Jeff Sikora’s alarm will sound around 3 a.m. the day of a high school fishing tournament. After pouring himself a cup of coffee, the class of 2000 alum and current Central Catholic Bass Fishing Team Head Coach will head to his garage to finish preparing the boat and hook it up to his truck. By 4:30 a.m he will haul the boat in front of the homes of a few Saints anglers destined for a nearby body of water in hopes of hooking some monster fish.
Sikora said out of the two dozen official bass fishing players on the team, up to eight of the most active members typically travel to tournaments held on Saturdays at various Central Illinois lakes to compete against other Illinois High School Association (IHSA) teams for the heaviest catches. Depending on the month, the weather can range from 35 degrees with nonstop rain to a sweltering 100-degree day with no wind.
Once the Saints arrive at the lake, team members competing for a title will check in, then help launch the boats into the reservoir. On average there are 35 other vessels on the water, and everyone will send their first cast into the depths around 6 a.m. Each Central Catholic crew of three, consisting of two students accompanied by one adult boat captain, will propel to a location on the lake they have studied a week or two prior in practice rounds.
“The goal of scoping out the area before is to help the kids familiarize themselves with the water, locate groups of fish, and figure out what lures are working before tournament day,” Sikora said.
Central Catholic senior Adam Bonenfant ’21 is one bass fishing competitor who uses these skills to go after largemouth and smallmouth bass during fishing events. Bonenfant, who grew up fishing with his father and grandfather in Florida, is astonished by his advancement in fishing knowledge since joining the team as a freshman. He feels the sport teaches applicable life lessons beyond making a catch, such as patience, accountability, discipline, and how to focus.
“We have been out on a boat for almost six or seven hours in a day and not hit anything, and then that last hour things will go crazy,” Bonenfant said. “So you have to learn to stay patient and just relax and make sure everything is in place because things can change in a flash.”
Often, Sikora said the kids are so focused on the water that he has to force them to put the rod down to hydrate themselves.
“When they get in that zone, they just want to fish and fish and fish,” he said.
Around 2 p.m., the anglers bring their largest five basses to the scale where they are weighed in front of a crowd. Whoever’s top five basses weigh the most combined is declared the tournament winner, a title Central Catholic students have taken in three tournaments. The day, Sikora said, is mentally and physically exhausting.
“Typically, on the way back to Bloomington, the kids are asleep in the truck,” he said.
While coaching made Sikora accustomed to looking back to make sure students are OK, the coaching role occasionally makes him look back on his days fishing as a high school student, too. He remembers competing with his buddy, Bobby Varicella ’00, in an adult league because Saints Bass Fishing was not offered while they attended Central Catholic. Sikora smiles recalling him and his friend on the water trying to figure out a lot on their own.
Bass Fishing on the high school level is relatively new. Terri Brown, a Bloomington-Normal resident, is credited for bringing the community’s interest and need for bass fishing teams at the teenage level to IHSA. Since Illinois became the first in the United States to sanction it as a secondary school activity in 2007, many more states have followed.
Sikora said the team typically fishes spring, summer, and fall. The State-sanctioned IHSA Tournament is at the beginning of May, which is an especially busy season for the coach who works off the water as a tax accountant. Winter is the only time the team does not go on the water. However, in past winters the kids practiced casting and accuracy in the auditorium after school.
Sikora said Central Catholic’s team is a mix of kids from different backgrounds. While some students grew up with influential anglers in their lives, the majority of the kids sign up with little to no experience. Sikora said he witnesses many of the Saints’ first catches, a very gratifying aspect of the coaching role. Another part that he appreciates is the inclusivity of the sport, especially because it is coed.
“The fish don’t know how old you are or if you’re a guy or a girl; they don’t care,” Sikora said.
As a competitor who spent a couple of years on the walleye tournament scene during college, Sikora knows from traveling around the country how incredible the people and tournament culture are. Studying different species of fish across the nation and learning about fish behavior had a significant influence on his coaching style today. It also led him to find his true passion for guiding other people, which he started toward the end of his college career.
“I would much rather someone else catch something than myself,” Sikora said. “Whether it is one of the high school kids, my own son, or just someone who has never fished before, to be able to share that experience with them is what drives me.”
Sikora began coaching in 2016, and he was eager to take the parts he enjoyed about guiding and bring it to his alma mater high school. His Central Catholic roots cast farther than his time as a student, though, with his six other siblings (he being the second oldest of seven) all graduating as Saints. His parents, Rick and Cathy Sikora have dedicated a lot to Central Catholic over the years with the kids, Rick acting as a board member from 2003-2009, and now using his boat to serve as a captain for the students on the Saints Bass Fishing team. The sport and hobby in the Sikora family is a regular affair that all his siblings enjoy on various levels. Growing up, the entire family took fishing trips to Northern Wisconsin almost every year.
“God bless my mom because she is not a fisherperson, but somehow that was always our family vacation,” Sikora said. “I’m not sure how my dad pulled that off.”
Sikora said he is keeping the tradition alive with his kindergartner son, Gus, who absolutely loves the water. He said many of the kids he coached his first year stay in contact with him, too, a sign that anyone, at any age, can be hooked for life.
