Gordon Lee High School senior Mason Sims is in his last year on the USA youth fly-fishing team and will be trying in August in Spain for a third team gold medal in the world championships.
Then he'll begin his Lee University academic career on scholarship as a member of the Cleveland school's new fly-fishing program coached by Dr. Guy Deloach. Sims hopes to go into full-time mission work after college.
Last weekend at Spruce Pine, N.C., he put his fishing skill to work for charity - and then gave his four-figure winnings to the charity, too.
Sims won the annual Casting for Hope tournament as an individual and was a member of the winning five-man team. His individual triumph came with a $1,000 prize, and he gave that to the Casting for Hope organization that helps people with breast or ovarian cancer. The guys who came in second and third, veteran North Carolina angler Michael Bradley and Colorado resident Jack Arnot - one of Sims' national teammates - donated their winnings as well.
"I've fished this tournament every year for four years," the Chickamauga, Ga., resident said. "The money raised is for a great cause, and it got kind of personal for me. My grandfather got esophageal cancer. I didn't want to keep the money: That was $1,000 that could be used to help somebody else.
"They raised an insane amount of money to help people in several counties in North Carolina. The tournament is fun every year, but the thing that keeps me coming back is that it's for such a great cause. I'm about to start college so I don't know if I'll be able to go back, and I wanted to make sure I went this year."
The five team members fish all five river sections in the tournament, and scoring is done by total fish caught from Friday evening through Sunday evening on Little Rock Creek, Big Rock Creek, Cane Creek, the upper North Toe River and the lower North Toe. Sims and his partner finished third his first year, when the event still had a two-person format, and he was on runner-up teams the next two years.
Sims had the top total in three of his sessions last weekend, beginning with 101 fish on Little Rock Creek with the runner-up catching 55.
Sims said he's ready to move on in all aspects of his life. He has switched from a North Carolina-based regional team to Team Deaddrift from the Atlanta area, and he's looking forward to one more shot at national glory in the youth ranks. Then it's on to college and beyond.
"It's really cool how God's working everything out," he said.
Deloach, an associate professor in Lee's business department, said he expects Sims "to anchor our collegiate fly fishing team that started competitions last weekend with UTK and Clemson. Mason is a very remarkable young man, and we are excited about him being a leader not only on our team but for the advancement of collegiate competitive fly fishing."
Contact Ron Bush at rbush@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6291.