Illinois High School Bass Fishing

As many of you know, I help coach the Pinckneyville High School bass fishing team.  In the spring of 2009 the Illinois High School Sports Association (IHSA) sanctioned bass fishing as a high school sport/activity.  Despite some of the naysayers, this has turned out to be an incredibly positive decision by the IHSA.  I can only speak for our team when I say we have had a blast.  We hold 4 qualifying events in the summer for our students.  From those events we select our 6 competitors for the state senctioned competition (each school is allowed two 2-man teams with an alternate).  We meet every other week for two hours in a classroom setting to educate our anglers about fishing patterns, fish behavior, fishing mechanics and seasonal patterns.  It has been pretty rewarding to watch students who didn't know the difference between pitching and flipping not only learn the difference, but know when to use which technique.  With all of that said, the 2010 IHSA bass fishing sectinal tournaments took place last Friday, and for the second straight year Pinckneyville High School was fortunate enough to advance a team to the state tournament.  The state tournament will take place on May 7th and 8th at Carlyle Lake in Carlyle, IL.  Good Luck to all of those who qualified.
God Bless,
D