Good Hope’s fishing team celebrates with its hardware following Saturday's win in the inaugural Cullman, Alabama High School Classic at Smith Lake.

The second Cullman, Alabama High School Classic will be a bit more than a month earlier than the inaugural event.

Held on June 20 in 2015, this year’s all-inclusive angling championship is scheduled for May 14 on Smith Lake.

Good Hope walked away with the team title in the first installation of the Classic, which is open to every AHSAA-sanctioned high school in the area. Cold Springs’ Dylan Byrd and Hunter McClendon were the individual boat winners.

Only Hanceville and St. Bernard didn’t participate — solely because they didn’t field fishing teams. Unlike Cullman County tournaments in almost all other sports since Cullman High bolted for the Tennessee Valley Conference more than 50 years ago, the Bearcats are permitted to compete for the angling crown alongside the seven members of the Cullman County Schools system.

Good Hope assistant coach Tim Arnold said moving the tournament up will help with cooler temperatures and “a little less boat traffic.”

Either way, he fully expects another full day of “friendly competition.”

“Fishing’s fishing. It’s not like lining up across from each other playing football,” Arnold said. “We get along with everybody. I’m really glad we got this up and going.”

Good Hope is coming off a season that included the Classic title and the Alabama Student Angler Bass Fishing Association (ASABFA) Team of the Year award. The Raiders lost a few key seniors but still touted top-10 boats at the three ASABFA tourneys they fished this past fall.

“I’m sure they’d like to keep that trophy another year and get some bragging rights,” Arnold said of the Classic championship. “But fishing’s different. At the end of the day, there’s a lot of luck involved.”

Arnold’s wife, Tanya, is working with Alabama Power and the State of Alabama Conservation Office on a service project for the area’s squads to team up on. She said the project, which involves building spider block fishing habitats for Smith Lake, will likely take place in June.