Members of the Hayden High bass fishing club show off their Alabama Student Angler Bass Fishing Association state champion's trophy after last weekend's tournament at Millers Ferry Reservoir. It's the second ASABFA championship for the Wildcats in as many years.

The boys from Hayden High School are getting to be pretty good at this bass fishing thing.

The Wildcats’ club won their second consecutive Alabama Student Angler Bass Fishing Association championship last weekend, thanks to a third-place team finish in the season-ending tournament at Millers Ferry Reservoir.

The team won the year-long points race — similar to the NASCAR championship — with two first-place finishes in regional tournaments.

“We came into last weekend with a 78-point lead over Hartselle,” co-coach Scott Ashley said. “After the tournament, we increased our lead to 130 points.”

High school bass fishing is not an official AHSAA varsity sport, though the association is keenly looking toward adding it once the minimum number of member schools field teams. They came close to that in the season just ended, with 39 teams scoring points. At least 41 schools are needed before the AHSAA considers varsity status.

Schools field as many as five two-person teams in a tournament, with one adult as the boat captain for each. The top three finishers from each school score the points for a given tournament.

The club started last year, and grew to attract 28 students this year, so many that the club had to establish its own qualifying system to see which 10 would compete on the state tour. Ashley, co-coach Chris Kanute and the staff organized their own mini-tour of events where members scored points (they invited other school clubs to come along); members also scored points for selling raffle tickets, helping out with fund-raising events and attending twice-monthly meetings. Many of those meetings had guest speakers such as Bassmaster Elite Series pro anglers Gerald Swindle of Warrior and Aaron Martens of Leeds, as well as lure manufacturers and others in the bass fishing business.

After the top 10 and two alternates were selected, the Wildcats fished at ASABFA events across the state. They won the first tournament of the year at Logan Martin Lake in December, took second place at Eufaula in early March, fourth later that month in Demopolis, first again in April on Pickwick Lake and third last weekend.

Team members include Taylor Ashley, Houston Calvert, Chase Kanute, Heath Seaver, Darien Craig, Sam Swindle, Zach Martin, Bailey Dutton, Seth Newell and Tyler Swindle, with alternates Austin Mize and Bryce Hogeland. (The Swindles are both related to Gerald Swindle.)