M1 anglers prepare for freezing temperatures

Anglers participating in the Ranger M1 tournament at the Mobile Delta will have to endure very cold temperatures this week. Weather forecasters are predicting near record lows, possibly in the low twenties, for Southeast Alabama by Wednesday.

But for those 10 anglers still in the hunt for the M1’s possible 1 million dollar prize on Saturday morning, a few mornings of severe freezing temperatures will seem like a tropical vacation.

The Ranger M1 guarantees a minimum purse of $400,000 dollars to the winner. In order to win the million, an angler must satisfy certain sponsor contingencies with Ranger, Mercury or Yamaha, Garmin, Minn Kota, and Citgo.

FLW touring pro Randy Blaukat is fishing for $700,000 in the Ranger M1. Blaukat won a B.A.S.S. Top 150 Tour event on the Mobile Delta in the fall of 2000. He says he is looking forward to the frigid Wednesday blast-off.

“I think the fishing on the Mobile Delta has been better than average this past week,” reports Blaukat. “Unfortunately, this extreme front is likely to curb weights considerably.”

Before the cold front, Blaukat predicted that a weight of 18 pounds would advance an angler into the top 20. Now he says the two-day total needed to make the first cut might be as low as 15 pounds.

Blaukat says the Mobile-Tensaw River System is stained and cold from recent high water. “Up in the rivers, it still looks one or two feet higher than normal. The river temperatures are in the mid to upper fifties and the current is really ripping in the main channels, maybe 3 to 4 miles per hour.”

Mark Rose, fresh off a top ten performance at Wheeler, is also angling for $700,000 in the Ranger M1. He says the river is dropping fast because of the north winds that have been blowing the water out of the massive Delta system. “They (forecasters) are calling for high north winds with this front, so I think the water is really going to fall hard over the next few days.”

Tidal influences of 1 to 2 feet per day are usually a primary factor at the Mobile Delta, but the large volumes of outgoing water being propelled by the wind have neutralized the effect of the incoming tides. “I think the north winds pushing on all that water have kept the incoming tides minimal,” says Rose.

“I have not noticed as much tidal fluctuation here as I normally do,” notes Blaukat.

With the turbid water in the river, Blaukat says one key to catching fish in the Delta now is watercolor. “The hard part is finding the optimum water color,” he says. “There is a particular water color that seems to be better, but finding it takes time. There is no rhyme or reason to finding it, either. One backwater looks clean in the front but muddies in the back. The backwater next to it will be muddy in the front and clear in the back. There is no way to predict where you will find that perfect water color.”

Looking for good watercolor has forced many anglers into the Delta’s backwaters, sloughs, and feeder creeks. Places like Black Basin and Miffin Lake, two large backwater lakes, are likely to have a fair amount of fishing pressure on them this week.

Fishing pressure is the factor that Blaukat is most concerned about. “There was a sizeable tournament here this past weekend, plus all the anglers practicing for the Ranger M1. Normally, this would not be a problem on a waterway of this size, but the limited amount of clean water has bunched anglers up into a few areas,” he says.

Rose agrees, “I think a large percentage of the fish are going to come from a small percentage of water. Guys that are on fish are really going to catch them good; others will struggle.”

“The fishing pressure will be a big consideration for me,” says Blaukat. “I am not comfortable going behind twenty other boats throwing the same lure. I am either going to go into pressured areas with a radically different approach, or try to get away from the pressure altogether.”

Fishing pressure does not bother Rose. “Reservoirs are dammed rivers with stability; rivers, especially tidal systems, are undergoing big changes hourly,” says Rose who grew up fishing the Mississippi. “You can catch a limit in ten minutes on a spot and not get another bite there until the exact same conditions (tide, wind, water level, etc.) return. And that may not be until tomorrow, or next week.”

Battleship Memorial Park will host Wednesday and Thursday’s weigh-ins, which start at 3 p.m. CT. The Mobile Convention Center will host both Friday’s weigh-in, starting at 5 p.m. CT, and Saturday’s weigh-in starting at 2 p.m. CT.