High school fishing champs reel in third place

In the "Land of 10,000 Lakes," student fishing doesn't get a whole lot of attention. Two Minnesota anglers are hoping to change that.

Nick Montilino and James Stein II teamed up to win the state high school bass championship on Gull Lake on Sept. 11. The pair then took third out of nine boats at last weekend's FLW Outdoors/TBF High School Fishing Central Regional Championship on Kinkaid Lake in Carbondale, Ill.

"The fishing was rough; you were lucky to get one or two fish," said Stein, a senior from Northfield. "You learn tons at every event. This one was phenomenal."

The luck was better a month ago.

Fishing in deeper waters than most of their competitors, Montilino and Stein combined to catch 16.3 pounds of bass out of Gull Lake in the state competition. That was more than three pounds more than second place.

Both have been fishing for some time and got into competitive fishing through a youth club known as The Bassinators.

"It's a lot more intense," said Montilino, a freshman at Edina. "These have been great experiences. Fishing is fishing -- it's hit or miss -- but winning the Minnesota championship was the crowning achievement, definitely."

Stein is headed to Concordia (Moorhead) in the fall. Bass fishing is not offered there, but he hopes to change that.

"My sister was in a foam-fighting club, and got sponsored to go to an event," Stein said. "If she can do that, I think I can start fishing.