On June 12th the Illinois Bass Nation hosted the 2016 Jr. Bassmaster State Championship on Lake Springfield. The Jr. Bassmasters are anglers from the age of 11 to 13. They are members of a Jr. Bassmaster club and through the club qualify to compete at the State Championship.

The Jr. Bassmasters launched at 5:30 am and were filled with anticipation at the possibility of making to the National Championship in August at Lake Carroll in Tennessee. The top 2 anglers from the State Championship will make up the Illinois Team that will compete at the National event.

The bite at Lake Springfield was definitely on. All of the Jr. Bassmasters brought fish to the scale. The anglers in the hot seats changed a few times during the weigh in and when it was over Dylan Draper held first place with 9.26 lbs, in second place was Luis Flores with 8.41 lbs. and rounding out the top 3 was Tyler Kalebic with 6.70 lbs. Dylan also had the Big Bass of the tournament at 2.36 lbs.

The top 2 anglers, Dylan and Luis, will now compete at the Jr. Bassmaster National Championship. Congratulations to both of you for a job well done.

Dylan and Luis, along with Tyler, are all members of the “Off the Hook” Jr. Bassmaster club and are quickly becoming great anglers. They all brought a 5 fish limit to the scale.

Along with their fellow club members, the Illinois BASS Nation would like to wish Dylan and Luis good luck at the Nationals.