American Bass Anglers 2009  Schedule

COFFEEN        FEBRUARY         1                CONFIRMED                   7:00 - 3:00
COFFEEN        FEBRUARY       21                 CONFIRMED                   6:30 - 2:30
NEWTON         MARCH                8                 CONFIRMED                  5:45 - 2:30       Warm Water
EAST FORK    MARCH              21                 CONFIRMED                    6:30 - 3:00
EAST FORK    APRIL                   4                 CONFIRMED                    6:00 - 2:30
EAST FORK    APRIL                 26                 CONFIRMED                    5:15 - 1:30
EAST FORK    MAY                      9                 CONFIRMED                    5:15 - 1:30
BORAH            MAY                     10                 CONFIRMED                    5:15 - 1:30
REND LAKE   MAY                     30                CONFIRMED                    5:00 - 1:30     Sailboat Harbor
EAST FORK   JUNE                   13                 CONFIRMED                    5:00 - 1:30
REND LAKE   JUNE                   27               CONFIRMED                    5:00 - 1:30     Sailboat Harbor
EAST FORK   JULY                    25                 CONFIRMED                    5:15- 1:30                                                                          CHAMPIONSHIP
EAST FORK LAKE
        AUGUST  15TH                  5:30 - 2:00
                         AND 16TH         5:30 - 2:00










Rick Klanke > Director
Mike Buchanan > Asst. Director
Larry Pierce >
Asst. Director
This should be an exciting upcoming year. The weights of fish taken from these lakes last year was truly awesome. We
had several limits that approached and some topped the 20 lb mark. I personally had several events that I caught up to
6-limits of fish in one day. That is truly amazing.
    Coffeen is a warm water power plant lake which has a 25hp restriction , I use my boat with a trolling motor only and was
culling before 9 a.m. in January this past year. A 25 hp motor is good to have but you can do without one and still catch
a limit of fish. Coffeen may not have as many big fish as some lakes but it does have some and it has what appears to be
an unlimited supply of good quality fish. Coffeen is well known for numbers of fish.
   Newton Lake is a warm water power plant lake which has a 25hp restriction . I also use my trolling motor only on
this lake and have won several events in the past just trolling around the available coves that are abundant on this lake. Keep
in mind when fishing Newton, it is always a good idea to have another set of batteries available. It seems the lake lays just
right to always have a strong breeze going across it. Newton has a 3-fish limit with a minimum of 18" size on them. So
normally it takes a 4lb plus to have a keeper fish. Bring some strong line when fishing Newton Lake an 8lb plus fish is always
a possibility and 7lb'ers are quite common. If you are there on the right day an 18lb limit with three fish is a good possibility.
     East Fork Lake in the city of Olney, Illinois is truly the best bass lake I have ever fished. It is amazing the size and
quantity of fish that this lake produces week after week. we have had several events on this lake where over half the field of
anglers boated a limit of fish. I have had numerous multi limit days including several times where I just could not keep up
with the count of limits of fish. We have had one limit brought in that weighed 22.77 lbs with 5-fish. and at least 2-others that
I know of that broke the 20lb mark. The largest string brought in this past year was on a crankbait but a jig seems to rule the
tournament scene most of the time. East Fork has no motor restrictions but it does have a daily fee of about $10 or a one
time yearly fee of $50. It seems like a lot of money to fish until you have fished this lake a few times and then you realize
that it is cheap in comparison. On some of the larger lakes you may burn $50 worth of gas in a day and not catch even half
as many fish.
    Borah Lake is East Fork's smaller sister lake that is located just around the corner from the East Fork Lake. I have only
fished Borah a couple of times myself but was really impressed with the amount of quality fish this lake has to offer. The first
hour and a half I boated at least 50 bass with only one keeper. But I slowed down with a jig and caught a 6.22 lb fish and took
big bass at the event. Borah is quite small but it has numerous coves and troughs and docks and grass which makes it a fun
lake to fish. Olney's boat tag is also good for this lake as well. Borah has no motor restriction.
    Rend Lake is the largest lake we are fishing this year. Rend can be a fun lake to fish at times when the fish load up in the
grass and are attacking anything going by. Hopefully with these dates next year we can hit Rend on some of the better fishing
periods. Rend has also produced some very large fish at times which can be taken on cranks and jigs almost all of the time.

     I am already getting fired up about next years schedule. It should be a real blast !! All you have to do is show up at the
ramp and pay your entry fee and yearly membership of $25. ( we pay $10 of it your first year ) and you are ready to go. If you
bring a boat you will get to use your boat. If you do not bring a boat you will be paired with one of the boaters by draw at the
morning meeting. Depending on the luck of the draw you may or may not have a partner that day. Please read all rules before
that tournament. http://www.americanbassanglers.com/rules.php
We have a great group of anglers that are fishing with us !! They may not give up all of their secrets but they
are always willing to help someone out. You can't help but become a better angler when you are fishing with this group of
anglers.
Good Luck All
Rick Klanke
District # 68
American Bass Anglers
E-mail rtklanke@wabash.net
Home    618-665-4158
Cell       217-690-2870