Salisbury teen already on national bass fishing scene – Salisbury Post

By Dan Kibler

For the Salisbury post

Last month, while most high school seniors were worried about final exams, diplomas and graduation ceremonies, Salisbury's Hayden Hammond was worried about catching bass.

He spent the week before graduation on Lake Hartwell in South Carolina, fishing the second leg of the 2024 National Professional Fishing League tournament course.

Hammond finished roughly in the middle of the field of 124 bass pros over three days in Hartwell, drove home, then took an exam two days after returning to Rowan County.

“I had four exams to take that week,” he said.

An 18-year-old who grew up in China Grove before recently moving to the Long Ferry area east of Salisbury has been fishing competitively since middle school. As 8th graders, Hammond and his partner finished second in the 2019 Bassmaster Junior Championship in Tennessee. He is a two-time North Carolina high school bass fishing champion and has qualified for national championships three times.

Last year was his first time competing in a national fishing tour, the NPFL, and he won $7,500 and finished 46th in the 2023 Angler of the Year standings – as a high school student.

“I grew up fishing,” Hammond said. “It was at Lake Badin that I learned to fish. My dad is more of a saltwater guy; he didn't want me to get into bass fishing, but Paul Benson (an NPFL official) gave him an invitation to sign me up last year. It took some time to manage school and fishing. It was a real time management thing.

When Hammond decided bass fishing might be a possible career, he took steps to make it happen. He completed his junior year at Jesse Carson High School in China Grove, then completed an online homeschooling program for his next three years. This allows him to manage the school around the time he has to spend on the water (a week-long tournament, six times a year), while working for his father as a manufacturers' representative for companies fishing tackle.

The time he spent traveling the highways of the two Carolinas – and burning up phone lines keeping his fishing tackle lines in outlets – helped him find enough sponsors to cover much of the costs associated with professional bass fishing, including entry fees. , fuel for trucks and boats, meals and accommodation. Some of his sponsors include: Falcon Boats, Yamaha Outboards, Reclanding.com, Ark Fishing (rods and reels), Woods to Water Outdoors, Gill Fishing, Toad Thumper (lures), and Bajio Sunglasses.

“The first year was more of a learning experience,” Hammond said. “I didn't expect to win or cash a check at every tournament; it was more of a learning experience. I did well at Pickwick (a lake on the Alabama-Tennessee-Mississippi border) and wrote a check ($7,500). Now I have more space to do things. I'm more in the movement.

“(NPFL) is more family-friendly; this is the right place for me to learn. I can get used to everything about fishing different lakes, and I can still work and be 18 years old. It's much more flexible.

Down the road, he wants to qualify for the NPFL's end-of-season championship and build a career that could last 20 or 30 years – one that can match his work representing his fishing products. In the end, it will probably be easier – without homework to worry about.

“Fishing and school were really tiring,” he said. “A lot of times when you're fishing all day, you don't want to do anything else. It's certainly a lot to have to juggle both. After a day of tournament play, you have to go home and do your tackle, and it's 8:30 or 9 a.m. when you start studying. When you get up at 4 a.m., you're ready to go to bed.

The online and homeschooling program allowed her great flexibility. He was able to plan the hours he needed to study each day and fit them in with fishing, working with clients and battling type 1 diabetes – he was diagnosed two years ago.

“I probably spend three days a week on the road selling and two days doing paperwork and making calls,” said Hammond, who has competed in many smaller local tournaments at Lake Norman, Badin and High Rock in over the last few years. his learning curve was shortened by about 100 days on the water with Dylan Fulk of Mount Pleasant, who fished the BASS Open circuit, a larger national circuit. “There are weeks where I go without fishing.

“I want to fish the Opens, but I have a lot to learn right now,” Hammond said. “Most of the lakes we visit are nothing like the ones here. We went to Michigan last year (Saginaw Bay), and I didn't know how to run big water, but now I do.

“I considered college bass fishing; a lot of my friends do it and love it, but I prefer to work. I am very lucky that my father supports me the way he does. I would like to fish professionally for 20 or 30 years.

Hammond has four more NPFL events this year before the season-ending championship next March. His next tournament will be July 7-12 at Pickwick, where he cashed his first check in 2023.

Three state record saltwater fish certified

The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries has certified three state record saltwater fish that were caught in the last 6 weeks, including two on the same day.

Christopher Hyche of Chapin, South Carolina, narrowly missed a world record with a 23-pound yellowmouth grouper caught off Calabash on May 3. It's the first yellowmouth grouper to hold the state record, just 3 ounces shy of the world's all-tackle. save.

Hyche's fish measured 33½ inches long and 25½ inches in girth. It hit a whole sardine.

This is Hyche's second state record. He previously held the South Carolina state record for mangrove snapper.

Joshua Pendleton of Southport broke the state record with a 5-pound, 3.2-ounce white grunt caught May 3 near the Frying Pan Tower. The fish, measuring 20.38 inches long and 15.13 inches in girth, struck a fish bite. The previous state record white grunt was 4 pounds, 13.6 ounces, caught off the coast of Morehead City in 2023.

On June 2, Roberto Cancel III of Lillington caught a 33-pound, 12.16-ounce Almaco Jack off Morehead City, breaking the previous record, from 2023, by nearly 7 pounds.

Cancel was fishing aboard the lead boat Captain Stacy, fishing with a whole squid. The fish measured 39 ¾ inches long and 28 inches in girth.

The price of fishing and hunting licenses increases

North Carolina sportsmen will pay for the privilege of visiting the state's woods and waters, starting July 1, with nearly universal license fees.

The NC Wildlife Resources Commission announced the increases last week, tying them to increases in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) over the past 4 years. The sale of licenses represents around a quarter of the agency's revenue.

Here is a short list of increases for some of the most popular licenses:

• Annual inshore fishing: was $25, will be $30;

• Annual inshore fishing: was $16, will be $19;

• Annual inshore/inshore fishing combo: was $41, will be $49;

• Annual Statewide Hunt: Was 25, will cost $30;

• Annual Statewide Hunting and Big Game: Was $39, will be $42;

• Annual inshore fishing/statewide hunting combo: was $35, will be $45;

• Annual Basic Sportsman (all-around hunting/coastal fishing): Was $53, will be $63;

• Annual Complete Sportsman (Comprehensive Hunting/Inshore Fishing/Inshore Fishing): Was $69, will be $82.