Three fish, one victory

CREEDMOOR -- Thomas Clifton stood near the new 14-foot aluminum john boat splashed with sponsor names and sitting on its own trailer at the Ledge Rock Boat Ramp on Falls Lake.

The 12-year-old bass angler from Rolesville hadn't officially been awarded the outfit, but he knew his three-bass bag, which weighed 6.94 pounds, was the heaviest in the Henry's Kids Youth Bass Tournament Fishing Trail final this past Saturday.

The boat was his.

Clifton, fishing with his father, Jeffery Clifton, found three keeper bass among several short fish by working the edges of a hump in the middle of the old river channel with a Carolina-rigged plastic worm.

His quick, sweeping hookset, so key to success with the rig, was the stuff of professional bass anglers, and he caught more keeper bass than many adult bass fishermen fishing a concurrent bass tournament held by Piedmont Bass Classics that afternoon.

Where did he learn the nuances and finer points of the Carolina rig?

"My dad," he said.

What is the key?

"Slow," he offered. "Work it slow."

It was all his father could have wanted on his 49th birthday.

"That right there is all worth it to me," the elder Clifton said.

Jeffery Clifton had focused on working the trolling motor, keeping the boat positioned just right, over several bass showing up on his digital fish finder.

"Yeah!" he shouted, after measuring his son's second keeper bass of the day.

Father and son high-fived each other after the largemouth bass had been tucked away in the livewell.

And the younger Clifton had plenty of competition.

He was up against 12-year-old Lucas Lobaugh Jr., whose comfort and accuracy casting baits would impress bass fishermen of any age.

Lobaugh, who is from Mebane, had won one of the previous four qualifier tournaments at Jordan Lake earlier this year and had won a fishing rod that he was using on this day.

He and his father, Lucas Lobaugh Sr., had a big-fish strategy.

"I'm here for the boat," the younger Lobaugh said as he worked his lure, picking up several undersized bass.

As it turned out, he ended up with two keepers -- and keepers were hard to come by at Falls, where the minimum length is 16 inches. His two fish totaled 4.32 pounds.

That earned him second place and another custom fishing rod.

"We haven't sent any kids away empty-handed," said Henry Smith, who organized the five-date tournament trail this year.

It's the first year of the tournament, and Smith intends for the event to continue next season.

He's the sales manager for Deep Creek Lures, the Rougemont-based lure maker and main sponsor of the tournament.

The tournaments were held at either Jordan Lake or Falls Lake. In order to qualify for Saturday's final, where the boat was on the line, all a child needed to do was compete in one of the previous tournaments. For the final, 14 children competed.

On several occasions this year, Smith arranged for kids without access to a boat to fish with an adult bass angler.

"I wish we would have had more interest," said Smith, who said his main goal is to make sure the country's fishing tradition doesn't die.

Smith took out two sisters (Camryn, 10, and Alison, 7) and their mother, Colette Leirer of Rougemont, on his bass boat.

Alison Leirer used a wacky-rigged plastic worm on her SpongeBob SquarePants fishing combo.

"The first word she ever said was 'SpongeBob,' " her mother said.

Back at the ramp, the weigh-in had the feel of a professional bass tournament.

Lobaugh came over for a handshake after the boat was awarded to Clifton.

And Durham's Phil McCarson, who emceed the event, joked with the young bass prodigy.

"What they didn't tell you is you get to pay taxes on it," he laughed.