IHSA Bass Fishing State Meet Put on Hold

(Update attached on 5/13, on bottom)

Due to the constant stretch in recent weather conditions, the Illinois High School Association has postponed the State Bass Fishing Meet at Carlyle Lake.

The event was scheduled to take place on Friday, May 6 and Saturday, May 7. However, the Lake will not be ready for competition on these dates. Rain waters have increased the water levels at the Lake, and it is expected to crest at 13 feet higher than the normal stage.

Rescheduling the event is in the works; and while the IHSA is committed to holding a Meet at Carlyle Lake, a new date has yet to be determined.

"The IHSA will crown a Bass Fishing State Champion in 2011, but in good conscience, we could not hold the tournament as scheduled on May 6th and 7th due to safety concerns," IHSA Associate Director and Bass Fishing administrator Kurt Gibson stated in a press release. "We want to make a decision on the new state final date as soon as possible so that Carlyle and the qualifying schools can plan accordingly. Yet, we also need to exercise a certain level of patience, as our colleagues in Carlyle predict and monitor how the lake will drain over the coming weeks. If that means pushing the tournament into June, we are prepared to do that."

Sectional Meets were held on April 19 and 20. There will be 55 boats, representing 50 schools, at the State Meet.

Moline won the Argyle Lake Sectional in Colchester, and qualified another boat for the State Meet. Senior Zach Latting, junior Devon Gamboe and senior Logan Street were on the winning boat (7.54 total pounds), while senior Austin Paytash, and sophomores Logan VanBlaricome and Jon Berhenke were on the third-place boat (3.79). VanBlaricome had the Meet's largest bass, weighing 2.855 pounds.

Streator won the LaSalle Lake Sectional in Marseilles, and also qualified another boar for the State Meet. Juniors Derek Kruger and Sean Sroka were on the winning board (11.43), while sophomore Blake Angelico and junior Drew Martin were on the third-place boat (11.06). Angelico had the Meet's largest bass, weighing 5.12 pounds.

Rockford Lutheran won the Pierce Lake Sectional in Roscoe with a total of 6.36 pounds, with Rochelle (5.16) second and Boylan (3.24) third. Lutheran sophomore Adam Carlson caught the meet's largest bass (3.46).

Indian Creek was the highest finisher at the Shabbona Lake Sectional, qualifying by placing second with 4.15 pounds. This was on just one bass, which was the meet's largest, caught by sophomore Tim Tausch. Sandwich also qualified with a third-place finish (3.40).

UPDATE:

Plans to reschedule the Bass Fishing State Meet are underway. The IHSA plans to announce a date by June 3.

“The IHSA is continuing to monitor water levels at Carlyle Lake and discussing the situation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Carlyle as well as city of Carlyle officials in attempts to find a date for rescheduling the event," IHSA Associate Executive Director Kurt Gibson stated in a press release. "At this point, it is still too early to know with certainty at what point the lake will recede enough to allow for a safe competition. However, the weekends of June 17-18 and June 24-25 are currently being targeted as potential state final dates."