Two boys fishing from the same boat won their respective age groups in the FLW National Guard Junior World Championship on the Allegheny River at Kittanning's Riverfront Park yesterday, pocketing $5,000 each in college scholarship funds.

Zack Messer, 16, of Aiken, S.C., blew away the other five boys in the 15 to 18 age bracket with five fish totaling 6 pounds, 7 ounces. It was the only limit taken in yesterday's showdown and included the tournament lunker -- a 1-pound, 14-ounce largemouth -- worth $500 cash.

Daryk Eckert, 14, of Stockport, Ohio, caught three bass totaling 2 pounds, 12 ounces, which put him well ahead of the other five 11- to 14-year-olds in his bracket.

Competing out of a boat operated by FLW Tour pro Tim Klinger of Boulder City, Nev., the boys started their days about 100 yards from Riverfront Park.

They never left because it proved to be productive.

"I caught my biggest fish early in the morning, which got my day going," Messer said. "We'd rest the spot for a while, then come back to it on and off all day, but we stuck to one general area.

"Most of the fish hit within one 50-foot stretch."

Messer fished Bama craw-colored tubes and black Texas-rigged power worms, targeting rocky areas with current and the edge of weed beds.

"If they didn't eat the tube, I'd follow it with a 4-inch worm," said Messer, who had scouted his spot during four days of recent practice-fishing with several local anglers.

He caught most of yesterday's fish in 2 to 7 feet of water left high and stained by rainfall.

Eckert said Texas-rigged power worms in green pumpkin worked for him.

"I had bites all day, so I didn't think the fishing was all that bad," said Eckert. "I wasn't confident I'd caught enough to win, but I was having fun."

Although Matt Hartman, 18, of Fredericksburg, Pa., finished Day 1 of the tournament Friday with a 5-pound, 4-ounce lead, he failed to catch a fish yesterday, as did five other anglers.

Pennsylvania's other representative, Ian Miller, 13, of Portage, did not make yesterday's final cut.