1st Annual World Shooting Complex Bass Fish Off

Bright sunny skies and a light south breeze welcomed all of the fishermen who participated in this year’s First Annual World Shooting Complex Bass Fish Off held on East Lake in Sparta, Illinois. It was one of the quietest take offs I have ever been a part of. Almost everyone used their big boats and trolled around the lake. There was more than enough room for everyone to have a spot to fish. The morning bite seemed to be fairly good with several teams claiming that they caught most of their fish by nine o’clock. The rest of the day the bite was scattered. Teams caught fish on a variety of lures. Some caught them shallow throwing spinnerbaits and soft plastics while others concentrated out deep throwing crankbaits. In the end it was the team of Ron Reeder and Don Porter whose five fish limit topped the scales at 13.82 pounds. In second place was the team of Jason Underwood and TC Shockly. Their five fish limit weighed 12.33 pounds. Taking the last spot in the money was Mark Obrian and Ryan Wachter from the SIU University’s fishing team. Their five bass weighed 12.24 pounds. It was a great turnout for the first year of this event. I would like to thank 17th St. Bar 7 Grill for all of the BBQ and chips they donated to all of the fishermen. Venegoni Distributing donated all of the beer for everyone also. I would also like to thank Strike King Lure Company and Vicious Fishing Line. Every angler went home with some free product. This event will be ongoing and will hopefully reach our maximum limit by next year. I might shorten the fishing day to noon due to the heat in the future. Be sure to watch for the entry forms next year on 7/24Outdoors.com. This event is just going to get bigger and bigger. Thanks to all that came out and participated.