05-09-2009, 03:10 AM
BLOOMINGTON, ILL. -- The 2009 IHSA Bass Fishing State Finals mark the inaugural season of bass fishing competition in the state of Illinois,
as well as in the nation at the high school level. The action will unfold on Carlyle Lake in Carlyle (50 miles east of St. Louis) on Friday and Saturday,<br />
May 8-9. The IHSA became the first high school association in the country to sanction bass fishing at a Board of Directors meeting in June,<br />
2008. The City of Carlyle will have a number of interactive events, including Bass Celebration, coordinated in conjunction with the state finals<br />
(click the schedule above for more information).<br />
The state finals will feature 53 teams competing for the state title. Each team will have a single boat, with an adult driver and two students fishing<br />
at a time. Some teams have three individuals who qualified to compete in the state finals. Only two individuals can be in the boat at a time, leaving<br />
the third angler to wait on land. A team with three individuals has no limit on the number of times they can substitute their students on the boat. A<br />
team can return to land with a maximum of five fish to be weighed. The team with the largest combined weight from their Friday and Saturday fish<br />
weight totals will be declared the state champion. Team ties will be broken by the largest individual fish caught and then by the total number of fish<br />
caught. Weight penalties will be assessed if participants are late returning to land or if fish do not survive.<br />
State Final qualifying occurred at 18 Sectional lakes throughout the state on Friday, April 24, with three teams advancing from each Sectional,<br />
with the exception of Tampier Lake, which had two teams advance. 48 schools will be represented among the 53 boats, as five schools (Highland,<br />
Macon (Meridian), Rochelle, Teutopolis, Zion-Benton) qualified two boats per school to compete in the state finals. With no common lake in the<br />
equation, picking a state final favorite based on Sectional results is futile and will likely render the following statistics useless: of the 53 qualifying<br />
teams, 33 caught the maximum five fish at their Sectionals, while seven schools managed to advance based on the merit of a single catch. Four<br />
advancing teams caught four fish and three qualifiers caught three, while the six remaining qualifiers caught two fish to advance. Vernon Hills and<br />
Streamwood caught two and one fish, respectively, at the Chain O'Lakes #1 Sectional and still managed to score a larger weight total than Hersey's<br />
five fish. Several Sectionals saw numerous teams catch the maximum five fish, leaving 23 five-fish teams who did not qualify for the state finals.<br />
Carrier Mills (C.M.-Stonefort) produced the state's best Sectional total, catching five fish on Lake Egypt with a combined weight of 14.40 pounds.<br />
Coal City #1 (LaSalle Lake, 14.19 pounds) and Zion-Benton #1 (Chain O' Lakes #2, 14.04) were the only two other schools to break 14 pounds.<br />
Sixteen qualifiers managed double-digit pound totals at Sectionals.<br />
The great equalizer in determining the state champion will be Carlyle Lake, the largest man-made and largest inland lake in the state of Illinois. Carlyle<br />
Lake, which was completed in 1966 and remains operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, spans more than 26,000 acres of water and has<br />
over 11,000 acres of land surrounding it. The lake averages 3,260 pounds of fish per water-acre, making it one of the most productive fishing areas<br />
in the state. Carlyle Lake is 3.4 to 4 miles wide and about 15 miles long, while its maximum depth reaches 35 feet with an average depth of 11 feet.<br />
The winning team and largest fish caught this weekend are guaranteed to be state records, but they will also be national records. The NFHS has<br />
confirmed that it does track records in activities/sports that it does not currently sanction, like bass fishing, and that there are currently no bass fishing<br />
records on file. Some IHSA bass fishing odd and ends entering the state finals:<br />
* 214 schools entered into the inaugural IHSA Bass Fishing State Series<br />
* Fisher High School in Fisher, Illinois was the 200th school to register<br />
* 199 schools would go on to compete in 18 Sectionals, with three schools from each Sectional advancing to the State Finals<br />
* Only 53 of an expected 54 teams qualified for the State Finals, as a third school was unable to advance at the Tampier Lake Sectional<br />
* Joliet (Twp.) was the largest school by enrollment (5555) to register a team this season, DeLand-Weldon the smallest (60)<br />
* DeLand-Weldon was the smallest (60) school to advance to the State Finals, Chicago (Brother Rice) the largest (3963.3)<br />
* Wilmette (Regina Dominican) was the only all-girls school registered in the state this year and the Panther team produced a state<br />
qualifying boat featuring juniors Christine Brown and Natalie Hoga.<br />
* Two other female anglers will join the Regina Dominican duo on the water this weekend in Oswego (H.S.) senior Becky Weaver and<br />
Woodstock (Marian) senior Jackie Bowler<br />
* Five teams will have brothers in their boats this weekend, including Grant Park (Derick & Nick Abels), Highland (Jared & Jordan<br />
Mettler), Macon (Meridian) (Dan & Joe Carr), Normal (Community) (Adam & Andrew Bean) and Teutopolis (Jake & Josh Koester)<br />
* Bradley (B.-Bourbonnais) senior Nate Bass may be the most appropriately named angler competing this weekend
as well as in the nation at the high school level. The action will unfold on Carlyle Lake in Carlyle (50 miles east of St. Louis) on Friday and Saturday,<br />
May 8-9. The IHSA became the first high school association in the country to sanction bass fishing at a Board of Directors meeting in June,<br />
2008. The City of Carlyle will have a number of interactive events, including Bass Celebration, coordinated in conjunction with the state finals<br />
(click the schedule above for more information).<br />
The state finals will feature 53 teams competing for the state title. Each team will have a single boat, with an adult driver and two students fishing<br />
at a time. Some teams have three individuals who qualified to compete in the state finals. Only two individuals can be in the boat at a time, leaving<br />
the third angler to wait on land. A team with three individuals has no limit on the number of times they can substitute their students on the boat. A<br />
team can return to land with a maximum of five fish to be weighed. The team with the largest combined weight from their Friday and Saturday fish<br />
weight totals will be declared the state champion. Team ties will be broken by the largest individual fish caught and then by the total number of fish<br />
caught. Weight penalties will be assessed if participants are late returning to land or if fish do not survive.<br />
State Final qualifying occurred at 18 Sectional lakes throughout the state on Friday, April 24, with three teams advancing from each Sectional,<br />
with the exception of Tampier Lake, which had two teams advance. 48 schools will be represented among the 53 boats, as five schools (Highland,<br />
Macon (Meridian), Rochelle, Teutopolis, Zion-Benton) qualified two boats per school to compete in the state finals. With no common lake in the<br />
equation, picking a state final favorite based on Sectional results is futile and will likely render the following statistics useless: of the 53 qualifying<br />
teams, 33 caught the maximum five fish at their Sectionals, while seven schools managed to advance based on the merit of a single catch. Four<br />
advancing teams caught four fish and three qualifiers caught three, while the six remaining qualifiers caught two fish to advance. Vernon Hills and<br />
Streamwood caught two and one fish, respectively, at the Chain O'Lakes #1 Sectional and still managed to score a larger weight total than Hersey's<br />
five fish. Several Sectionals saw numerous teams catch the maximum five fish, leaving 23 five-fish teams who did not qualify for the state finals.<br />
Carrier Mills (C.M.-Stonefort) produced the state's best Sectional total, catching five fish on Lake Egypt with a combined weight of 14.40 pounds.<br />
Coal City #1 (LaSalle Lake, 14.19 pounds) and Zion-Benton #1 (Chain O' Lakes #2, 14.04) were the only two other schools to break 14 pounds.<br />
Sixteen qualifiers managed double-digit pound totals at Sectionals.<br />
The great equalizer in determining the state champion will be Carlyle Lake, the largest man-made and largest inland lake in the state of Illinois. Carlyle<br />
Lake, which was completed in 1966 and remains operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, spans more than 26,000 acres of water and has<br />
over 11,000 acres of land surrounding it. The lake averages 3,260 pounds of fish per water-acre, making it one of the most productive fishing areas<br />
in the state. Carlyle Lake is 3.4 to 4 miles wide and about 15 miles long, while its maximum depth reaches 35 feet with an average depth of 11 feet.<br />
The winning team and largest fish caught this weekend are guaranteed to be state records, but they will also be national records. The NFHS has<br />
confirmed that it does track records in activities/sports that it does not currently sanction, like bass fishing, and that there are currently no bass fishing<br />
records on file. Some IHSA bass fishing odd and ends entering the state finals:<br />
* 214 schools entered into the inaugural IHSA Bass Fishing State Series<br />
* Fisher High School in Fisher, Illinois was the 200th school to register<br />
* 199 schools would go on to compete in 18 Sectionals, with three schools from each Sectional advancing to the State Finals<br />
* Only 53 of an expected 54 teams qualified for the State Finals, as a third school was unable to advance at the Tampier Lake Sectional<br />
* Joliet (Twp.) was the largest school by enrollment (5555) to register a team this season, DeLand-Weldon the smallest (60)<br />
* DeLand-Weldon was the smallest (60) school to advance to the State Finals, Chicago (Brother Rice) the largest (3963.3)<br />
* Wilmette (Regina Dominican) was the only all-girls school registered in the state this year and the Panther team produced a state<br />
qualifying boat featuring juniors Christine Brown and Natalie Hoga.<br />
* Two other female anglers will join the Regina Dominican duo on the water this weekend in Oswego (H.S.) senior Becky Weaver and<br />
Woodstock (Marian) senior Jackie Bowler<br />
* Five teams will have brothers in their boats this weekend, including Grant Park (Derick & Nick Abels), Highland (Jared & Jordan<br />
Mettler), Macon (Meridian) (Dan & Joe Carr), Normal (Community) (Adam & Andrew Bean) and Teutopolis (Jake & Josh Koester)<br />
* Bradley (B.-Bourbonnais) senior Nate Bass may be the most appropriately named angler competing this weekend