How D’Iberville girls, boys swept bass fishing state titles & made history in the process
When D’Iberville’s Olivia King and Harper Krohn took to the water for their first competitive bass fishing tournament earlier this year, things didn’t go so well.
The two zeroed out, catching one fish that failed to score. They questioned whether or not they still wanted to compete.
The pair stuck to it and improved each event, though, before eventually becoming Mississippi’s first-ever all-girls state champions in May out of the junior division.
“It was a new thing, we had just started out bass fishing and it was our first season doing tournaments,” King — a rising seventh grader — told the Sun Herald.
“I just remember thinking, if this is how this is going to go, I don’t know how I’m going to stay with this,” Krohn, who is heading into eighth grade, added.
The two are glad they saw the season through.
They join DHS rising sophomore and junior Cooper Rouse and Ryker Reed as the newest state bass fishing champions. Reed and Rouse took home their second consecutive title in May and both pairs are now heading to nationals to compete with the top high school and junior division fishers in the country.
“We kind of swept the whole thing this year,” Rouse said. “Junior division, won it and we won it by a considerable margin in both areas. It was pretty cool to have both sides win.”
Bass fishing at DHS is a club sport that is around a decade old. The two teams have six boats and equipment at their disposal and they’re backed up by private sponsors.
As the club has grown, so has the talent. The program took home its first state championship last year courtesy of Reed and Rouse under coordinator Bryan Rouse, who is also Cooper’s father. That was under The Bass Fishing Federation.
Now the team has three championships under its belt, this year’s coming under the Bassmaster governing body.
“We work hard at it, we practice it, we study it,” Bryan Rouse said. “All the latest info we get, try to figure out the body of water we go to, try to break it down and try and learn as much as we can about it. It’s a huge deal and not too many high school teams can say they’ve won a state championship. It’s pretty special.”
History made
King and Krohn improved with each tournament. They found themselves in the top 10 quickly and moved up the leaderboards of each event until finishing second in the final tournament before state.
The pair hauled in five fish for a total weight of 13.74 lbs to win the junior division state title — which encompasses second through eighth grade — over second and third place finishers West Union and St. Martin.
The two outperformed 46 of the 50 competing teams in the high school division and secured their tickets to nationals.
“It’s very cool, I can’t wait to go,” King said. “It’s going to be super fun and open a lot of new opportunities.”
Not lost on either is the impact they’ve made on the scene by achieving a state-first as all-girls champions.
“I think it’s really cool for us to be the first girls in Mississippi to win, because we just want to have an equal opportunity as the guys and show them that we can do just as much,” Krohn said.
Both Krohn and King have been fishing for most of their lives. The prior experience, the growing chemistry between the two, and the state championships being held on the Mississippi Coast all played a role in the anglers’ victory.
For their coaches and fathers, Hiram King and Blaine Krohn, the process has been a joy to be a part of.
“We’re overwhelmed, there’s a lot of pride in that,” Hiram King said.
“You can’t really describe it,” Blaine Krohn said. “It’s something different.”
Getting comfortable at the top
Reed and Rouse have been fishing competitively for years. The two often compete with each on the boat and the effects are felt throughout the club.
They weren’t the only two from DHS to perform well at state. Hunter Tibiler and Trenton Gayton finished fourth in the same competition, giving the Warrior fishing team two top-five duos in a 50-pairings field.
Reed and Rouse hauled in 19.47 lbs of fish to earn state championship No. 2, beating out Jackson County and Copiah Academy.
“It feels awesome, it feels like you’ve established some dominance over the rest of the field,” Rouse said. “It kind of seems like you’re the top dog, especially two years in a row.”
The two were at nationals in Wisconsin a year ago and experienced first-hand the different kind of animal it is. There are over 300 boats competing with each other featuring state champions from across the country.
While the experience helped, the national event will be in a new location with new fish to catch this time around.
“It’s definitely a whole different ballgame fishing in this national championship,” Rouse said. “A whole different part of the country and a whole different fishery. Came from dirty, muddy water (in Wisconsin) to being up there in clean, clean water fishing for a whole different species, fishing for smallmouth this time. That’s something we don’t ever do. It’ll be fun to learn and go get the experience.”
The national event will take place on Lake Hartwell in Anderson, South Carolina this year. King and Krohn will compete July 20-27 while Reed and Rouse will compete July 27 through Aug. 3.
This story was originally published June 5, 2024 at 6:00 AM.
