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Bass season to kick off on June 17

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<p>There isn&#8217;t much that will keep Tyler Gavlick off the water.</p><p>Not even a hook in the chin.</p><p>The 18-year old Hanover Area senior was fishing for bass last month when friend George Bowers hooked a fish only to have it throw the lure at the last second. The lure flung back and embedded in Gavlick&#8217;s chin, so Bowers carefully pushed the bard through, cut it off and pulled the rest of the hook out.</p><p>Bowers offered to take Gavlick to the hospital for repairs, but he declined, opting to fish the rest of the day.</p><p>Gavlick had a pretty good motive, other than a love of fishing, for staying on the water.</p><p>Next Saturday, Gavlick will travel to Tennessee to compete in his second consecutive B.A.S.S. High School National Championship. The event is the pinnacle of high school tournament fishing across the nation. Gavlick qualified for the event last August when he and partner Ben King finished second in the high school state championship at Presque Isle in Erie.</p><p>Now, Gavlick will head back to Kentucky Lake, a sprawling 160,309-acre impoundment that proved to be a challenge during last year&#8217;s national championship. Gavlick and King finished 144th out of 162 teams last year, but he&#8217;s confident for a better result this time.</p><p>&#8220;I know the lake better. I&#8217;m not going in blind this time,&#8221; Gavlick said. &#8220;It&#8217;s a huge lake with a lot of opportunity. Any technique that you&#8217;re good at, there&#8217;s probably a place where you can use it.&#8221;</p><p>While there&#8217;s no bigger stage for a high school bass angler than the national championship, the event offers more than just a chance to land a big fish.</p><p>It can bolster a future.</p><p>Gavlick, who competes with the Susquehanna Valley High School Fishing Team in Lewisburg since Hanover Area doesn&#8217;t have a club, wants to become a pro bass angler one day.</p><p>He also wants to go to college.</p><p>The national championship can help with both areas.</p><p>&#8220;You learn how a big tournament is run, what it&#8217;s like being on stage and how to talk and present yourself,&#8221; Gavlick said. &#8220;That&#8217;s what it&#8217;s like when you turn pro.&#8221;</p><p>There will also be a lot of coaches from college bass teams around the country at the championship, which last year drew more than 320 high school anglers. Gavlick said his first hope is to go to college and earn a degree before he attempts the pro angler route, and the championship is a good place to rub elbows and talk scholarships.</p><p>Bowers, who is an experienced tournament angler and owner of Major League Sports Bar which sponsors Gavlick, said the rising popularity of competition bass fishing has made partial and full college scholarships a realistic option.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a goal that&#8217;s out there today,&#8221; the 51-year-old said. &#8220;Tyler is a good kid and a good fisherman, and the championship will open up opportunities for him, from being a pro to getting a good education.&#8221;</p><p>Last year&#8217;s championship was held in August, and the fact that this year&#8217;s event will be on June 22 will help, Gavlick said. The earlier date means the bass will still be on their spawning beds or starting to move out, and Gavlick knows how to target them.</p><p>Since he&#8217;ll be arriving at Kentucky Lake early, Gavlick will have nearly a week to figure things out.</p><p>In the meantime, Gavlick has been spending his time practicing his bass techniques on local lakes while balancing everything else going on in his life.</p><p>In addition to preparing for the national championship, he&#8217;s also taking a class on interior fire fighting as part of his work as a volunteer with the Hanover Township Fire Department and he&#8217;s getting ready to graduate from high school.</p><p>It&#8217;s a lot to handle, Gavlick admits, but if a hook in the chin won&#8217;t stop him from fishing nothing will.</p><p>&#8220;This is the biggest tournament of a high school angler&#8217;s career, and I&#8217;m honored to be doing it twice,&#8221; Gavlick said.</p><p><ins>For other sports stories, <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/category/sports" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">click here</a>.</ins></p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Aside from practicing for the bass tournament, Gavlick is also taking courses for his work as a volunteer with the Hanover Township Fire Department. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_Gavlick1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Aside from practicing for the bass tournament, Gavlick is also taking courses for his work as a volunteer with the Hanover Township Fire Department. </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photo </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_Gavlick2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Hanover Area senior Tyler Gavlick will head to Tennessee next week to compete in his second consecutive B.A.S.S. High School National Championship. Gavlick has been fishing with local bass angler George Bowers to prepare for the championship. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_Gavlick2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Hanover Area senior Tyler Gavlick will head to Tennessee next week to compete in his second consecutive B.A.S.S. High School National Championship. Gavlick has been fishing with local bass angler George Bowers to prepare for the championship. </caption1><photoCredit1>Submitted photo </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Venesky</p><p>tvenesky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Tom Venesky at 570-991-6395 or on Twitter @TomVenesky</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Hanover Area’s Tyler Gavlick to compete in bass fishing championship