Lake Springfield, Illinois
Host of the 2008 Anglers Dream Tournament of Champions

Illinois on Line Fishing License

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FishIndy Springfield Illinois Weather

The 2008 Angles Dream Tournament of Champions featured 103 teams on 4400-acre Lake Springfield in Springfield Illinois. For the second straight year the fall classic was struck by a few of Mother Nature’s tricks. Just three weeks prior an unusual second spawn of shad occurred on Lake Springfield. The bass on the lake gorged for three weeks and by the time the event kicked off most of the bass had full bellies and were very picky on just what they would eat. Then just two days before the event the first major cold front of the season moved in. Temperatures dropped into the lower 50s as the event started and continued to plummet for the next two days. Day one featured light winds early that increased throughout the day up to 30 miles per hour.

Day one’s weigh in featured 35 teams bringing just 48 fish to the scales. The day’s leaders Darek Coon and Don Mclain brought only 4 bass that weighed 9.11 pounds. Mark Gonsowski and Peter Banach held Second Place with three fish that went 6.25 pounds. None of the other 33 teams catching fish would boat more than two 15-inch keeper bass during the day. As for the tournament it was still up for grabs.

Day two weather featured much of the same but was magnified. The winds would start out light again during the morning but by noon would increase to about 40 miles per hour. By the end of the tournament the wind was howling there were gust well over 60 miles per hour. This made both the fishing and boating very tough.

Day one leaders Darek Coon, of Bismark, Illinois and Don Mclain, of Lafayette, Indiana, would only manage two keeper fish the second day. But under the circumstances it would be more than enough to keep them on top of the field. Darek and Don’s two-day winning weight was 13.12 pounds. That would be more then 5 ½ pounds better than anyone else in the field. When asked about the two days the winners just shook their heads. On day one they left early before everyone was weighed in. When they came back to check in the following morning they had a hard time believing that they were leading the field. The winners caught all their keeper fish North of the Lindsey Bridge. They were fishing riprap with their boat right up against the shore. If their bait would get to where the water was over two foot deep they would just reel in their bait and cast again. They also stated they fished behind a lot of contenders but it didn’t bother them. Most of them were off the banks casting to it missing most of the fish. But in the case of Coon and Mclain their approach was slow and methodical, casting at times ten cast or more to the same spot to get a fish to bite. When most of the anglers coming to the scales were asked what time of day they caught their fish most of them said it was early. Coon and Mclain stated on both days their fish came after noon. They felt the bigger ones in the northern section of the lake moved up during the day. The winners choice of baits was black and blue Strike King Bitsy Bugs with a small blue zoom trailer. Coon stated, “with the fish gorging on shad that it would take something different could convince the bass to bite”. He also said that would be right up his partners alley, “ Don always has a bitsy bug on and fishes as good as anyone”. Mclain stated, “we had to leave early on day one. The rocks were eating up out baits and we had to go to the local Wal-Mart to find some more. We bought all of them they had”. The winners qualified for the event by finishing fourth in the Anglers Dream Shafer Freeman division. For their efforts they took home a check of $9000 and a few extra bitsy bugs.

In second place was the father daughter team of Robert and Lauren Cook. The Cook’s from Joliet, Illinois fished the Anglers Dream Mazonia Division to qualify for the Lake Springfield Event. Their choice of baits were spinnerbaits in the center section of the lake, between Lindsey and the Route 55 bridge. On the prefish day, Friday, they fished the Southern section of the lake beyond the Route 55 Bridge without getting a bite. So they decided to spend their time during the tournament in the center section. The first day they boated two fish that went 5.33 pounds that put them in fifth place. On day two the Robert and Lauren boated only a single fish that weighed 3.13 pounds. That single fished brought them up from fifth to second place and good for a check of $3050. In the end Robert was in shock. He said “I still can’t believe it. It’s by far Lauren and my greatest fishing accomplishment together”.

Finishing in third place was the team of John Federnok from Osceola, Indiana, and Jeff Burkett from Elkhart, Indiana. The directors of the Anglers Dream Early Bird division boated three keeper bass that went 7.98 pounds. Their fish were taken on green tubes while fishing in the South End of the lake. John and Jeff took home $1600 for their two- day effort.

When all was said and done 103 teams participated in some of the toughest conditions possible in the 2008 Tournament of Champions. 79 fish were brought to the scale that weighed over 185 pounds and over $24,000 was awarded to the top contenders for their efforts. This was truly a test of the best.

The 2009 Anglers Dream Tournament of Champions will commence from the Elizabeth Park Marina on the Detroit River. The Detroit River is the connecting body to both Lake Erie and St. Clair. This area is arguably the greatest smallmouth fishery in the world. Hosting the event will be the city of Trenton, Michigan. The tentative dates are Saturday Sept. 26th and Sunday Sept. 27th with a practice day and dinner on Friday Sept 25th.