As of 6 p.m. Saturday five tagged fish worth a total value of $2,200 have been caught. Still to find are 105 unclaimed prizes.
Tom Prince of Bradley landed the first tagged fish, a seven inch smallmouth bass named “Tri-Pod” worth $500 in services from
Colonial Studio of Bourbonnais. The tag number had been incorrectly listed earlier on the derby web site as being sponsored by the Hearing Rehabilitation Center of Kankakee.
Tom Wiater of Beecher will earn $500 in cash for returning a largemouth bass named “Migrator” to the sponsoring Kankakee Delta Waterfowl.
Eric McNeally of Tinley Park also landed in the money with a smallmouth named “Go Sammons Point” worth $500 in cash from United Disposal.
Ask Darrell Benoit to do lunch and you will be meeting him at McDonald’s. The veteran Bourbonnais angler turned a 1 pound smallie into a sandwich a day on his blue tag prize.
Benoit also holds the lead in northern pike at 9 pounds, 14 ounces. His catch is nearly a pound above last year’s winner, Jeff Dummer of Kankakee. Benoit has also staked a 9-ounce claim on the best early rock bass weighed into the derby.
Even the youngsters are winning derby cash. Brent Flynn of Bourbonnais found a rock bass named Pa Webber to be worth a $200 cash prize Friday at Bird Park Quarry. A total of 13 derby tags at the quarry are sponsored by A.N. Webber Trucking.
Action is building on the Big Board with races shaping up in the catfish, crappie, pike, rock bass and smallmouth divisions.
Danny Davison of Kankakee led the catfish contest late Saturday at 17-pound, 14-ounces however reports are circulating that there’s an 18-pounder still to be posted on the derby web site which was having technical difficulties. Regardless, Davison owns the spot now and his entry already tops last year’s winner, Gary Anderson, by 5 pounds, 12 ounces.
Kevin Ballard of Kankakee leads the crappie race at 1 pound, 4 ounces, topping last year’s winner, Ashton Wilkins of Bourbonnais by 2 ounces.
Another derby veteran, Willie Thompson of Momence, holds the top spot in largemouth bass at 2 pounds, 7 ounces. He also is setting the pace at 2 pounds, 3 ounces as the man to beat in smallmouth bass.
“The size of the fish we’re seeing this year is phenomenal,” says chairman Sam Thomas. “I think we’re going to see even bigger fish coming in.”
Thomas however admits he’s worried about the scarcity of weight stations. The closing of major bait shops in Kankakee and Wilmington earlier this year has left only four widely-scattered weight stations in the derby.
“Especially after closing hours, anglers should use the derby hotline to lock in the time they caught a tagged fish,” Thomas advised. The hotline number is (815) (815) 933-0527.
Thomas also clarified the regulation requiring derby fish to be alive or fresh. “Fresh means keeping the fish on ice, not in a freeze,” Thomas said.
