One of DeKalb County High School’s top bass anglers will be moving on to compete at the college level after graduation this spring. Senior Mason Taylor signed a letter of intent last Thursday to Bryan College in Dayton, Tennessee, on a fishing scholarship for the Lions.
With the announcement, this is the second fishing scholarship awarded to a DCHS student since the DCHS Fishing Team was formed. The first was to Jaxon Humphrey in 2023. Mason was joined by family and friends at a signing ceremony in the DCHS Auditorium.
“Bryan is located in Dayton, Tennessee, close to Chattanooga and right on Lake Chickamauga. I really like the school, and they have all the accommodations for fishermen,” Mason said at the ceremony. He said he plans to study criminal justice or business while at Bryan.
When asked about the sport, Mason said that it’s always been a big part of his life. “We fish just about every other weekend. It’s a year around sport. The biggest largemouth bass I have caught was actually about two weeks ago on Lake Nickajack. It weighed 9.33 pounds. We count the total weight of the best five fish caught and that was our biggest bag so far. We had a little over 25 pounds for our best five fish.”
“I fish all the time. Whenever I am not working, or not in school, I am on the water. I think we have maybe a little less than 10 tournaments left and after I graduate the only tournament left for me will be the high school national championship tournament. After August I’ll be fishing on the college circuit,” said Taylor.
The Bryan College Bass Fishing team has been ranked in the top 25 in the latest pre-season poll for the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year, presented by Abu Garcia. Bryan College finds itself among some of the best bass fishing teams out there, sharing the spotlight with programs like the University of Tennessee and Catawba Valley Community College, who've also earned a spot in the top 25 year after year.
Mason’s high school coach on the fishing team, also just happens to be his father, and Coach Taylor said he is very proud. “My wife and I are really excited about Mason signing today and we look forward to seeing how his future turns out. We have been looking forward to this moment for the last five years for him to be able to go to college and fish.”
“As his father and coach, I have enjoyed being out on the water with him. They call me coach but by the time a kid gets to high school they pretty much know how to fish.”
Taylor said coaching a fishing team is really more about preparedness and safety. “Sometimes we have meetings to show them some things that maybe they haven’t already learned and we stress safety. The organization that we usually follow is Tennessee Bass Nation and they have real strict safety rules so we make sure everybody has and makes use of all the safety gear for their boats and they always have an adult captain with them.”
“A lot of people don’t consider fishing a sport, but these kids are up at 3:30 or 4 o’clock in the morning and they are out there on the lake in the heat, cold, rain, and wind trying to find the productive areas. Mason and his partner have been out on the water no telling how many hours during their high school years,” said Coach Taylor.
Mason’s new coach at Bryan will be Coach Dustin Henderson, and he said that he looks forward to working with his new fisherman. “I am pretty picky about the guys I’m looking at to sign. In order to represent Bryan well, not only do they have to be good fishermen, but they have to be good guys who don’t get into trouble, maintain good grades and do what they are supposed to do.”
“Most tournaments they go to our anglers weigh in their five best bass fish for the day. To go to different lakes and different times of the year, it takes a good fisherman to be able to do that. We compete all over the country from Florida to Oklahoma to Virginia,” said Coach Henderson.
Bryan College is a regionally accredited, liberal arts college in Dayton, Tennessee dedicated to educational excellence with a foundation in biblical principles. With both on-campus and online programs, more than 50 areas of study are offered for Associate’s, Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctorate degrees, as well as professional certificates. Founded in 1930, Bryan College has a rich legacy of educating students to become servants of Christ and make a difference in today’s world. Bryan College is also a member of the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) which includes sixteen full members in seven southeastern states, making it the largest NAIA-affiliated conference.
