LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i High School freshman Cassius Olson will be in Branson, Missouri this weekend said Matthew Olson, Cassius’ dad.
“Cassius will be representing the state of Hawai‘i in competing for $300,000 in prizes at the Big Bass Zone JR Championships in Branson,” Matthew said. “Cassius, an avid bass fisherman on Kaua‘i, will be the first participant from Hawai‘i to compete in the tournament against some of the top anglers from each of the United States.”
Cassius, who also competes with the Kaua‘i High School cross country team, said he is excited to go fish a state he’s never fished before and meet a lot of new people and great fishermen.
“I just wanna enjoy the experience competing and fishing new water in a different climate,” Cassius said. “I’m hoping to catch a good one on tournament day.”
First place in the BBZJR championships is a $65,000 Bass Cat, and a college scholarship to Bethel University.
“This is a two-day event with a banquet dinner and angler pairing on Friday,” Cassius said. “The tournament is on Lake Taneycomo starting at 7 a.m., Saturday. During the tournament, two state winners will be paired together with a boat and captain through a lottery that will take place during the banquet. Once on the water, each state winner will get three hours in the front of the boat, and three hours in the back of the boat. That was decided by a lottery, too. The tournament will be decided by the single biggest fish of the event.”
Qualifying for the BBZJR championships was done through an online bass fishing tournament for youth bass anglers 13 to 19 years old.
“The criteria was the biggest total weight for five bass per angler in each state,” Cassius said. “Fish had to be measured by width, length, and pictures of the fish through the live app. The app kept track of GPS location, and time stamp for each fish entered between Jan. 1 through Aug. 15. My total five-fish bag was 26.04 pounds — fish weighing 6.7, 6.3, 4.61, 4.39, and 4.04 pounds. Each of the fish entered had judges reviewing the pictures of the fish, the identification card, and angler to validate the catch.”
Cassius said he started fishing after his dad took him ocean fishing and freshwater fishing from the time he was little.
“My dad is part of the Garden Island Bass Club so I’ve had the opportunity to fish with the guys at the club for some time, now,” Cassius said. “My biggest Kaua‘i bass weighed in just over 6.5 pounds and was actually caught on an artificial rat lure made by Spro. The funny thing is the lure is called the BBZ rat, and actually designed by Bass Master Pro Bill Seimanthel who started the BBZJR Championships. My biggest bass ever caught was on a fishing trip in Texas, two years ago. That fish weighed 8.5 pounds, and I caught it flipping tules with a jig.”
“I love all types of fishing, and the outdoors in general,” Cassius said. “I like the diversity of bass fishing as far as baits and techniques used to catch them.”
