Bode Meader (GHS ’21) recently competed in the Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster High School Series National Championship and Junior Bass Master at Kentucky Lake in Paris, TN. His road to TN began long ago when he first dropped a line in the water. When asked about the first time he fished he said, “I literally can’t remember, but it was super young. My mom wouldn’t let me have a hook, so I spent many years fishing with a washer on the end of my line before I realized this wasn’t working.”

A family friend, Erik Dellinger, brought him trout fishing one day. Meader added, “the passion took off from there.” Meader fished his first youth tournament in August of 2014, where he placed 6th place out of 15 anglers. He stated, “I was obsessed with tournament fishing from that day on. I was later offered a spot on the MainelyBass Junior BassMasters Team.” That same year, he fished his first State Championship and placed 3rd.

Meader has been to many tournaments since then, including a 2015 trip to BassMaster Jr. National Championship in TN after placing 1st in the Maine State Championship. Fishing is a significant part of his life. He was named Junior Angler of the year on his team where he currently holds the position of President. He said the team takes an active part in weed inspections to keep the lakes clean. Meader said, “In 2016 I began volunteering with the IFW (Inland Fisheries and Wildlife) working with brook trout spawning, brown trout creel surveys and stocking.”

His trip to TN this year came as a surprise. In the state tournament back in October of 2017, he placed 3rd (only 1st and 2nd place advanced to TN). However, in June, he was contacted and told that one of the teams would not be going to the tournament and he was chosen as an alternate. He said, “My mom communicated with my teammates’ parents and they decided that we had to go! In the past when I’ve traveled to tournaments, I’ve flown. This time we decided to drive the 19 hours towing the boat we’d use in the tournament. So off to TN we went to compete in the BassMaster HighSchool National Championship!”

There were 337 people in the tournament, all high school students, with teams from Canada to Zimbabwe. After a few days of “pre-fishing” to get acquainted with the lake, he ended the first day of competition with a few keepers putting him in 98th place (his goal was to break top 100). He said, “Friday was day two and our day was not as successful as we’d hoped, but we finished in an incredible 137th place beating out 200 teams in the tournament!”

With only the top 12 teams advancing, Meader took advantage of the free time. He said, “We hit the road and made it all the way up to Lake Erie.” They launched the boat in Lake Erie and did some “awesome fishing” before beginning the road trip home.

Meader knows his fishing spots. Some of his favorite spots are Otter Pond – Bass and Trout (ice fishing too); Pine River Pond (NH where his grandparents live) – Bass; Little Sebago and China Lake – Bass; and Kennebec River – Salmon.

His favorite fishing memory was with his friend Landon Bickford in Eustis, Maine. He said they were there for a few days and on the final night they went out to fly fish for a bit. “It was nearing complete dark and we were getting ready to go back when we started to see some trout disturb the surface eating some green drakes. We started casting at the trout and one came up and destroyed my fly. After about a five minute fight with the fish we got it into the net. It was a 2-3 pound brook trout.”

Meader said his dream would be to attend Bethel University in Tennessee. He stated, “They are a well-known fishing school continuing to crush the competition.”