It’s early in the morning. Zach Colton hooks a 3-pound fish, which is large enough to greatly increase the HHS fishing team’s chances of going to the state tournament. But before Colton knows it, the monstrous fish escapes. This tragic event would foreshadow the rest of the tournament for the boys of the HHS fishing team.

The HHS fishing team placed fifth out of 20 total fishing teams in the IHSA fishing sectional on the Fox Chain O’Lakes on Friday, catching 6.3 pounds of fish overall, with Faith Lutheran placing first, Buffalo Grove placing second, and St. Viator placing third.

The team failed to reel in a spot for themselves in the statewide tournament. Comprising the team that competed in the tournament were sophomores Nick Dennis, and Tyler and Colton, junior Daniel Dennis, and seniors Trey Seitz and Jake Bowser.

Part of the struggle for some of the team’s members was being able to even find fish.

“I had never fished the Chain O’Lakes before, so I was new to the lake and had to find spots where the fish were biting,” said Daniel Dennis. “Some of the other teams struggled too, but others did well.”

Along with some of the team’s members being inexperienced on the chain, and the team only catching four legally sized fish out of the five they were allowed, two fish from the team’s overall haul managed to get away.

“Those fish would have bumped us up to second, or even third place,” said Colton. “It was tough knowing that after weigh-in. It came down to every fish.”

For the team it seemed as if nothing went right. But for the boys, winning is not all that matters.

“We didn’t win, but overall it was very fun being with the team,” said Colton.

And despite their loss at sectionals, the boys haven’t doubted their fishing abilities for even a second.

“It wasn’t our best… But we’ve worked our butts off to get the reputation that we have in IHSA bass fishing,” said Bowser.

The day after the IHSA Fishing Sectional, members of the team volunteered their time at Dieke Park, helping with the children’s fishing derby that took place on the Saturday.