NORFOLK, Neb. -- 415 miles away on the Mississippi River, Ryder Kahny and Taylor Wagner went to the National High School Fishing Championships in Wisconsin hoping to finish in the top 100. 

Little did they know when they left for the Badger State that they would place where no other Nebraska high school angler had before.

On the way to Wisconsin, Kahny and Wagner were excited to get into the new waters and were hoping to finish in the top 100, out of 400 boats.  

“I was looking forward to just fishing in a new body of water, and hoping we’d placed in the top 100,” Wagner said. “We did way better than that got sixth and 13th at worlds.”

According to Kahny, the first day was a great moment for the group, as they were at the top of the leaderboard after 200 boats weighed their catches.

The three-day weight for the pair was 27 pounds and eight ounces and placed sixth at nationals and qualified for the world finals.

Kahny made a phone call to their tournament director and got news that made him realize how well the two were doing.

Kahny said that made them excited to fish the rest of the way.

“I had no idea we would go down there and do that well," Kahny said. "We called our tournament director and he told us the news that Nebraska has never had a team place that well, so after that it kind of lit a fire under me. I wanted to fish hard, and I wanted to fish good.”

It was not an easy road to qualify for the world finals for the pair, according to Boat Captain Dave Abler.  

Abler said the boys would wake up just after 3 a.m. to fish, go to weigh-ins for four hours, clean the boat, and not get back to the hotel until dark.

While the three traveled over 20 miles every day to find the perfect spot to fish, there was a good luck charm that never failed when they needed a fish.

“I don’t know what it is, but if I lay down and close my eyes in the driver’s seat or something, they’ll catch a fish so when we need a fish, I try and take a nap,” Abler said.

Jumping in, Kahny said, “It never fails.”

Kahny and Wagner caught five fish off Abler’s five naps during the week.

The two said they will practice the rest of the summer as they hope to fish at a few tournaments in the fall before competing in the 2024 Bass National Championships.

Abler mentioned how they would not be able to travel and fish at competitions without their sponsors: Kahny Service and Repair, Frontier Bank, Central Valley Ag, Nucor, Power House Lithium, Elkhorn Valley Bank and Trust, Sound Works, HyVee, and Midwest Hawg Hunters.