“Back in the Saddle”

Article by

Mark Hooker

Photos courtesy of

Jenn Ellis

As many of you recall from last season, the MISD Fishing
Team had a rough go at the last Texas High School Bass Association event they
competed in, the THSBA State Championship. Well, this time around, the Team
answered the call and got “Back in the Saddle” of victory.

The first event for the 2025-26 THSBA Houston Division
kicked off on September13th at Lake Limestone. A place that has given the Team
some trouble in the past, but not this time.

Leading the way for MISD was the Team of Hunter Laskoskie
and Axel Anderson, who caught 4 fish weighing 10.27 pounds, capturing Fourth
Place out of 167 Teams from 23 area High Schools. Their Captain Clint Laskoskie
indicated that “putting in multiple days of practice was key to our success, as
we identified a couple of stretches of banks and docks that held fish.” Clint went on to say that “shaking fish off
in practice, and not hooking them on practice days paid dividends, as 3 of the
4 fish we brought to the scales, were most likely the ones we shook off in
practice, as they all came from the same exact spots.” Clint indicated that “we caught fish on both Top
waters, as well as Texas Rigged Soft Plastics.” 

 

Coming in 9^th place for the Team was Jacob Riley
and Brenner Kirklin, bringing in 3 fish for 7.97 pounds. This pair are the
defending TBF State Champions, as well as National Qualifiers. Their Captain
Jason Riley indicated that “Jacob and Brenner caught all their fish on soft
plastics rigged either on a Texas Rig, or a Shakey Head.” He went on to say that “wood was the key,
either stumps or brush.” 

The third highest placing Team for MISD was Hunter Sumner
and Jace Zabiegala, who brought in 3 fish that weighed 7.16 pounds, which
landed them in 15^th place. Cory Sumner captained them, and he
reported that “the guys caught their fish on Texas rigged finesse worms on
docks, as well as over deep brush piles with a Strike King crankbait.”

 

Overall, the fishing was extremely tough on Lake Limestone
on tournament day, with over 60 percent of the field failing to bring a
scoreable Bass to the weigh in scale. You can also see that it was tougher, as
there was only one 5 Bass limit weighed out of 167 Teams.

Also, normally a program needs to have 3 Teams in the Top 10
to have a legitimate shot at winning as a program. This tournament was so
tough, that the winning program had no five fish limits, as well as having one
Team out of the top Ten in 15^th place, with a combined weight of 25.42
pounds by its’ top three Teams.

So, all of Montgomery should take pride in how well this
year’s MISD Fishing Team responded to the challenges and got “Back in the
Saddle.” The next event will be on Lake
Conroe, and the weigh in will be at the MISD Stadium starting at 3:00 on
Saturday October 4^th. So, come on out and enjoy some Rudy’s Barbecue
and support the members of the MISD Fishing at the Stadium, as they look to
make it two in a row.