Pinckneyville High School wins IHSA Bass Fishing State Championship

Boats manufactured by Crestliner, Bass Tracker, Phoenix, Skeeters and others waited for take off at Carlyle Lake for the 10th Illinois High School Association (IHSA) State Bass Fishing Championship. After rain delays Friday and the bitter taste of a goose egg by many schools, anglers were anxious and determined to hit the water and give it another shot.  For the top schools, determination, patience and faith in their plan were fresh in their minds.

IHSA State Finals at Carlyle Lake

First, let me congratulate all those anglers and schools that made it to the state championship. It takes hours of casting, trips to local sporting good stores, and studying of lake maps off the water that led to these great accomplishments for all of you this year. 

"I've learned a lot this year from fishing both on and off the water" said Aidan Kolb from Nazareth Academy.   "You have to know how to cast well and tie knots and get back in the water as fast as possible." he continued.    "It's mental, I think about it a lot and prepare all my stuff." said his teammate Marty McNamara.  I was able to talk to these two as they waited for their other teammates to come in and swap for half the day. 

Throughout the rest of the day, I had the opportunity to chat with several anglers and coaches on the water.  "This is their third year qualifying for state" said boat captain and coach Ron Boyer of Farmington.  It showed as this team worked a stretch of sea wall no longer than 35 yards for nearly 6 hours.  They ended up pulling in five keepers and culling one, which helped them secure second place with a total weight of 15.11 lbs.

Farmington High School took 2nd place at the IHSA State Finals 

"We had to switch from lure to lure and stay dedicated to our plan." said Reece Rother, a member of the St. Charles North #1 team.  Coach Tim Pinks said that, "it was a tough day on the water.  We had boats and other anglers around us all day."  St. Charles North #1 managed to weigh-in a two day total of 15.3 lbs taking third place this year.

Big Bass went to Pierce Knarr of Stillman Valley with a bass weighing in at 4.15 lbs.  When asked what it took to catch that biggin' Pierce stated that, "it took alot of covering water. Casting and reeling, casting and reeling." "I have to thank my couch and my net man, because I couldn't do it without them." he continued.  If you ask Pierce what he caught that fish on all you'll get out of him is that he used a crankbait and when pushed further stated it was a shallow one.

With a two day total of 17.8 lbs the 2018 Champions were the Pinckneyville Panthers. Coach Kreger said that with the weather they needed to keep changing things up.  "They got bit and they put em' in the boat." he said.  Like Farmington, Pinckneyville High School was dedicated to one particular spot.  "We knew the fish we're there we just just had to grind." said Dalton Pyatt of the Pinckneyville Panthers.  "We used the slower baits, so it was a long, long day." he continued.  Teammate Kyle Kreger said, "We knew things were going to be slow, but we stayed in our same spot and it paid off."

Coach Kreger when he realized his team won the State Finals

Over the past ten years many high schools from across the state of Illinois have entered the sport of fishing and it is from those schools anglers have been able to continue their passion for fishing at the college level.  We look forward to seeing the many new anglers that enter the field next year and anticipate another great season.

If you are a coach or boat captain for a high school fishing team and would like Capitol Outdoors to come talk with your team, reach out to us.

Check out more results from the state finals here.

Watch the LIVE weigh-in here.

View photos from Day 2 of the State Finals here.

High School Anglers from Across Illinois Head to State Finals at Carlyle

Anticipation is jumping out of the water for high school anglers this week, especially those that have made it to State.  Having to sit in class thinking about, what to throw, where to go, and most of all if a pattern will develop and hold for the duration of the IHSA State Finals must be daunting.   I'm sure a few anglers will be on their computers or cell phones throughout the day checking out Fishidy, Youtube and anything else that will help give them the competitive edge this weekend.

Mundhenke Brothers are headed back to Carlyle Lake for the IHSA Bass Fishing State Finals

Illinois High schools launched into lakes throughout the state this past week in hopes of securing a spot at the IHSA Bass Fishing State Finals.  Brothers Chase and Ty Mundhenke, who are no strangers to Carlyle Lake, fished in the Sangchris Lake Sectional Monday in hopes of securing the top spot two years in a row.

Chase and Ty Mundhenke - Sangchris Lake Sectional Champs

"We never really had a pattern or  a plan." they said.   Chase, a senior at Glenwood will be fishing at Auburn University next year.  When asked what he looks forward to most about fishing in college, Chase stated that he " looks forward to fishing the bigger tournaments, more competition, the different lakes and learning new things." 

Glenwood pulled into the ramp and said that they wanted to weigh-in as fast as possible.  Why, you may ask, well, their big bass of the day was hanging on by a thread and they did not want to weigh-in a dead fish.  Weighing in a dead fish would have cost them half a pound on the scale.  After all said and done, they would have been knocked down to second place.  When asked what they had to do to keep that fish alive, they both chuckled.  "The whole last hour, I was hanging over the seat into the live-well, running the fish back and forth." Chase said.  He spent the better of 45 minutes basically continually resuscitating the fish to make sure that it stayed alive. Pure dedication right there.

Glenwood Bass Fishing Coach Jodie Mundhenke with sons Chase and Ty
at the Glenwood Bass Fishing Open

Bass Fishing is a family activity in the Mundhenke family.  Jodie Mundhenke, mother of the first place team is also the Glenwood Bass Fishing Coach.

Rochester High School finished in Second Place, missing out on that top spot by only .06 lbs.  Garrett Schienschang and Josh Cox from the Rochester Rockets said that it "took a lot of time and a lot of pre-fishing.  We had a plan and we stuck to it."  Using jigs in deep water, they managed to get their biggest bass at the start of the day and their second biggest at the very end.

Rochester High School Bass Fishing Team weighing in fish for their second place finish

Coady Richardson, a senior from Edinburg High School stated that, "fishing was pretty good, we had a lot of luck using chatterbaits."  He said that he has enjoyed high school bass fishing and likes the peace and quiet. 
Top three fishing teams were Chatham, Rochester and Edinburg.  These three teams have put time and dedication into the sport this year, fishing opens and other tournaments throughout the area and we have seen them progress throughout the season.

Sangchris Lake Sectional Results

1st - Chatham (Glenwood) - 14.87 lbs 

2nd - Rochester - 14.81 lbs 

3rd - Edinburg - 12.92 lbs 

Big Bass- Chase Mundhenke 4.52 lbs

Alternate - Vernon (North Mac) 12.05 lbs

(Scores taken from weigh-in board at event and subject to approval from IHSA Office for accuracy)

Missed the Sangchris Sectional Weigh-in? Watch it here.

Sectional Results from across the State can here found here.

State Finals will be held May 18 -19th at Carlyle Lake.  We want to Congratulate all the high schools that are moving on and we can't wait to see the fish you bring in at Carlyle. 

Can't make it down to Carlyle to watch your team weigh-in?

 Don't worry, we will be broadcasting LIVE on FB from the IHSA State Final Bass Tournament on Saturday, May 19th.  Be ready to cheer your team on!