'I Love Every Bit Of It': Bahr Brothers Pursue Passion For Fishing
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – It all comes together this weekend – a high school sport and a Minnesota tradition.
Much of the success of high school fishing can be traced to one of the first programs in Brainerd, where a family doesn't just participate – it has become a business for two high school sons.
It's the annual Brainerd Fish Fling and the Bahr boys are right in the middle of it. They are kicking off the fishing season here and they understand what that means because the Bahr family would rather be on a lake fishing against each other.
"Whenever we go fishing, we couldn't go fishing without having a competition," Tyler Bahr said.
Dad is the head coach for the Brainerd High School fishing team – started it five years ago.
"When we started there was one or two other fairly good-sized teams and now there is over 100," Jason Bahr said.
His two sons were quick to join because they had an opportunity to pursue their passion and be part of a team.
"Tyler and I, we've always had a passion for fishing and when we heard we could compete and be part of a high school team, it was like wow, that's something different we've never done before," Kyle Bahr said.
Then the two boys took it to another level, becoming fishing entrepreneurs by creating their own artificial bait and taking it to market. That's right, they are in the game as business partners dangling to the angling community.
"Tyler and I, we started Juice Bait Company. We've been doing it since March of 2018 and really we carry everything that you need from bass and walleye plastics down to crappie plastics," Kyle said.
In the meantime, they and their father are continuing to grow the sport at the high school level, where popularity is high and they hope turns into a sport recognized by the high school league.
"We've always had one of the larger teams. In fact, for a couple years we were told we were the largest team in the country. We've always averaged between 120 and 140 anglers," Jason said.
It's bass competition at the high school level, but for most this weekend matters. Walleye or anything they can catch any time.
"I love every bit of it. I like chasing anything that bites my hook," Kyle said.
Yes, rain or shine, these kids that participate just want to fish.
"In the summertime, most of our anglers fish bass in their high school tournaments, but we do a lot of ice fishing tournaments where we do multispecies," Jason said. "Twelve months of the year we're fishing for something."
