A national fishing tournament series is coming to southern Illinois.
Lake of Egypt will host a 2017 Kayak Bass Fishing Trail Event Series Tournament this weekend.
Alan Wiedmeyer is president and co-founder of the Kayak Bass League.
"This tournament series is actually for amateurs. It's not a professional series by any means. So, anybody can get involved with it if they wanted to."
Wiedmeyer says this is the first time Lake of Egypt has hosted a tournament series event like this. He says the site makes sense.
"It's a cooling lake, late in October. You really don't know how the weather is going to be. So, it was kind of like the perfect spot to get a lot of people down here and get more people involved with the tournament itself."
He says the experience of fishing out of a kayak is different from out of a bass boat.
"Obviously, you're closer to the water levels. So, if you have a bass that blows up on a top water frog, I mean it's more of an intimate experience and really gets your blood pumping."
Wiedmeyer says kayak bass fishing is the fastest growing sector of fishing in the industry because it is affordable.
The tournament at Lake of Egypt runs from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. Registration is underway online at https://tourneyx.com/app/tourney/2017-kbf-trail-lake-of-egypt
There is an entry fee. Prize money will be awarded.