Bass fishing tournament dates set

The IHSA board of directors announced on Thursday that the postponed bass fishing state finals will be held on Friday and Saturday, May 31-June 1 at Carlyle Lake in Carlyle. The tournament, which had originally been set for May 3-4, was postponed due to high water levels at Carlyle Lake.

“We share in the frustration of the qualifying anglers who want to get out and fish,” said IHSA Associate Executive Director Kurt Gibson. “However, we need to make sure that Carlyle Lake has the opportunity to properly lower its water levels before we conduct our state championship. We are confident that, in looking at both the long range weather models and also speaking with the Corps of Engineers, water levels will have dropped sufficiently by the end of the month and enable us to host the state finals at one of our state’s premier fishing venues.”

Several of the IHSA sectional tournaments were delayed due to weather this season, as the 22 sectionals originally scheduled for April 19 were ultimately completed on April 26. Fifty-two boats qualified at the sectional level for the state final tournament and are slated to compete in the fifth annual tournament.