The EP bass fishing program took a big step last week as one of their boats made its inaugural appearance in the IHSA Bass Fishing State Finals. The two-day tournament was held on Lake Shelbyville with sixty-two boats competing for a state title.
The Panther duo of Cameron Linden and Kenny Gerlach competed along with driver/coach John Widener. After a tough first day things improved on day two with the EP boat finishing fifty-first out of sixty-two teams with a two-day catch of 7lbs 6 oz.
Teutopolis took the state title with a two-day total of 31lbs. 9oz.
“We knew it would be a tough tournament for us going in to it,” said coach John Widener. “We put in a full day of practice on Thursday and found some fish using a technique we employ on the river all the time. Throwing a crankbait on riprap banks.” The team practices on the Rock River and the first two rounds of the IHSA tournament were held on the Mississippi River.
“On day one we made the long run up to Howell Bridge (with riprap banks) and fished it probably three hours in the morning and caught one small keeper that weighed 1 pound 4 ounces,” said Widener. Day two we tried to do the deep offshore fishing like everyone else was doing. This is not a strength of ours as it’s not a primary technique we do in the Mississippi River. We ended up catching three fish throwing a drop shot around deep trees.”
While the finish was not what EP was hoping for the program has been on a steady climb since it started competing in 2021. In 2025 the program won its first IHSA Regional title with Linden and Gerlach landing the winning catch. This season the same duo took second at Regional and third at Sectional to qualify for the State Finals.
“Overall it was a great learning experience for all of us,” said Widener. “We were all just happy to have made it to the top sixty boats out of three hundred that started the state series. We will be back next year! Also, I cannot say enough about how well IHSA ran the event and to the city of Shelbyville for rolling out the red carpet for us.”
