1 01-02 Day 2: 1 01-11 Total: 2 02-13
46. Andrew Terry – Greer Gammon Dickson County High School 0
Day 1: 2 02-11 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 2 02-11
47. Eli Walker – Gage Jones Bluestone Middle School 0
Day 1: 2 02-04 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 2 02-04
48. Carter Pjesky – Hayden Host Off the Hook Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 4 03-06 Day 2: 0 -02-00 Total: 4 01-06
49. Elijah Bryant – Blake Conrad East Jessamine Middle School 0
Day 1: 1 01-06 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 1 01-06
50. Nicholas Gatchis Conca – Hudson Subach Jr. Denver Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 1 01-03 Total: 1 01-03
51. Harrison Betker – Ryder Rousseau Osseo 0
Day 1: 3 01-01 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 3 01-01
52. Kade Sturgill – Wyatt Trexler Rowan County Youth Anglers 0
Day 1: 1 01-00 Day 2: 1 00-00 Total: 2 01-00
53. Zack Brose – Noah Goedjen Heritage Christian Academy 0
Day 1: 1 01-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 1 01-00
53. Joseph Horne – Jacob Butcher Arkansas Youth Anglers 0
Day 1: 1 01-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 1 01-00