Sunbelievable

Clouds part, clear skies greet EverStart finalists on Mississippi

RED WING, Minn. – Like proverbial manna from heaven, the sun’s rays poured down on EverStart Series anglers as they made their way onto the Mississippi River early Saturday morning for the final round of Northern Division competition.

The clear weather arrived not a moment too soon. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Minnesota has seen rain 28 of the past 35 days. Not only does that have people around here grumbling about their rapidly shortening summer, but it has the Mississippi River flowing hard and dirty. Save the odd 13-pound sack, catch weights in this EverStart event seem to have dwindled with every drop of rain that fell over the last three days. The 20 pros in the semifinal round weighed in a total of just 123 pounds of bass Friday, which averages out to just over 6 pounds of fish per angler.

Will that change with the weather Saturday? It’s hard to say. Many finalists have indicated that, in terms of the postspawn bass bite on the river, it doesn’t really matter whether it’s raining.

“They’re shallow and relating to the weeds,” said pro leader Mike Feldermann, “so that shouldn’t really matter. Most of the time, river fish are not as temperamental as lake fish. Most of them are in less than 3 feet of water.”

But it’s easy to see how warmer, calmer and sunnier conditions can only give these weather-beaten anglers a psychological and physical boost Saturday.

There will be a new hurdle for anglers today, however. Since this is the first nice weekend day the area has seen pretty much since early May, they’re going to have to battle the recreational boaters who will understandably be out in full force. That will influence how competitors time their returns to the lock this afternoon. All 10 boats are expected to lock down from Pool 3 to Pool 4 today.

“My biggest concerns are those big, 40-foot Sea Rays,” Feldermann said. “The biggest enemy for us is time, not the no-cull rule or the weather.”

Feldermann, who hails from Galena, Ohio, leads the pros by a pound and a half with 14 pounds. Scott Cloutier of Rochester, Minn., is the man to beat on the co-angler side with 7-6.

Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 295 Tyler Road S. in Red Wing beginning at 3:30 p.m. Central time. Friday’s weights carry over to Saturday, and each division’s winner will be determined by two-day combined weight.

The winning pro is guaranteed $10,000 cash plus an Evinrude- or Yamaha-powered Ranger 519 VS equipped with Garmin electronics, a Minn Kota trolling motor and EverStart batteries. If the winner is the original owner of a Ranger boat, he will receive a $10,000 bonus from Ranger for a top pro award worth $61,900. If he is a qualifying participant in the Ranger Cup incentive program, Ranger will award another $3,000 cash (or $1,500 to the highest-finishing Ranger Cup participant if not the winner), and Yamaha will match 50 percent of Ranger Cup winnings if the angler’s boat is powered by a Yamaha outboard. Garmin will award the winning pro $1,000 if he uses only Garmin electronics and at least one unit is a qualifying unit.

The winning co-angler is guaranteed $5,000 cash, and if he is a Ranger boat owner, Ranger will award him a new Ranger 519 VS for a total prize package worth $35,000. Co-anglers who make the final round of each regular-season EverStart Series event and wear an EverStart/Evinrude shirt and cap on stage are awarded points toward the EverStart Batteries and Evinrude Outboard Engines Co-angler Award. The co-angler receiving the most points by the end of the season receives a 2004 Evinrude 225HO Direct Injection outboard engine rigged on a Ranger boat equipped with a Minn Kota trolling motor and EverStart batteries.

Saturday’s conditions:

Sunrise: 5:25 a.m.

Temperature at takeoff: 64 degrees

Expected high temperature: 83 degrees

Water temperature: 68-70 degrees

Wind: from the southwest at 9 mph

Maximum humidity: 57 percent

Day’s outlook: SUNNY!