At 18, Jack Story has done something no teenager had managed in the 43-year history of one of bass fishing's most storied amateur events. The high school senior from Atlanta won the Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American on Lake Murray, South Carolina, becoming the youngest champion the tournament has crowned and erasing a 15-year-old record set by Jacob Wheeler.
Story led from the first morning to the last, weighing 61 pounds, 8 ounces over three days for the $100,000 top prize and a berth in the 2027 REDCREST championship. He opened with 22 pounds, 11 ounces and closed with a 17-7 limit on the final day, holding off Marietta's Brooks Anderson by just 10 ounces.
The win carried a personal edge. Story had set out to beat the mark his father, Brent, posted at the same event two decades ago - a 34th-place finish. Raised on Lake Lanier, the younger Story leaned on the offshore, herring-feeding bass that the Georgia and Carolina reservoirs are known for.
By his own account, the pressure nearly got the better of him on the final morning. "This morning, I had to tie my leader knot four or five times, because my hands were shaking so bad," he said.
His father had offered one piece of advice when Jack first took up competitive fishing. "Listen, I don't care what you do, but whatever you do you're going to have to dedicate yourself to it," Brent Story recalled telling him.
The day's most emotional moment belonged to the co-angler division, won by Zachary Howell with 28 pounds, 6 ounces and a $50,000 cheque. Howell dedicated the win to a family member who had died days earlier. "She grabbed my hand and told me 'Go win $50,000.' She passed away on Tuesday," he said.
Story's victory lands amid a wider surge in youth and high school bass fishing across the United States. The same week, the Chiles High School team from Tallahassee won Florida's Elite Anglers state championship on Lake Seminole, capping an unbeaten season and earning a place at next month's national tournament in Kentucky - the first state title in the program's history.
For Story, the immediate future is simpler. He skipped his high school graduation to keep fishing on championship day, and the gamble paid off in six figures. The longer game - measuring himself against the professional ranks Wheeler now dominates - starts at REDCREST.
"When it's your time, it's your time," he said.
