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Lake Springfield Open Buddy Catfish Tournament Series
Saturday April 24, 2004
Despite rainy and windy conditions 23 teams showed up to fish the Lake Springfield Open Buddy Catfish Tournament Series opener. Fishing was extremely tough for a few with 11 boats not bringing fish to the weigh-in. Most of the fish were hooked in windy coves, primary points and creek inlets. A few were caught drifting. Shad was the bait of choice with a few fish being caught on shrimp. The team of Tom Sidener and Dan Bolden caught a six fish limit weighing 32 lbs. 7 oz. to take first place. It was a good showing for this duo who had been regulars in the early years of the series and are just now coming back after a two year sabbatical from tournament fishing. They also weighed the big fish of the night with a 9 lb. 1oz. channel cat. Newcomers Mark Blough and Jim Funsch took second place with a weight of 30 lbs. 2 oz. It has also been brought to my attention that Blough is the angler responsible for discovering blue cats in Lake Springfield. It has long been a fact that blue cats do not reside in the lake but upon examination of pictures of the 20 and 30 pound blues Blough caught this winter, by fishery biologist Dan Stephens, the fact is they are there. These fish were released after their photo session and I hope to see one at the a weigh-in soon. Hopefully, it will come out of my live well. Gary Nation teamed up with Bill Georges to bring in a limit of fish weighing 29 lbs. 4 oz. Gary has long been a gut cutter but wasn't willing to comment about the bait he used for their third place finish. So, I will just say, I thought I saw a bucket of shad in his boat. The next tournament will be Saturday May 22, 2004. All of our tournament are sanctioned Cabela's King Kat Classic qualifiers. The hours are 6 PM until 1:30 AM. The entry fee remains the same at $40 per boat and always guaranteed a good time. Need more information? Call me at 217-629-7915. Your TeamWhiskers reporter from the field, Willie Schrader
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