Cowan’s bass fishing passion pays off
Ayden Cowan with one of his 5 fish limit he submitted to win the state of PA
By John Hartsock - jhartsock@altoonamirror.com
Everett Area High School sophomore Ayden Cowan has had a lifelong passion for fishing.
And in October, Cowan, 15, will have an opportunity to parlay that passion into a big payoff.
Cowan, who lives in Breezewood, qualified for the Big Bass Zone (BBZ) JC World Finals for the Bass Cat Boats Junior Championship presented by Bassmaster. This year’s event will be held on Saturday, Oct. 30 at Lake Taneycomo in Branson, Missouri.
2021 Bass Cat Boats, BBZ JC State Winners
A total of 54 anglers representing each state in the country have qualified for the BBZ World Finals, which is open to teens ages 13 through 19 who, from January through Aug. 15 of this year, have either caught five bass in their state weighing the most combined pounds, or the largest individual largemouth or smallmouth bass in the country.
Up to $90,000 in potential prizes can be won by the angler who catches the largest bass on Lake Taneycomo on Oct. 30.
An additional $260,000 in prizes will be distributed among the second through 54th place winners in the event.
“I’m really excited about it,” said Cowan, who will attend the event with a family cheering section that will include his parents, Monte and Kristy, and his brothers Austin, 20, and Ander, 12. “It’s a great opportunity, not just for me, but for my family, to experience new things.
“I have been fishing ever since I could walk,” Cowan added. “Fishing is my life, and this is such an amazing opportunity for me to compete at the national level for the first time.”
Cowan punched his ticket to the World Finals by catching a mixture of five largemouth and smallmouth bass weighing in at a combined total of 26.02 pounds. He caught the fish between April and August 15 while angling from a boat at two area lakes –Lake Raystown in Huntingdon County and Shawnee Lake in Bedford County.
Cowan actually caught 30 bass that he considered submitting to contest headquarters via a mobile app, but reported only the five largest, as per contest rules.
Cowan’s mother, Kristy, said that their entire family fishes, and she credited Ayden for showing a special type of perseverance to attain a berth in the World Finals.
“His determination has been the key to his success,” Kristy Cowan said of her son. “He’s always been willing to learn new techniques and different ways of fishing.”
Ayden Cowan with his top 5 bass for 26.02 / Carson Forrester with the largest Smallmouth entered in the US
Cowan and Carson Forrester of Chambersburg will represent the state of Pennsylvania in the World Finals competition. Forrester qualified by catching the biggest smallmouth bass — weighing 7.07 pounds — of any contest entrant from throughout the entire country.
The five fish that Forrester caught also weighed more collective pounds than the ones that Cowan caught, but entrants can only qualify in one category, so Cowan was bumped up ahead of Forrester in the weight of total fish caught category from the state of Pennsylvania.
Regardless of the means, qualifying for the prestigious event — which was moved to Missouri for its third year this year after having been held in Idaho in both of its first two years — is a tremendous accomplishment.
The angler who catches the largest bass on Lake Taneycomo on Oct. 30 will be eligible for up to $90,000 in various prizes that can include a $35,000 Bass Cat boat, $25,000 in cash, and a $30,000 college scholarship to Bethel (Tenn.) University, which has a competitive bass fishing team.
But there will be an additional total of $260,000 in prizes distributed among the second through fifty-fourth-place anglers that includes three Bethel University scholarships, four bass fishing trips to Mexico, and various high-end fishing clothing, gear, and equipment.
4 young ladies top the BBZ JC World Finals as state winners
This year’s field includes four girls, and all fish caught will be weighed on a scale on the day of the event.
Along with all the prizes, the young anglers and their families willreceive two nights of free room and board for the event, which was created by and is held under the direction of Bill Siemantel, a veteran California fireman and accomplished bass fisherman.
Siemantel said that his mission is to provide young anglers from across the country with an elite opportunity to fish for bass.
“My goal in this is to get the youths more opportunities to go to something that they’ll never see in their lifetimes,” said Siemantel, who has been inducted into the Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame. “Over the past three years, I’ve been able to put together an event that has provided a total of a million dollars in prizes for the contestants and their families.”
Volunteers at the event will take the teens out on boats to do their fishing. Cowan’s family recently purchased a Nitro Z18 boat. Many other anglers in the World Finals have done their bass fishing in their home states from land, kayaks or float tubes.
“This is a huge event,” Siemantel said of the World Finals. “This is one of the biggest things out there going for the youths – especially those grass-roots anglers from the ages of 13 to 15 who don’t have their own bass boats.
“It’s a really cool thing for kids and their parents to go to an event like this,” Siemantel added.
The opportunities that exist for the young anglers in the event also exceed those that can just be found on the water.
“This is more than just fishing,” said Siemantel, who said that he has made a million dollars in his lifetime doing fishing-related endeavors like filming fishing events, writing books on fishing, and designing award-winning fishing lures. “These anglers are representing their entire state, and boys and girls who have participated in this event have appeared on television news channels, gotten sponsorships with car and truck dealerships, and so many other great opportunities.
The sponsors that make an event like this possible
“They can literally start a career in fishing through this event,” added Siemantel, who tirelessly recruits the sponsors for the events, does not make any money personally from the events, and also donates thousands of dollars of his own money toward the prize packages. “This event is a steppingstone for these youths to understand business, how to promote themselves, and how to use social media. They can have a passion for the sport, and make an unbelievable career for themselves from the sport.”
Cowan’s sponsors include the Duckett Fishing, Shimano, Googan Baits, Favorite Rods, and Mega Bass companies.
“I’m getting sponsors and learning business relationships through fishing in this event,” Cowan said. “It’s incredible. I’ll be working hard to do everything that I can to make Pennsylvania, my sponsors, and my parents proud.”