Thursday, April 16, 2009 8:29 PM CDT
Playing hook-y: High school anglers compete in first IHSA fishing tournament
BY LES WINKELER, Lee News Service
LAKE OF EGYPT — Bass fishermen from six local high schools learned the realities of tournament fishing Friday while battling the elements in the first Illinois High School Association sanctioned event in Southern Illinois.
Lightning forced teams off the lake at about noon. The weigh-in had been scheduled for 2 p.m.
“It was a baptism under fire,” said Marion coach Steve Smith. “I didn’t think we’d get any of this in, to tell you the truth.”
Students not only learned about dealing with the elements, but also the pressures of tournament fishing.
“Yes, sir, it is different,” said Marion junior John Cummins. “It’s a challenge. The pressure gets to you.
“You have to be always thinking about fishing. You can’t be daydreaming. You have to be focused more or less.”
Cummins and his partner, Matt Morrison, another Marion junior, took first place in the event. They weighed in 8.42 pounds, taking first place by just over a half-pound.
“I liked it,” Morrison said. “I didn’t think about the time. I didn’t look at the time once. I was just concerned about fishing.’
It was a good day for the Marion squad as two other boats finished in the top five. A.J. Whitlock and Jacob McCree placed second with 7.88 pounds. Whitlock won big bass honors with a 4.64-pound fish.
Matt Strobel and Justin Oxford of Marion were fourth. Also placing in the top five were Caleb Hilliard and Dylan Mangrum of Crab Orchard, third, and Josh Smith and Gabe Morgan of Carrier Mills, fifth.
This is the first year the IHSA has sanctioned bass fishing as a competitive event.
Marion High School will host the sectional competition at Lake of Egypt April 24. Eleven teams are to compete. The first state championships will be held at Carlyle Lake May 8 and 9.
Friday’s event at the Lake of Egypt was the first competition is Southern Illinois. Marion athletic director Mike Chornak said 19 boats from Marion, Crab Orchard, Carrier Mills, Herrin, Shawnee and Goreville competed. All but four boats weighed in fish.
The weather helped make the event memorable, both for anglers and school officials.
“This gives them a taste of what can happen,” Chornak said, while taking shelter from the rain. “This is Southern Illinois weather right here.
“They got a good five hours of fishing in. We started at 7 a.m. and pulled them off the lake at noon.”
Cummins and Morrison learned one more lesson in their first competitive tournament, never come clean with information other anglers can use.
When asked about techniques and bait, the duo would only admit to using soft plastics around shoreline cover.
From all accounts, the first tournament, rain and all, was a success.
“We’re hoping this parlays into some fall events so we can keep these kids all year round,” Smith said.
Contact Winkeler at les.winkeler@thesouthern.com/618-351-5088
Add your comments
Not already registered?
Then click Here.
Comment policy:
JG-TC.com encourages readers to engage in civil conversation with their neighbors. Comments that are submitted are not posted to the site immediately. They go into a queue to be moderated and may take several hours to be reviewed. Comments posted on Saturday may not be reviewed until Sunday afternoon.
In order to keep the page a set width, long lines (mostly long links) will be chopped. Try putting spaces in your links or consider using tinyurl.com to make a smaller link that you can include.
We will never edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to remove comments that violate our code of conduct.
No comment may contain:
* Potentially libelous statements; such as accusing somebody of a crime, defamation of character, or statements that can harm somebody's reputation.
* Obscene, explicit, or racist language.
* Personal attacks, insults, threats, harassment or inciting violence.
* Commercial product promotions.
If you have any questions, please contact our moderator.
|
|
|
|
|
