Bossier Press-Tribune Online

Airline’s Cameron Mattison and Chad Poulsen  teamed to win the Student Angler Federation Louisiana High School Fishing State Championship Sunday on Caddo Lake.
Mattison and Poulsen caught a five-fish limit weighing 20 pounds, 13 ounces.
Dylan Poche and Brenton Lester of Natchitoches Central finished second with 16-11.
Forty-three teams with 86 anglers from across the state participated in the event. Twenty-six teams weighed in fish.
JP Kimbrough and Jared Rascoe of North DeSoto finished eighth with five fish weighing 8-15. Weston Bates and Zachary Canton of Louisiana New Tech at Plain Dealing also garnered a top-10 finish, taking the 10th spot with 6-6.
Brandon Grove and Jacob McCrae of Airline finished 12th with 6-5. Bailey Britt and Cade Gordon of Benton were 15th with 5-7.
Sunday’s launch out of Earl Williamson Park was delayed about one and a half hours because of lightning and thunderstorms.
Once the lightning threat ended, the teams launched in 3- to 4-foot swells with a cold rain still coming down.
Mattison and Poulsen fished black and blue flipping tubes in 2 to 3 feet of water.
The duo qualified to compete in the conference championship  tournament where they’ll compete with other champions from across the country this fall on Lake Texoma.   
“Cameron and Chad are very excited and were concerned that their fish would be difficult to catch considering the adverse weather conditions, but they stayed focused and were able to catch enough to capture the title,” Mattison’s father Brett said.
This was the third year the state tournament has been held. It started in 2011 with just 13 teams.
Mattison and Poulsen have won individual state titles, but this is their first high school team championship. They finished eighth last year.