This was the last event for the Angler's Choice Winter division for the 2003 season. The teams fishing this winter were greeted with what is now being called the worst winter weather in 25 years for this area. The division was a true winter circuit with tournaments scheduled right through the heart of the winter. There is most definitely not a fair weather fisherman in the bunch and most are recognized as being the elite fisherman from the area. It seems that the higher entry fee for this area brings out a higher level of competition. Those with the confidence in their abilities that are looking for bigger money at a team level is what Angler's Choice seem to be drawing. Go to www.www.usanglerschoice.net and look at the year-end results, pay special attention to the money earned. This was in a trail that averaged around 15 boats. Our Southern IL. Division kicks off March 16th at Kincaid Lake.

Going into the final event Danny Clark and Mark Jelley had a 4-point lead over Jack Doan and Ben Doan for the point's championship. As the day ended they had extended their lead to over 5 points and were crowned IL. Winter division Champions. Danny and Mark will go to Kentucky Lake at the regional and fish against the other divisional champions for an additional $15,000 prize package on top of the Regional package. If they were to win the regional they would go home with two fully rigged Bass Cat boats plus an additional $15,000 package. Congratulations guys on a great job of fishing throughout a very challenging schedule.

The season honors went to Mark Jelley and Danny Clark but the day belonged to Greg Berner and David "Boo" Guill. The team brought a hefty 16.60lb bag to the scales to claim their second victory of the season. The team fished crank baits and Carolina rigs along the grass lines in 5 to 10 feet of water to net the winning bag. They also had big bass honors for the day with a healthy 4.69 largemouth. The team is sponsored by: Lunker lure, Falcon Rods, Dunn's Sporting Goods, Jackson Hewitt and Solar Bat. Great job guys.

Second place went to the team of Shawn Panick and Ed Withaeger The team used suspending shad raps and Yozuri stick baits to catch their fish. They caught their fish in water depths ranging from 10 to 35 ft. and reported the majority came from the 35ft. water depth and the fish were suspended in the 8 to 12ft water depth

Angler's Choice would like to thank all those who came out and fished and we hope to see you at our Southern IL. kick off event on March 16th. I would also like to thank all of our sponsors for making this possible. National sponsors include Bass Cat Boats, Mercury Outboards, Motorguide Trolling Motors, Lowrance, Competitive Edge Fishing and Yamamoto Custom Baits. Also a big thanks to our divisional sponsors: Harrison's Sport Shop, Rend Lake Sporting Goods, Strike On Lures, Great Net, Lucky Craft, Solar Bat, Wayne's Props, MWBT.com, Pyramid Acres, Cotton Mouth Lures, Adventure Sports Outdoors, and Bobs Marine in Hillsboro, IL.