For the second year in a row, Chases Hubble and Givens — “Team Chase and Chase” — are going for national championship gold at the high school level.
The incoming Strawberry Crest seniors are getting ready to head to Paris, Tennessee, for the 2019 Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster High School Series National Championship on Lake Kentucky. This year’s tournament runs from Aug. 8-10 and, now that the boys know exactly what they’re in for, they’re hoping lessons learned from 2018 can help them land the big one.
Last year was the first time Hubble and Givens fished together. What started as a couple of buddies fishing Walden Lake together ended with a trip to Lake Kentucky to fish in deep fresh water for the first time ever. They didn’t make it to the third day of the tournament, but both anglers enjoyed the experience and made note of things they could improve upon for the future.
“We just kind of followed our Florida techniques up there because that was all we knew,” Givens said. “Pre-fishing up there and fishing last year opened our eyes to more that we don’t really have down here.”
With a full season of team experience to draw from, the Chases said this season was noticeably different in several ways.
“It was a lot better this year,” Hubble said. “We worked a lot better this year together, but competition was tougher. It was a lot harder to go back, but we’re going back.”
The Chases enjoyed another successful season in 2019, especially a strong showing at a Florida High School Series tournament on the St. Johns River in late February. They knew almost immediately it would be a good tournament when luck went their way within 45 minutes of getting on the water on Feb. 23. By its end, they had a second-place finish locked up.
“We pulled up (at St. John’s River) in the morning to the first spot and caught two big fish,” Hubble said. “Then we knew it was our day.”
They became one of 16 Florida teams to qualify for the 2019 national championships and haven’t wasted any effort preparing. They’ve already been back to Paris to pre-fish, test different methods and talk to the locals for any advice they could get.
Now that they know the best types of bait to use, improved their flipping and reads and have picked up some finesse for their techniques, Team Chase and Chase is ready to go and wants to make a big splash.
“I’d like to finish top 20 out of 280, 300,” Givens said. “That would be nice. Find some solid fish and have a good time.”
Anyone interested in sponsoring Team Chase and Chase can contact Christa Hubble at christa.d.hubble@citi.com.