By: Summer Cartright

For most people fishing is a hobby, but for Andrew Conrad and Grant Behnke, it could be their ticket to a free college education.

Conrad and Behnke have been training for this once-in-a-lifetime experience since they were little kids; Andrew’s relative, Roy Conrad, sparked his interest in fishing. Ever since then, Andrew has been hooked. Grant’s grandpa introduced him to fishing, and he can’t get enough.

On March 31, 2018, they placed 32nd at the Lake of Egypt with an overall total of 8.76 lbs of fish.

On April 29 of the same year, they finished fourth place at Clinton Lake; their five-fish limit weighed in at 15.67lbs. The biggest fish of their live well weighed in at 5.25 lbs. Because they placed fourth in this tournament, they qualify to move on to the Table Rock tournament.

Andrew and Grant’s overall experience was extremely good. The competition held high standards at the Clinton Lake tournament, attracting 72 boats with two kids in each boat, bringing the overall total to 144 participants in this tournament.

On May 12, Behnke and Conrad traveled to Rend lake, but only brought in a total of 3.72 lbs of fish in their live well.

On June 16th, they headed to the championship tournament for a fourth chance to qualify for Table Rock, and brought in a total of 8.64 lbs of fish.

Qualifying in three different tournaments and a championship tournament allowed them to experience this upcoming opportunity at Table Rock Lake in Branson, Missouri.

The Table Rock Lake tournament will be taking place in Branson, Missouri on September 9. There will be at least 140 boats in this tournament. There will roughly be 280 kids attending the tournament. Andrew and Grant had a chance to win a $25,000 scholarship if they placed first in the tournament.

Ultimately, they weighed in three fish, which came to a total of 6.15lbs. However, Conrad and Behnke placed 58 out of 140 boats, each receiving $500.