Recap and perspective on the 10 Chicago-area sectionals for IHSA bass fishing

Even with all 10 sectionals in the Chicago area rescheduled for Monday from Thursday, weather continued to play a significant role. But all 10 sectionals were able to go.

The Skokie Lagoons sectional had to move to Tampier Lake. The two sectionals on the Chain O’Lakes went out under no-wake restrictions. The Lake Holiday sectional was also impacted by high water.

I made early morning stops by the Braidwood Lake and Hiedecke Lake sectionals, then finished in the afternoon at Busse Woods, where it is possible for somebody like me to cover both sectionals.

My column for the Sun-Times today was off of the two sectionals at Busse. Click here to read it.

Now to the nuts and bolts of the sectionals.

Click here to read the basic results from around the state. What I try to do here with each sectional from the Chicago area is to set up some perspectives and observations.

HEIDECKE LAKE: Morris advanced both its boats to state, with a 1-2 finish. Also notably, the strongest program in the area, Minooka, reached state for the ninth time, sixth straight, and All-American junior Wyatt Pazdro reached his third straight state.

CHAIN O’LAKES NORTH: Woodstock North won with 12-6, anchored by a sectional-record bass of 5.99. It was brought in by Mathew Fallaw and Bartek Scheibe.

BUSSE MAIN POOL: Joel Donaldson caught a 4-7 largemouth to anchor Harvest Christian Academy’s second. Lake Park senior Zachary Buckley and junior Nick Granata won with 14 pounds. Both the big bass and the winning bag are impressive coming from a heavily fished spot like that. Streamwood finished third, reaching state for the ninth time.

SKOKIE LAGOONS (TAMPIER): Notre Dame’s Kyle Svachula and Jayden Daniel won the relocated sectional with 7-15 and the Dons reached state for the sixth time. (They’re pictured below.)

Notably, Taft, the power of the Chicago Public Schools, advanced both boats and also reached state for the sixth time.

SHABBONA: Batavia won its first sectional title with 11.05 pounds. St. Charles North was second and reached state for the seventh time. Cameron Kriese caught the big bass (4.65), but it was not enough to advance DeKalb.

LAKE HOLIDAY: Persevering through tough conditions, Naperville North won with 9.07 and reached state for the seventh time.

BUSSE SOUTH POOL: Sophomores Max Dvorak and Eddie Payne led Downers Grove North to the win with 11-11, anchored by Payne’s big bass of Payne’s 3-15. Notably, Wheaton-Warrenville South reached state for the eighth time.

DES PLAINES RIVER: Providence won with 13-7.2 to claim a third straight sectional title and reached state for the sixth time.

CHAIN O’LAKES SOUTH: Buffalo Grove won with 12-1. Interesting, the big bass (4-1), brought in by Logan Koltoff and Scott Sekala, wasn’t enough to advance McHenry.

BRAIDWOOD: Gardner-South Wilmington won with 10-15. Reed-Custer, advanced both boats and had the big bass (3-9).