Mark Cerja Jr. and Gus Richardson of the Lone Star Junior Bassmasters have won the 2022 Bassmaster Junior National Championship on Carroll County 1000 Acre Recreational Lake with a two-day total of 18 pounds, 5 ounces.

Photo by Laura Agee/B.A.S.S.

July 30, 2022

HUNTINGDON, Tenn. — Victories are not always dramatic and glamorous, but Mark Cerja Jr. and Gus Richardson of the Lone Star Junior Bassmasters were proud of their gritty, gutsy effort.

Grinding through a stingy final round, they tallied a two-day total of 18 pounds, 5 ounces and won the Bassmaster Junior National Championship at the Carroll County 1000 Acre Recreational Lake.

A Day 1 limit of 10-7 put Cerja and Richardson in second place. Catching another limit of 7-14 in the final round, they claimed the top award — a $2,000 scholarship they’ll split.

“I’ve been fishing since I was 2, and I was taught to fish hard and grind and never give up,” Cerja said. “Today was a tough, tough bite; we didn’t get our limit until about noon, whereas yesterday, we were culling at 10 a.m.

“It’s just an exciting feeling to go home national champions. I’ll sleep well tonight.”

After capitalizing on the barometric fluctuation of Friday’s passing storm system, which triggered aggressive feeding, Cerja and Richardson found the bass less active on the final day.

“I think it was pretty hard on the fish because they had just been fished,” Richardson said. “This is a pretty small lake and 65 teams were hitting the same spots (multiple times).”

As Cerja explained, their winning strategy was pure persistence, with a good dose of mobility.

“We started fishing War Eagle Creek but only had two in the box, so we went over to Jaguar Creek and caught one that was about 12 1/2 (inches),” Cerja said. “We said ‘We need a couple of big ones if we really want to win this.’

“So, we went to Rocket Creek — that’s where I caught a 4 and (Richardson) caught a 2 1/2.”

Cerja said he and his partner caught their fish in 8 to 10 feet of water. Docks with grass and brushpiles were best, but they also fished the backs of shallow creek channels.

On Day 1, Richardson caught a 4-7 on a white fluke. The winners caught their other fish on 4-inch plum finesse worms, 7-inch Berkley Power Worms in blue fleck and Zoom U-Tale Worms in tequila green flake. The latter produced their largest Day 2 catch — the 4-pounder.

“We thought it was better just twitching it pretty slowly and making sure we paid attention to the action — just making it look like something a bass would want to eat,” Richardson said.

Owen Ray and Camdyn Cranfill of the Rhea County Eagle Anglers finished second with 17-3. After placing third on Day 1 with a limit of 10-3, they added a three-fish bag of 7 pounds.

Repeating their Day 1 game plan, Ray and Cranfill again targeted deeper docks. Unfortunately, the bass were less cooperative the second time around.

“It was a lot slower bite today; our offshore stuff where we could get a limit (on Friday) did not work today,” Cranfill said. “We threw a glide bait around docks and ended up with two decent ones. We caught one small one on a drop shot.”

Ray said the day’s cloudy conditions limited their opportunities. As he explained, they needed more sunshine to position bass on the docks.

Ander Cowan and Alex Fitzpatrick of the PA Bassin Juniors finished third with 17-2. Day 1 saw them place seventh with four bass that weighed 7 pounds, but they gained four spots by adding 10-2 during the final round.

Cowan and Fitzpatrick also missed their final-round limit by one fish, but anchoring their bag with Cowan’s 7-1 made their day. The fish bit a 1/4-ounce shaky head with a trick worm in the bruised banana color.

The bite, Cowan said, was pretty subtle — he simply lifted his rod and felt pressure. The most memorable part of the story was the utter fiasco that occurred during the netting process.

“The net got tangled with one of our poles and we actually netted that fish with the pole still in the net,” Cowan said. “That was a very good comeback; I was definitely not expecting that.”

Fitzpatrick said the key to his team’s success was fishing deep.

“A lot of the lake’s docks had been overfished,” he said. “We were sitting in about 18 feet of water and fishing in 20.”

Landon Gabby and Carson Bruner of Marion, Ill., won the Big Bass award with their 8-3.

2022 Bassmaster Junior National Championship – Carroll County Lake 7/29-7/30
Carroll County One Thousand Acre Recreational Lake, Huntingdon TN.
(BOATER) Standings Day 2

Angler Club/School Pts

1. Mark Cerja Jr – Gus Richardson Lone Star Jr Bassmasters TX 0
Day 1: 5 10-07 Day 2: 5 07-14 Total: 10 18-05
2. Owen Ray – Camdyn Cranfill Rhea County Eagle Anglers 0
Day 1: 5 10-03 Day 2: 3 07-00 Total: 8 17-03
3. Ander Cowan – Alex Fitzpatrick PA Bassin Juniors 0
Day 1: 4 07-00 Day 2: 4 10-02 Total: 8 17-02
4. Rooksby Gordon – Fisher Deason American Christian Academy – AL 0
Day 1: 5 11-07 Day 2: 5 05-04 Total: 10 16-11
5. Caden Strawn – Drew Turner Sand Springs Clyde Boyd OK 0
Day 1: 3 02-06 Day 2: 3 13-15 Total: 6 16-05
6. Caleb Logue – Hayden Reynolds Three Rivers Bassmasters GA 0
Day 1: 5 04-14 Day 2: 4 09-13 Total: 9 14-11
7. Nic Sitton – Dawson Cooper Melbourne AR 0
Day 1: 5 05-02 Day 2: 5 09-08 Total: 10 14-10
8. Hayden Mallory – Archer Dill Ohio 0
Day 1: 5 09-09 Day 2: 5 05-00 Total: 10 14-09
9. Vegas Iaconelli – Maxsim Hughen Youth Division – NJ 0
Day 1: 5 06-10 Day 2: 5 07-15 Total: 10 14-09
10. Kieran Stephenson – Grady Stanley Fuquay Varina Middle School NC 0
Day 1: 5 05-00 Day 2: 5 09-05 Total: 10 14-05
11. Hunter Harrison – Austin Moreland Magnet Cove AR 0
Day 1: 2 01-05 Day 2: 5 12-13 Total: 7 14-02
12. River Huffman – Rob Barter Chatuge Anglers GA 0
Day 1: 5 03-15 Day 2: 5 09-12 Total: 10 13-11
13. Karson Dick – Kipton Dick Wayne Middle WV 0
Day 1: 5 04-03 Day 2: 5 09-02 Total: 10 13-05
14. Jaylin White – Colden Baker Lugoff-Elgin Middle SC 0
Day 1: 5 04-11 Day 2: 5 07-13 Total: 10 12-08
15. Sullivan Kraft – Beckett Kraft Horseheads NY 0
Day 1: 5 08-09 Day 2: 4 03-10 Total: 9 12-03
16. Judd Byrd – Samuel Nicholas Oak Grove MS 0
Day 1: 5 04-05 Day 2: 4 07-13 Total: 9 12-02
17. Brody Kellum – Carson Thompson Franklin County Middle School – 0
Day 1: 5 08-05 Day 2: 4 03-06 Total: 9 11-11
18. Camden Randall – Peyton Davidson Mount Pleasant TN 0
Day 1: 5 08-04 Day 2: 2 03-06 Total: 7 11-10
19. Landon Gabby – Carson Bruner Southern Illinois Future Anglers 0
Day 1: 3 02-07 Day 2: 1 08-03 Total: 4 10-10
20. Mitchell Henderson – Joseph Frierson Laurence Manning Academy SC 0
Day 1: 5 05-04 Day 2: 3 05-01 Total: 8 10-05
21. Bryce Rhody – Gavin Brubaker Susquehanna Valley Fishing Team 0
Day 1: 1 00-14 Day 2: 5 09-05 Total: 6 10-03
22. Luke Stewart – Austin Craze Southern WV Jr Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 5 05-08 Day 2: 5 04-10 Total: 10 10-02
23. Zac Arnold – Ross Clark Good Hope Fishing Team AL 0
Day 1: 5 04-11 Day 2: 5 05-04 Total: 10 09-15
24. Christopher Volpe – Brayden Rivest Off the Hook Bassmasters IL 0
Day 1: 5 06-07 Day 2: 4 03-03 Total: 9 09-10
25. Camdon Fauver – Thomas Newman Frederick County BASS VA 0
Day 1: 5 04-07 Day 2: 5 05-02 Total: 10 09-09
26. Turner Tharpe – Blake James Rhea County Eagle Anglers TN 0
Day 1: 3 03-02 Day 2: 5 06-06 Total: 8 09-08
27. Tristan Stewart – DJ Johnson III Mount Pleasant TN 0
Day 1: 5 06-00 Day 2: 4 03-02 Total: 9 09-02
28. Cameron Prokop – Tommy Shumowsky New Age Bass Fishing Club IL 0
Day 1: 5 04-10 Day 2: 5 04-08 Total: 10 09-02
29. Nolan Savage – Jake Paradis LA Jr Bassmasters ME 0
Day 1: 5 04-06 Day 2: 5 04-11 Total: 10 09-01
30. Landon Pierce – Korbin Neat Casey County – KY 0
Day 1: 5 03-14 Day 2: 5 04-15 Total: 10 08-13
31. Anderson Mesplay – Kelby Conrady Mid-Kansas Kastmasters 0
Day 1: 3 06-06 Day 2: 2 02-06 Total: 5 08-12
32. Clayton Barry – Tanner Sikes Columbia High School FL 0
Day 1: 5 04-00 Day 2: 5 04-10 Total: 10 08-10
33. Caden Stevens – Hunter Crittenden Franklin County Jr. Bass Team TN 0
Day 1: 5 04-10 Day 2: 5 04-00 Total: 10 08-10
34. Oliver Neumann – Grayden Neumann Zimmerman MN 0
Day 1: 5 04-02 Day 2: 5 04-04 Total: 10 08-06
35. Tugger McCuistion – 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 3 08-03 Total: 3 08-03
36. Jesse Lancaster – Fisher Lancaster Lancaster Academy NC 0
Day 1: 4 03-12 Day 2: 5 04-06 Total: 9 08-02
36. Conner McClellan – Drew Mcclellan Indiana Jr Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 5 04-06 Day 2: 4 03-12 Total: 9 08-02
38. Mason Samson – NH Junior Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 4 04-03 Day 2: 5 03-15 Total: 9 08-02
39. Caleb Jackson – Evrett Hunter Nassau Christian Bass Club FL 0
Day 1: 5 04-10 Day 2: 4 03-00 Total: 9 07-10
40. Maverick Hardebeck – Carson Tithof Grand Haven Lakeshore Middle Sch 0
Day 1: 4 03-08 Day 2: 4 03-09 Total: 8 07-01
41. Wyatt Reynolds – Peyton Roland Foothills Youth Anglers VA 0
Day 1: 5 05-14 Day 2: 1 00-14 Total: 6 06-12
42. Sawyer Knickerbocker – Grant Williams SWLA Jr Anglers LA 0
Day 1: 5 03-11 Day 2: 4 03-01 Total: 9 06-12
43. Beau McQuade – Kahl Cordell Jr. Potomac River Bassmasters PA 0
Day 1: 5 03-09 Day 2: 3 03-03 Total: 8 06-12
44. Jack Varnado – Dylan Johnson Jr. Southwest Bassmasters of Den 0
Day 1: 5 04-13 Day 2: 2 01-12 Total: 7 06-09
45. Parker Terrell – Port City Jr. Bassmasters NY 0
Day 1: 3 03-01 Day 2: 4 03-07 Total: 7 06-08
46. Ty Cooper – Landen Mclauchlin Central Florida Youth Anglers 0
Day 1: 2 01-08 Day 2: 5 04-15 Total: 7 06-07
47. Boone Baxter – Hunter Stewart Fort Jennings Crestview OH 0
Day 1: 5 06-00 Day 2: 5 00-06 Total: 10 06-06
48. Elijah Ambrose – Landon Hinkle Jr. Potomac River Bassmasters PA 0
Day 1: 5 04-10 Day 2: 2 01-11 Total: 7 06-05
49. Foster Hall – Caden Hall Hall Academy KY 0
Day 1: 5 05-02 Day 2: 1 01-01 Total: 6 06-03
50. Tucker Randolph – Kaleb Smarr Warrensburg Middle School MO 0
Day 1: 4 04-01 Day 2: 2 01-11 Total: 6 05-12
51. Andy Stewart – Trenton Wells Pisgah MS 0
Day 1: 4 03-14 Day 2: 2 01-13 Total: 6 05-11
52. James Barkley – Nikolas Foster New Hampshire Junior Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 5 03-03 Day 2: 2 02-08 Total: 7 05-11
53. Bo Hollen – Ari Clark Mon Valley Bassmaster’s WV 0
Day 1: 5 04-01 Day 2: 1 01-01 Total: 6 05-02
54. Will Oberhoffer – Max Droessler Roosevelt Middle School IA 0
Day 1: 3 02-08 Day 2: 3 02-09 Total: 6 05-01
55. Lawson Gamble – Gray Hardy Headland Bass Team AL 0
Day 1: 2 01-13 Day 2: 4 03-03 Total: 6 05-00
56. Jonas Lawler-White – Cale Denney Lansing Middle School – Bobcat B 0
Day 1: 3 02-03 Day 2: 3 02-04 Total: 6 04-07
57. Bryce Cast – Ayden Cast St. Louis Area Bassmasters IL 0
Day 1: 4 03-05 Day 2: 1 01-01 Total: 5 04-06
58. Jaxton Collier – Reece Roberts South Side Anglers IN 0
Day 1: 3 02-05 Day 2: 3 02-01 Total: 6 04-06
59. Charlie Brekke – Michael Putman Fighting Fishsticks Jr Club CO 0
Day 1: 2 01-09 Day 2: 3 02-09 Total: 5 04-02
60. Peter Mcdonald – Preston Hartzell Rocky Mountain High School – CO 0
Day 1: 4 03-03 Day 2: 1 00-12 Total: 5 03-15
61. Dylan Frickey – Reid Scott Ontario Juniors 0
Day 1: 4 03-12 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 4 03-12
62. Brady Harrison – Bryce Blackmon Cayuga – TX 0
Day 1: 1 00-06 Day 2: 2 01-14 Total: 3 02-04
63. Dillyn Dill – Andrew Knight Shelby County Jr Anglers AL 0
Day 1: 2 00-00 Day 2: 3 02-02 Total: 5 02-02
64. Bradie Talaski – Carter Osantowski Bad Axe Junior – MI 0
Day 1: 2 01-09 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 2 01-09
65. Liam Northway – Eastern Iowa Bassmasters 0
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 0 00-00 Total: 0 00-00
———————————————————————–
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 38 264 283-06
2 25 229 295-12
———————————-
63 493 579-02