A 15-year bass angler, no stranger to winning big prizes, wants to win an Angler(s) of the Year title with his Alexandria Senior High School Fishing Team partner in the Louisiana High School B.A.S.S. Nation. But he’s going to have to wait a while.
Nicholas England has won an AOY in the Junior Division in LHSBN, as well as a boat, motor and trailer four years ago in CCA-Louisiana’s S.T.A.R.’s Youth Division. He’s got his eyes on the AOY target these days with partner Tyler Medica.
England, the son of Robert and Tracie England, was a seventh-grader when he won the LHSBN’s 2021 Junior Division AOY while fishing with Cameron Burns. England and Medica, who paired up as eighth-graders in the Brame Middle School Fishing League, which they started, qualified for nationals after the 2022-23 season, their freshman season at ASH.
Now their mission is to win AOY for 2023-24. They’re in the hunt. Going into the final LHSBN tournament of 2023, which was scheduled for December but put off until next spring, they were tied for second with 845 points.
“We’ve got some ground to make up” to finish No. 1, England said.
Making up ground also means weighing bass at the fifth tournament on the spring schedule — April 6 at Henderson Lake. If/when they do, it’ll be their first-ever there. Henderson Lake’s the monkey on their back, the elephant in the room for the anglers.
“Our only goal is to catch a keeper bass at Henderson. We haven’t caught a single bass largemouth bass” there, England said.
Big into fishing
Like England, his sophomore partner is serious about the sport.
‘’I’m big into fishing,” said Medica, who turned 17 on Dec. 17 and plays center on the ASH football team. “That’s what I love. It’s what I live, breathe. Fishing.”
The son of Sam and Brenda Medica, he began fishing at 8 with his grandfather, Steven Ingraham, who lives near Boyce. They fished Bass Busters Club tournaments when he was 10, finishing third and cashing in his first one at Toledo Bend.
“I said, ‘Oh, man, this is good stuff,’ ” Medica said with a chuckle.
As a seventh-grader fishing his first-ever LHSBN event in 2020 on Toledo Bend, Medica and Brody Collier won. Medica and England’s fishing strengths complement each other, England said, noting his game excels while flippin’ cypress trees, laydowns and grass. Medica, he said, is good offshore with Carolina-rigged soft plastics and crankbaits.
Their styles meshed July 26-28 at the 2023 Bassmaster High School Championship on Lake Hartwell. Fishing both deep and shallow after a good practice period, they finished 261st in the 464-boat field.
“If it was a five-fish limit, we would have been way up there,” Medica said of the event, where the limit dropped to three the final day.
England’s father enjoys being captain for the up-and-coming high school team. The substation designer for Dristan Packaged Substations watches them grow and develop.
“It’s a challenging day for me, obviously (because he can’t fish), but it’s a very fun time being out there with them and really see them learn,” he said, adding their skills improve each time out.
“He makes sure to manage what we do … stay calm, make sure we have everything ready (like a net),” his son said. “He keeps us positive, gives us incentive every day.”
England also thanked Tommy Abbott, LHSBN director and the great support staff behind the growing organization in Louisiana.
Kincaid Lake
If Medica fishes for fun in January, it’s more than likely going to be on his home lake, Kincaid Lake. He’ll fish there daily if he has a chance.
“In January, I like to fish the bottom of the creeks. I like to throw a jig in the stumps out to the creek channel. When it gets to the creek channel, they crush it,” he said, adding he uses a ½-ounce football head jig in black/blue.
Most creeks, as deep as 23 feet, are productive as bass usually wait in deeper waters for a slow-moving meal. There have been times after catching a 5 on a jig, he said, he burns a 10XD crankbait to catch a 4.
England considers Toledo Bend his home lake. He enjoys catching bass on deep-diving crankbaits and soft plastics on shaky heads in January. The ASH sophomore said he prefers the Louisiana side, particularly Negreet Creek, where he caught his personal best, a 7-2, in May 2021, one day after an LHSBN tournament. He fished the same spot with the same bait — a watermelon/red Zoom Brush Hog — the day before to no avail.
Both bass anglers plan to continue fishing competitively after high school.
