Mt. Vernon, IL, 6/4/11 – The inaugural Student Angler Federation Illinois High School Fishing State Championship was held June 4 at Rend Lake, Mt. Vernon, Illinois, at the Marcum South Boat Ramp. The state championship was a two person team event for students in grades 9 -12. It was open for all high school anglers and their “coach,” who provided provide the boat they competed in. Together, the teams can bring in a 5 bass limit between the two anglers.
Meridian High School Hawks Anglers Jacob Brown and Kyle Gates were victorious and were named the 2011 SAF Illinois High School Fishing State Champions. Together, they brought in a limit of 5 bass that weighed 12.47 lbs. “Early in the morning, we started off trying to flip the brush and it was going a little slow for us, so we went out deeper and started Carolina Riggin’ the flooded points and that’s where we caught most of our fish at the end of the day,” Gates stated. The anglers culled about 15 fish and kept their heaviest five. For bringing in 5 fish that were alive, the team won a bag of baits with TBF Sponsor Berkley’s program called ‘Five Alive’. Continue reading