8 year old Jonathan Smedley of Team Old School wins freshwater Tournament

David, Ben,

Thought you might enjoy this;

We fished an open tournament this past weekend. The lake has mostly small fish, but the minimum size limit is 26". I brought my youngest Son (8 years old). We won first place in the Big Fish event, and took second in the overall. 80% of the field zeroed. These are pics of my Son bringing his fish up to the weigh-in with ALOT of embarrassed old-time locals that pitched a zero watching on. We only used giant 1 pound live Shad, and he caught this one on the 870-2 speed. With 30lb mono, he had to go "full throw" to stop this fish in the shallow brush-filled water. Although he is only 8, he is very smart, and knows more than just about everyone at the weigh-in about lever drag reels. He was on that rod, hit low gear, and went full throw before I could even open my mouth. NO BS!
I spend alot of time training both of my boys to hopefully take over the fishing world some day.


This was a full open event, not a youth event.

Thanks for everything.

Mike Smedley
Team Old school