Area high school teams practice for season opener - in bass fishing
Last week's record warmth provided just the right playing field for one group of high school teams - those competing in bass fishing.
After practicing casting all winter in their indoor pools, in some cases, teams headed out to area ponds and lagoons angling to try their hand at catching real fish.
Streamwood High School's team has the luxury of fishing right in their own community, where ponds are stocked with fish. Senior Frank Liquori, who competed at state last year, holds the record so far this year, with a 3.5-pound bass.
On Thursday, they headed to ponds off Rosewood Drive in Streamwood to drop their lines under the watchful eye of Assistant Coach Kenton Evans, an assistant football coach and fishing tournament pro.
Late last month they attended the high school bass classic at Cabela's in Hoffman Estates, where they attended free hands-on clinics led by pro anglers.
On Saturday, they will be among 20 teams competing at one of the first spring tournaments of the year, hosted by Stevenson High School on Fox Lake.
It all builds toward this year's sectional competition taking place Friday, April 23, where teams will try to qualify for one of three spots advancing to the state finals Thursday, May 6, on Carlysle Lake in southern Illinois.
Maine West, Prospect and St. Viator high schools have been assigned to Busse Lake in Elk Grove Village, while Barrington, Buffalo Grove, Grayslake North, Hersey, Libertyville, Stevenson, Streamwood, Vernon Hills, Warren Township, Wauconda and Wheeling high schools all head to the Chain O' Lakes.
The IHSA was the first sanctioning organization in the nation to launch a competitive state series last year and it caught on, you might say, hook, line and sinker.
While they tentatively hoped for 100 teams their first year, they drew nearly double that. This year, another 26 new teams have formed, including St. Viator High School in Arlington Heights, led by teacher Ray Nowak.
"This offers a place for kids that might not compete in some of the other sports," Nowak said.
Teams like Maine West, Conant, Vernon Hills and Streamwood all are veterans, after competing last year at sectionals and advancing to the state competition. They know it takes more than merely dropping a line in to catch the biggest fish.
"There's a lot of science and research involved," says Paul Zafiropoulos, Maine West coach. "You have to know the lake itself and get the lay of the land as much as you can."
To prepare for sectionals, his team will study bathymetry maps to learn the topography of the bottom of Busse Lake as well as research where its depressions and downed trees are.
Likewise, Streamwood High School students have used the online tool Google Earth to research the Chain O' Lakes, as well as talk to members of the West Suburban Bass Anglers who fish the area often.
"Their partnership with us has been one of the biggest contributions to our success," says Marty Baker, Streamwood High School coach and a multispecies angler.
Students learn about when to use baitcasters or spinning reels, as well as about hard baits and soft plastics - no live bait - and all in boats with trolling motors. The competition is a catch-and-release tournament.
"I feel so strongly about this that I hand delivered an application to coach the bass fishing team minutes after I heard the state was going to sanction it as a sport," Baker says. "This offers a new door of opportunity for these kids that never was there before."