JACOBS AND CORDES

WIN ITT 2007 CLASSIC EVENT

TAKE HOME 2008 RANGER BOAT

The Illini Team Trail “Michael D. James” Memorial Classic event combined of the Northern and Southern Divisions was held on Kentucky Lake September 15^th and 16^th going out of the Kentucky Lake Dam area. Between the two divisions there were fifty-seven teams that came with hopes of taking home a brand new 2008 188 VS Ranger Boat plus Ranger Trail Trailer fully equipped including a Mercury 150 OptiMax motor plus accessories.

Day 1 found the teams fishing under sunny skies with stiff winds and finding it difficult to hold on their spots. At take-off Bradley Culp of Sportsman’s (Boat Repair, bait and tackle shop) of Gilbertsville, Kentucky donated and pass out a sack lunch to all the fisherman. Water temperatures were in the mid seventies. As teams brought the first days catch to the scales the early leaders were Jason Jacobs of Gays, Ill. and Marion Cordes of Sullivan, Ill. of the Northern Division. Not only did they bring in the heaviest bag they also weighed in the big bass of the day. Their first day weight was 14.81 pounds of fish, which included the big bass of the tournament, which hit the scales at 5.04 lb. Of the qualifying fifty-seven teams weighing in fish on Day 1 - twelve teams brought in their five fish limits. Day 1 saw 142 fish weighed in with a total weight of 320.78 pounds making an average fish weigh 2.26 pounds. The five largest fish weighed in had weights of 5.04, 4.95, 3.91, 3.78 and 3.76 lb.

Day 2 greeted the anglers with cloudy skies and a slight drizzle that stopped before take-off. There had been a cold front moving through the night and the air temperature at take off was fifty-four degrees. As the day progress the skies cleared and again the temperature was back up in the mid-seventies.

The Day 2 weigh-in found only seven teams bring limits to the scales. There were a total of 103 fish weighed in having a combined weight of 235.74 pounds making the average fish a little lighter on Day 2 (2.23 pounds average). The five largest fish weighed in had weights of 4.94, 4.61, 3.97, 3.87, and 3.56 lb. During the weigh-in a raffle was held. Red’s Muffler Shop (Wayne Shaw) of Urbana donated a Flowmaster Muffler System and Darrell Juvinall of Mahomet had the lucky number. Other raffle prizes were donated by Humminbird, Ranger Boats, Rend Lake Sporting Goods (Alan Metje) of Mt. Vernon, Prairie Outfitters (Rick Cuddy) of Charleston, Dual Pro, and Standard Coffee (Darrell Juvinall).

The winning team of Jason Jacobs and Marion Cordes fished in the Blood River area both days and reported catching most of their fish on a Jim Driskell half-ounce white spinnerbait with copper blade on top and silver blade on the bottom fishing in the back of coves. This was in an area where they started pre-fishing on Thursday and put four fish in the boat almost before they put the boat in the water. They fished the same area both days of the tournament. On day one they had their limit by noon. Their two-day total was 25.13 pounds. This team was also Ranger Cup Qualified for an additional $1,000.00! Jacobs and Cordes are sponsored by PJ Lures and Jim Driskell Spinnerbaits. This team also has an automatic berth into next year’s 2008 Classic tournament. The boat “Classic Winners” plaques were donated by “Tinder’s Rubber Stamps of Lerna, Illinois. Thanks Mark.

Second Place team was Leroy McDuffie of McLeansboro and Aaron Mays of Mt. Vernon. They brought in a total weight for the two days of 24.14 pounds. This team used a variety of baits to bring in their full limits both days using spinnerbaits, Rat-T-Traps, and worms. This team received a check for $10,000.00.

Third place team of Larry Morehead of Decatur and Jeff Stroud of Warrensburg brought in a two-day total of 22.90 pounds having five fish limits both days. Jeff told of using a watermelon-candy worm that Larry had brought back to him from a trip to Arkansas. After the first day they had to go buy more since they only had the one pack. Along with catching fish on the worms they also caught some on spinnerbaits. This team received a check for $5,000.00.

2^nd Big Bass honors went to the team of Jerry Penrod of Norris City and Butch Craig of Stonefort with a 4.95 lb. big bass of the tournament. They were presented a check for $300 and a big bass plaque donated by Tinder’s Rubber Stamps of Lerna, Ill.

* Additional winners included:

Fourth Place: Travis Boley of Weldon - Terry Potts of Clinton  21.20 lb. $2,500.00

Fifth Place: Greg Coleman of Butler - Todd Bates of Taylorville 20.71 lb. $1,000.00

Sixth Place: Josh & Brad Kirchhoff (father & son team), both of Highland 20.41 lb. $900.00

Seventh Place: Brad Peters - Brad Thomas, both of Taylorville  20.04 lb. $800.00

Eighth Place: Rod Childerson of Pochantas - Dan Nicklin of Highland 19.80 lb. $700.00

Ninth Place: Ben Holmes - Derick Holmes (father & son team) of Effingham 18.79 lb. $600.00

Tenth Place: Danny Schipkowski - Steve Tucker, both of Edwardsville 18.33 lb. $500.00

Eleventh Place: Jeff Atchison of Ina - Toby Corn of West Frankfort 17.34 lb. $400.00

Twelfth Place: Scott McIntyre of Decatur - Tony Waters of Springfield, Ill. 17.00 lb. $300.00

1^st Big Bass: Jason Jacobs of Gays- Marion Cordes of Sullivan  5.04 lb. $700.00

2^nd Big Bass: Jerry Penrod of Norris City and Butch Craig of Stonefort   4.95 lb. $300.00

A banquet supper for Classic Qualifiers and guests was held at the “Inn by the Lake” (Mike Wells) outside by the pool on a nice fall evening. Ranger Boats donated tournament jackets for each Ranger Boat qualifying team and were passed out at registration. Jason Parsons of Ranger Boats was in attendance and had the 2008 Classic Ranger Boat on display for the anglers to see and to answer any questions. An award presentation was held after the supper with Travis Loyd of Jackson Hewitt Tax Service presenting the top Points Leaders of the Southern and Northern Division their awards. Two (2) Qwikpfyt systems were presented to the Big Bass of the Northern Division (1) and Southern Division (1) for the year. Josh and Brad Kirchhoff had a 6.38 Big Bass caught on June 10, 2007 on Lake Shelbyville and Keith Cloe and Randy Gutzler, both of Sesser of had a 6.77 Big Bass of the tournament on Rend Lake on June 24, 2007. Bradley Culp of Sportsman’s across from the “Inn by the Lake” was introduced to the crowd and offered his assistance if any of the teams needed on water emergency help and or baits, fishing license etc.    

This was the seventh year for the Illini Team Trail to hold a Classic and the first time they have held their classic outside of the State of Illinois. This is the first year for the Southern Division, which has two tournaments on Lake of Egypt, two on Rend Lake and the last two on the Ohio River (Golconda). The Northern Division holds all six tournaments on Lake Shelbyville. This year they had a payback total of $125,000.00. This included a Ranger 188 fully equipped for first place. $10,000.00 for second place, third place winners took home check for $5,000.00, the fourth place team got a check for $2,500.00 and the fifth place team took home a check for $1,000.00. In all - thirteen teams took checks home plus checks were awarded for the top two big fish. First Place team also took home a check for $1,000 for being Ranger Cup Qualified (Paid on the spot).

The “ITT Challenge” payout presented by Jackson Hewitt Tax Service totaling $6,150.00 was won by Top Points Leaders (Southern Division): Donnie Dill of Effingham and Bill Leasher of Neoga; and the (Northern Division): Toby Shafer of Sullivan and Jim Stevens of Springfield, Ill. At each of the 12 events (the angler must be registered) a drawing for $350.00 was held for a total of $4,200.00. At this Classic event Scott McIntyre of Decatur, Ill. won the drawing for $500 sponsored by Jackson Hewitt Tax Service.

Illini Team Trail Northern Division Sponsors: Ranger Boats, Mercury Outboards, MinnKota Trolling Motors, Humminbird Depth Finder, Dual Pro Batteries/Battery Chargers, Hamby’s Protector Beaching Bumpers, The City of Sullivan, Reynolds Towing Service Inc. of Champaign, Bedford Sales of Morris, Buell’s Marine of Canton, Lake Sara Marina of Effingham, Midwest Marine Inc. of Heyworth, Jackson Hewitt Tax Service, Solar Bat Sunglasses, Setyr Fishing Rods, Pizza Hut, BassFan/BassFan Army, Prairie Outfitters of Charleston, Standard Coffee, KWIKPFYT, Rejuvenade, Howy’s Lakeside Food Mart of Sullivan, Tinders Rubber Stamps Engraving of Lerna, Red’s Muffler Shop of Urbana, Black’s Insurance of Toledo, and Gateway Inn of Sullivan.

Illini Team Trail Southern Division Sponsors: Ranger Boats, Mercury Outboards, MinnKota Trolling Motors; Humminbird Depth Finder, Dual Pro Batteries/Battery Chargers, Hamby’s Protector Beaching Bumpers, Belleville Sport Sales, Nameoki Village Marine of Granite City, Rend Lake Marina of Benton, Rend Lake Sporting Goods of Mt. Vernon, Jackson Hewitt Tax Service, KWIKPFYT, Solar Bat Sunglasses, Wayne’s Props of Mt. Vernon, Setyr Fishing Rods, BassFan/BassFan Army, Rejuvenade, and Tinders Rubber Stamps Engraving of Lerna.

For more information about the Southern Division Trail, you may call Gene & Pat Cailey at 217-324-2944 or the Northern Division, call Mike & Penny Black at 217-923-3098 or on the web site at www.illiniteamtrail.com.