Brandon Bullinger, left, and Logan Bullinger, both Bismarck, placed high on the leader board at the recent 12th Annual High School National and World Finals.

When it all began at first light they were just another fishing duo in a 398 boat field, but later in the day they had established themselves as one of the top High School Fishing teams in the county.

Brandon and Logan Bullinger, representing North Dakota and Bismarck Century High School, were competing in the largest high school fishing event in history – the 12th Annual High School National and World Finals on Lake Hartwell at Anderson, S.C. The prestigious event was held June 30-July 3. At the end of the first day they ranked 16th on the national leaderboard with 8 pounds, 11 ounces of bass. It set the tone for what would be four very remarkable days on the water.

The young pair of fishermen qualified for the event by winning the North Dakota High School championship. While that title followed them to the combination national and world event, they had already established themselves as a tandem to beat in North Dakota no matter what the level of competition. This year alone on the Badlands Bass Bandits circuit they placed second at both Nelson and Spiritwood Lake, second at Lake Ashtabula, and 6th at Froelich Dam.

Brandon is an 18-year-old who recently graduated from high school. His younger brother, Logan, is 16.

“I’ve got two years left,” said Logan Bullinger. “My goal in the next two years is to make the finals, the top 30 in the world cut.”

This year the two young fishermen came as close as you can to making the finals in the grandest high school fishing event of them all. It took a top-10 effort in the national standings after three days of fishing to advance to the finals. When they weighed-in their fish early on the final day they were in fourth place and didn’t fully expect the weight to hold up.

“We weren’t really watching the weigh-in. When we dropped to eighth place we quit watching because there was at least 50 teams left,” said Brandon Bullinger. “It was the last team that bumped us out. The last four years our goal was to fish the final day. It was the biggest let down ever to miss by eight ounces.”

Nevertheless, quite remarkably, the team finished 11th in the world standings and 25th in the national standings in the largest field of high school anglers ever assembled.

“I’d say fishing with 398 other boats in the morning, competing, and ending up 25th in the nationals and 11th in the world finals is probably the highlight of the trip,” said Logan Bullinger.

Brandon agreed, even though he wished for just one more fish that final day to replace a 2.2 pound largemouth, the smallest fish they brought to the scale on the final day.

“Sitting there in the morning with nearly 400 other boats in a little area, waiting to blast off, getting ready to go, pulling up to your first spot. There’s nothing better,” said Brandon Bullinger.

Nothing better except one fish a little bit bigger on that final day. Oh, so close! But Team Bullinger had a great effort in one of the most difficult atmospheres on the water – tournament fishing. And, said Brandon Bullinger, they never experienced “the one that got away” in four days of fishing.

“We didn’t lose a fish all week long,” said Brandon Bullinger. “And we got to talk to people from all over the United States. It was cool to learn how their lakes work and all the stuff.”

“We went into it knowing what to expect,” added Logan Bullinger. “It wasn’t intimidating.”

What to expect, aside from a large field of accomplished high school fishermen, was Lake Hartwell, a lake very different from anything found in North Dakota.

“This was nothing like North Dakota what so ever. It was a whole new thing,” explained Brandon Bullinger. “Everything you fish there is done by lake managers that drop in brush piles around the whole entire lake, from 35 feet up to 10 feet. Every morning the fish school on top and you fish topwater in the morning. Later on our main spot was dragging old timber in 35 to 38 feet of water with a six-inch Robo worm.”

The color? Pink morning dawn, either on a drop-shot or a shaky head, two favorite presentations for Brandon Bullinger. Brother Logan prefers much the same.

“My favorite presentation is probably a Ned rig or drop shot. We use a jighead we make ourself, mushroom shaped, and just a straight-tailed worm on the drop shot.”

Brandon says he intends to attend Bismarck State College next fall, preferring to stay in North Dakota.

“That’s my plan, to go to college and then, down the road, try the open,” said Brandon Bullinger.

The “open” would be trying to crack into the big bass fishing circuits where big paydays are possible.

“I would love to move on to that. We’ll see,” said Brandon Bullinger.

“We’ve been fishing our whole life and love fishing tournaments,” said Logan Bullinger. “To be a really good fishermen you have to be good at multiple techniques and really good at one technique. You have to take the luck out of fishing.”

In high school fishing all teams include a dedicated boat driver. The Bullingers had their father, Scott, at the consul of a Bass Cat Puma with a 250 horsepower outboard.

“He’s the best boat driver ever. One day he went 12 or 13 miles past our starting spot because he didn’t want to lose a boat race,” laughed Brandon Bullinger.

Anyone interested in learning more about high school fishing in North Dakota can find information, including a list of tournaments, on Facebook at North Dakota High School Fishing – Student Angler Federation. The ND State Championship is set for Aug. 14 on Lake Audubon. The winner will advance to the 2022 National Championship on Pickwick Lake in Florence, Alabama.