Alex McCloud (left) and Mason Ebert (right) competed in the Indiana Bass Nation High School State Championship.
Submitted Photo
NEW PALESTINE — In the past, the New Palestine High School Fishing Club has been full of two-man teams. This season, they had just one.
That didn’t stop the recently-graduated Alex McCloud and Mason Ebert from having a successful final high school season, it just made it more difficult.
“It was definitely a lot more difficult to compete this year. Usually when you have a full team, everybody kind of pre-fishes together, and you can kind of figure everything out together,” McCloud said. “This year, Mason and I had to do pretty much double the work to figure everything out on our own without the help of teammates.”
At the conclusion of the three-event regular season, the duo finished seventh out of 74 teams in the Indiana Bass Nation High School state standings.
“It was good for them that they still got to compete,” New Palestine fishing club coach Brook Johnson said. “They’ve been on the team since they were freshmen and were all into it.”
The key to their success in the three events throughout the year came from the experience of being on the team for four years and learning to concentrate and adapt to different situations.
“It was all about just always staying focused and being able to learn and adapt to whatever is going on, like different weather conditions,” McCloud said. “We had a tournament this year where it was less than 40 degrees out in the morning, and we just stuck with it every time and fished our hardest. We give everything to God.”
The seventh-place finish in the regular season qualified them, along with 43 other teams, for the state championship held at Lake Wawasee in Syracuse, earlier this month. The number of qualifying teams is around the top 50 percent of the regular season standings, but is ultimately decided by how many boats are allowed on the lake at the same time.
McCloud and Ebert entered the day with high expectations, but came up short, placing 43rd out of the 44 teams. They caught one bass at just under two pounds.
Indian Creek’s Chayton Witham and Ben Holzer placed first with five total fish caught, weighing a combined 11.01 pounds. Wesson Vint and Hunter Duracz of Track and Channel Youth placed second, and both teams qualified for the National Championship at Lake Hartwell, South Carolina.
“It was a good day. We went into it feeling good and had an amazing pre-fish, but just couldn’t get it done that day. That’s part of it, though. You win some, you lose some,” McCloud said. “We’re keeping our heads up high, and we’re going to keep fishing, going to join some more trails, and try to work our way up even though we’re out of high school now.”
A club that in 2021 placed second as a team cumulatively at the state finals and had a duo qualify for the national championship, this season, with just two fishermen, was different than normal.
With Johnson’s son, Jack, graduated he was less involved as a coach. It was the drive and passion of McCloud and Ebert that put them in the position to succeed.
The pair had their own boat, got their own sponsor from local businesses, and took it upon themselves to make sure that they got to compete in one last high school season.
“I just helped them get set up. I wasn’t as involved as much as a coach, I just helped make sure they were signed up, and they kind of took it on their own from there,” coach Johnson said. “They had their own boat, and got their own sponsorships from local businesses. It wasn’t so much a team as it was those boys wanting to fish and be competitive.”
Johnson said the club started six years ago and at the time had 18 kids and nine total teams, but has dropped since. The following year they had seven, last year they had just four kids, and this year just McCloud and Ebert.
“I haven’t been pushed as much with my son graduating, and no parents really wanted to pick it up. We need a parent to come in and make it a Hancock County club,” Johnson said. “I’m sure there’s a parent out there, and I know there are kids in the community that fish, it’s just a matter of getting it all ramped back up.”
