Cast Away

Lake Shelbyville is home to more than just crappie;
it's the home of one of bass fishings premiere anglers.

STORY BY P.J. PEREA PHOTOS BY CHAS. J. DEES

On a day when most anglers would simply turn around and go back to bed, Mary Satterfield-Benge, a professional fishing guide on Lake Shelbyville, was swinging 9- to 12-inch crappie into the boat like a fishing automaton. But unlike any robot, she would smile at every fish as if it were her first.

"I really should be catching more fish than this!" she remarked. Despite the 20-25 mile-per-hour winds and the 2-foot waves bobbing the boat up and down, she still detected the minute taps of hungry crappie hovering just inside the branches of a brush pile 15 feet below the churning surface of the lake. Cast after cast, she deftly piloted a tiny tube jig through the tangled morass of branches and fooled crappie into thinking it was a hapless minnow darting into cover.

Satterfield-Benge, now in her 12th year as a guide, earned her stripes as one of the prominent figures of the now defunct Bass' N Gals Fishing Circuit and the Lady Bass Tournament Trail. A few accomplishments of her prestigious career that has spanned three decades include two Bass' N Gal National Championships and a Lady Bass Classic World Championship. Quite different from her humble beginnings in Humboldt, a small town just North of Lake Shelbyville.

"I started fishing from an old concrete bridge next to a cow pasture on a small creek that emptied into the Kaskaskia River," said Satterfield-Benge about her early days as a young angler. "I used to keep

Satterfield-Benge recently volunteered to guide a disabled angler at the Paralyzed Veterans of America Tournament of Rend Lake

10

OutdoorIllinois

Continuing her winning ways, Satterfield-Benge guided her PVA angler, Ranee Bighorse of Wagoner, Oklahoma, to a 10th place finish. one eye on the fishing and one eye on the pasture," she said, recalling her childhood anxieties about getting trampled by a lumbering cow. "My brother and dad were major influences on my fishing. Fishing was just one of the many outdoor activities that my family was involved with. I fished during all of my childhood years, and I grew up in the outdoors," she said. "Even my first jobs were outside. I mowed yards to earn money and that was when I was shorter than the handle of a lawnmower. In fact I'm still shorter than a lot of lawnmower handles," she joked, referring to her diminutive stature. But as we know, big things come in small packages. And Satterfield-Benge was no exception to this rule. During the early 1970s, organized bass fishing was just gaining in prominence, and this bantam angler was about to make a big splash.

Early in her career, she was recognized as a gifted teen angler while fishing and winning multi-species fishing contests. At the suggestion of family and friends, she started fishing in the Midwest Bass Association Tournament and Red Man Tournament Trail. During the mid 70s and early 80s, she oftentimes was the only female angler competing against dozens of fishermen. She did very well, however, winning two Midwest Bass Association championships, finishing in the money numerous times in both circuits and qualifying for a regional championship on the Red Man Trail.

Satterfield-Benge's first experience fishing in an all-woman format was during a Bass' N Gals fishing tournament at Clinton Lake in 1984. While she did not win the tournament, it certainly wasn't the last one she'd fish. In 1986, she lit up the field with an impressive victory in the BASS'N Gal National Championship at Kentucky Lake, and at the same time, earned Lady Bass Angler of the Year honors. In 1987, she won the Lady Bass World Championship on the Potomac River, one of bass fish-

Division of Fisheries Chief Mike Conlin gets a few pointers on bass fishing.

August 2001

11

Information you can use Women bass anglers wishing to follow in Mary Satterfield-Benge's footsteps should visit the WBFA's homepage: http://www.wbfatour.com/. Mary Satterfield-Benge's guide service web page: http://www.eaglecreekguide.com/. For more information about recreational opportunities on Lake Shelbyville, visit: http://dnr.state.il.us/lands/landmgt/parks/shelby.htm. For fishing maps of Lake Shelbyville, visit: http://dnr.state.il.us/mall/clearance.jpg or http://www.fishinghotspots.com/fhsinet/

ing's tougher venues due to the strong tidal influence on the river.

All-in-all, Satterfield-Benge qualified for 20 world championships on the two circuits. The only thing that stopped her from garnering more honors was that the two women's fishing organizations disbanded during the 1990s.

"There is a new organization called Women's Bass Fishing Association," she said. "I have fished a few of its tournaments. It's a very good organization, but there needs to be more entries to create more prize money. But I've already made a name for myself and enjoy the much more relaxed pace of guiding. I don't have to get up as early compared to when I was fishing the tournaments. And I really enjoy helping other people catch fish."

Satterfield-Benge's conversion to fishing guide came naturally. She had fished Lake Shelbyville since it opened in 1970 and knew the complex patterns of fishing the lake, like the rhythm of the changing seasons. She was already accustomed to taking many of her friends and family out for fishing trips, and anglers eager to fish the crappie, bass, walleye, muskie and white bass hot spots on Lake Shelbyville quickly filled her schedule. It was a unique opportunity to fish with a female celebrity angler.

A familiar sight on Lake Shelbyville, look for Satterfield-Benge's long ponytail and red Ranger boat.

"In 12 years of guiding I've only lost one customer, and he went overboard," said Satterfield-Benge.

"A client insisted on using two poles, mine of course, for white bass. I warned him not to leave the rod on the side of the boat because a white bass was strong enough to pull it overboard." The client said, 'It's okay, I've got my foot on it.'

Lake Shelbyville fishing tips Mary Satterfield-Benge passed on a few tips for those wishing to fish Lake Shelbyville: • Watch for shad. Shad is the food of everything in the lake. If you find shad, you'll find fish. • Watch local anglers. Locals learn all the good spots on the lake, which fluctuates with the season, weather and water level. Keep up with the local anglers, and you'll find fish. • Talk to local people at tackle stores and restaurants. Lake Shelbyville is the life blood of this area. Most people are very honest about where the fish are biting. They want you to come back. • A good map is essential, especially on a large impoundment like Lake Shelbyville. Don't try to figure out the whole lake. Pick out a good spot and try to determine what the fish are doing and how to fish that particular area.

"Of course he didn't listen, and sure enough, a white bass yanked the rod overboard and he went diving in the lake after the rod. Luckily he only got wet, but he lost the rod," she said with a grin on her face.

When she is not guiding anglers, Satterfield-Benge works with the Shelby County Office of Tourism to promote recreational activities on Lake Shelbyville or helps out at Eagle Creek Resort. During the off-season, she tours the multitude of fishing shows in Illinois, Indiana and Missouri to promote her guide service, Eagle Creek Resort and Lake Shelbyville. She also gives fishing reports to the local radio station and numerous outdoor publications in Illinois. Currently she is passing on her fishing expertise to her grandson, Chris Miller of Neoga, who is rapidly becoming an accomplished bass angler under her tutelage.

Despite the occasional bursitis that affects her shoulder, a condition probably brought on by decades of competitive fishing, she is still full of energy as she heads out on the lake. And with every fish that she lifts into her boat, there's an air of excitement and a wide smile on her face. Probably the same type of excitement and smile that graced the face of a little girl fishing from an old concrete bridge on a small creek that emptied into the Kaskaskia River-the same river that now feeds into Lake Shelbyville which, in turn, now feeds the pocketbook, mind, body and soul of Mary Satterfield-Benge.

12

OutdoorIllinois