ASTORIA, Ore. (KOIN) -- Michael Postewait and Leo Matthews are the best high school fishermen in Oregon.
"I was fishing for salmon out in the ocean before I was 3 and that"s what really set my passion for fishing," Michael said.
"My grandma owned a lake and so when I was young I would fish and I would just fish for anything in the lake and then when I got older the bigger fish is obviously the bass so I started fishing for the bass," Leo said.
The two fell in love with bass fishing, which has much more science and study involved than you might think.
Copyright 2018 Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. "It takes years for anyone to fully grasp what a bass does and even then you talk to the pro guys, they still get stumped so it kind of puts it in perspective," Michael said. "Probably the biggest factor is water temperature. Bass are cold-blooded so the warmer the water, the higher their metabolism is, so they"re like a snake, they"re not going to be running around you know if it"s cold out and whatnot. Warmer the water, they"re going to be more active."
As they grew older, Michael figured out how to take their passion and turn it into a team sport, starting Astoria High School"s bass fishing team.
"At first I thought it was pretty interesting, and I like to bass fish and just fish in general so he told me how to do it and then it kind of just escalated," Leo said.
Turning two individual fishermen into a team didn"t come without some adjustments. They admit sometimes their tempers have gotten heated.
"He"s a very serious fisherman, I"m a little bit more relaxed when I fish," Leo said. "But he definitely likes to catch a lot of fish and win. Usually he gets pretty excited too when he"s fishing. He"ll either go two ways -- he"ll either be very happy or he"ll just be super mad the whole day that probably sums him up."
In the high school competition, two anglers have a certain amount of time to bring in up to five fish. The total weight of the catch determines the winner.
"They say if you"re a good team that"s when you work well together and so I guess it kind of holds true," Michael said.
As sophomores, Michael and Leo won the 2018 State Championship and plan to fish together through high school. Michael is intent on earning a sport on a college roster, while Leo will probably continue fishing as a hobby.
"They say opposites attract so you know we"re still friends at this point, don"t think it"ll change anytime soon, which is good," Michael said.
Source: https://www.koin.com/sports/athlete-of-the-week/astoria-s-teen-anglers-are-best-in-the-state/1550756427
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