The Devildog Anglers fishing club started at TRHS in 2013 and has grown to a club of over 41 members this season.  The anglers compete in fishing tournaments on the local, state, and national level almost year round. Typically they have between nine to twelve individual teams competing in tournaments.  Fishing teams consist of two-student members and an adult boat captain.

The Anglers must provide their own fishing gear including rods, tackle, and bait. The Anglers are considered a club and not a team based on high school league regulations.  Senior Daniel Clark said, “We do not receive any funding from the school for equipment, boats, or fuel.” The team conducts fundraisers including profit shares at local restaurants and raffles to fund tournament registration fees, housing costs, prizes, awards, and jerseys.

All tournaments require the Anglers to use artificial bait.  At tournaments the Anglers bring their best fish to weigh-ins.  The Anglers can only keep five fish at a time and at the end of the tournament each two-man team turns in their best fish.  Fish weights are used to determine individual winners and at big tournaments schools compete against each other based on their top three weights. The fish are released at the end of all tournaments.

To date the Anglers pulled several wins and placed high at all tournaments.  In school competition the team won eight of the fourteen tournaments.  Additionally, the Anglers won the School of the Year for the Palmetto Boat Center.  Several individual anglers succeed as well.   Seniors Oakley Connor and Hunter Harrison won the PBC classic-style event.  Seniors Jacob Smith and Daniel Clark won the TBF/SAF Florida Open.   Senior Oakley Connor and sophomore Gantt Connor won the 2016 TBF/SAF South Carolina State Championship on Lake Marion.  This was Oakley Connor’s second State Championship. Also, seniors Jacob Smith and Daniel Clark were selected by BASS as the only two Bassmaster High School All-State candidates in South Carolina.

All of this success speaks to the determination and dedication of the Devildog Anglers and their strong senior leadership. The club fishes well on their home lakes and strengths lie in topwater and swimbait fishing.  Club coach Michael Eudy would like to recruit another school employee to serve as a co-coach to facilitate growth of the club.  Additionally the club would like to create a team channel on YouTube but this would require cameras and software that the club cannot afford currently.  Coach Eudy praised the community and school support that the team receives.  However he says that “we could use more volunteer captains! Every tournament, there are four or five teams that have to wait until it’s their turn to get a volunteer captain.”

As the 2016 fishing tournaments draw to an end, the TRHS Anglers recently pulled in one of their most prestigious showings at the Berkley High School Fishing Challenge where they finished 2^nd in the nation among 131 active high school clubs. They plan to extend their love of fishing and tradition of winning to the 2017 season.