Burke Keeps Reeling in Victories — Senior Spotlight

By Greg Ritchie

Messenger Reporter

LATEXO –  For most high school athletes, success comes on a court, field, or track. For Latexo High School senior Benjamin Burke, it comes at the end of a fishing line.

Burke, 17, has been part of the Latexo fishing team since its earliest days — long before he could even drive to a lake on his own. What started as a childhood pastime has grown into a passion and a pursuit that now has him preparing to fish at the collegiate level next year.

“I think it’s the challenge — the pursuit of something that never really ends,” Burke said. “It’s about constantly learning, adapting, and understanding what’s going on in the water. Time on the water trumps everything.”

Burke said he started fishing around the sixth grade when Latexo launched its first student angling team. While many classmates focused on basketball or football, Burke found his rhythm in the quiet patience and complexity of bass fishing.

“It used to be an escape,” he said. “Now it’s what I think about all the time — on or off the water.”

He’s since turned that passion into measurable success. Over the last two seasons, Burke has taken home prize money from most tournaments he’s entered — a record that his coach, Jessica Cutshall, says reflects both talent and tenacity.

“This has probably been our best start to a season ever,” Cutshall said. “We haven’t fished a single tournament this year without at least two anglers or teams placing and winning money — and Benjamin’s been right at the top of that.”

Cutshall said Burke has been with the program since the very beginning, when she and her husband founded the Latexo High School Fishing Team.

“He was one of the originals,” she said. “Even back then, he’d spend every spare minute on the water or the country club lake. This summer, he even took a job in Lufkin so he could fish Lake Sam Rayburn every chance he got. He’s dedicated.”

Burke agrees that dedication — not luck — is what separates good anglers from great ones.

“It’s instinct,” he said. “You build it through time and experience. You start to read what’s happening under the water — how the fish react, how they move. You learn to adapt quickly when things change.”

With the help of modern technology like forward-facing sonar, Burke studies fish behavior in real time, observing how they react to lures, light, and temperature changes.

“You can actually watch body language now,” he said. “You can read what’s going on and adapt based on how they react.”

Though his life revolves around fishing, Burke hasn’t let schoolwork slip. He maintains a 3.8 GPA and ranks near the top of his senior class as a member of the Beta Club.

“I’ve always been a good student,” he said. “Graduating this year feels great — and I’m looking forward to the next chapter.”

That next chapter will take him to Louisiana State University–Shreveport, one of the top-ranked collegiate fishing programs in the country. Burke plans to major in business administration while competing for the university’s fishing team.

“My goal is to fish professionally,” he said. “If not that, I want to work in marketing or something related to the fishing industry. I want to stay around it either way.”

Coach Cutshall says that’s exactly the kind of spirit she hoped to foster when she and her husband started the Latexo team years ago.

“When I was coaching, I saw a group of kids who weren’t interested in traditional sports but loved the outdoors,” she said. “We wanted to give them an outlet that was competitive but different — something that rewards patience, discipline, and hard work.”

That approach has clearly paid off. Under Cutshall’s leadership, the Latexo team has become one of the region’s most successful youth fishing programs.

“Benjamin’s a perfect example of what can happen when a student finds their thing and commits to it,” she said. “He’s worked hard for every win.”

As Burke prepares for graduation, he says his focus remains the same — spending as much time on the water as he can and learning something new each trip.

“I try to put everything I make right back into fishing — gas, gear, travel,” he said. “Every chance I get, I’m out there trying to get better.”

Whether it’s tracking bass on a sonar screen or studying for his next exam, Burke’s drive is clear. And as Cutshall puts it, he’s proof that success can come in many forms — sometimes even with a rod and reel.

Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]