Northlake has had many wins this year in sports. Boys soccer won state, girls basketball made the championship, the powerlifting team had multiple placements in the LHSAA State Powerlifting meet, and multiple other sports have seen tremendous success. While most high schools are known for Friday night lights, cheering on football, basketball, and supporting major teams, few high schools have the opportunity to also support a fishing team.

Northlake’s fishing team, currently led by senior Chris Capdeboscq and junior Sam Acosta, has won the State Championship in Toledo Bend on Mar. 23 with five fish weighing 25 lbs nine ounces and finished ninth out of 300 teams the following weekend at the Bassmaster High School Southern Open on Lake Guntersville with a five fish limit weighing 16 pounds four ounces.

“I’m always nervous when I fish but I was fairly relaxed and I fish better when I just try to have fun so we just focused on having fun and everything else fell into place,” said Capdeboscq about the tournaments.

They are competing in two tournaments and have been qualified for both the Bass Federation (THB) Championship in June and the Bass Master Championship in August.  

Capdeboscq formed the fishing team with former student Dillon Wilson in 2015. When Wilson transferred, Capdeboscq was faced with a dilemma of losing his partner. This problem was solved when Acosta, who is a teammate of Capdeboscq’s on the baseball team, decided to join the team.

“I love bass fishing. I played baseball my whole life and had surgeries which kept me out of playing baseball,” said Capdeboscq about his reason for fishing and forming the team. “Baseball had occupied my whole life everyday since I was four and since I couldn’t do that anymore at the time I needed something else to occupy my time and found fishing.”

Every tournament has a limit to the fish that can be caught. In order to win one’s team must catch the biggest of the available fish. Capdeboscq and Acosta have been competing in tournaments against upwards of 100 teams there. By winning, teams receive recognition for their talent, a trophy, and media exposure. If they win the national championship they receive scholarship money.

The tournaments, while nerve-wracking, were also described as fun and helped them grow as fishermen.

“[It] was an amazing experience and I became a better angler,” said Capdeboscq.

“I was definitely nervous at the beginning with all the boats seeing everybody there, but once we started catching fish it relieved the stress,” said Acosta.

While making a stand to form a whole new team for a sport outside the norm, Capdeboscq, along with Acosta, are also members of the baseball team and have to juggle both sports. Capdeboscq described the struggle.

“Juggling baseball and fishing is hard, but luckily I have a great coach who is willing to work with me,” said Capdeboscq.

While Capdeboscq loves both sports, he described fishing as “the most addictive thing in the world.”

“It has an addictive nature. When you get one bite, you keep striving to get more,” said Capdeboscq.

Capdeboscq and Acosta described fishing as something that comes second nature to them. Capdeboscq will be leaving the team upon graduation this May, but plans to still fish whenever he can. Acosta’s plans for competing are undecided, but also plans to continue fishing–something he began as a child and an activity he finds rest in.