Roumbanis leads La Crosse finals

Californian loses ‘7-pounder,’ still pops almost 16 pounds

ONALASKA, Wis. – If Fred Roumbanis would have landed the fish that he said he lost Friday, EverStart Series fans here in La Crosse, Wis., would have seen something extra special. As it was, the five-bass limit that the pro from Auburn, Calif., caught was just special enough to give him a 9-ounce lead heading into the second half of the Northern Division final round Saturday.

Roumbanis hauled in a sack full of largemouth bass weighing 15 pounds, 14 ounces, edging out Jim Jones of Big Bend, Wis., for the top spot heading into tomorrow.

While Roumbanis did, in fact, catch the biggest bass of the finals’ first half – his kicker fish weighed 5 pounds, 2 ounces – he said he lost a fish that weighed around 7 pounds.

“Aw, man, it was awesome today,” he said, referring to his kicker. “I had one on that was much bigger than that one, but it came off at the boat. I mean, this thing was ridiculous.”

Roumbanis keyed on shallow, thick grass on local Pool 8 of the Mississippi River Friday. It’s the same spot he’s been fishing all week long but has left everyday by noon in order to save some fish. In fact, Thursday he made a last-minute run downriver to Pool 9 in an attempt to catch a few bigger bass. He locked down around 1 o’clock, the same time most anglers were locking back up, and caught his two biggest fish, which put him into the finals.

“It was a big gamble,” he said. “I rolled the dice and I lucked out.”

Friday, however, he needed no help from Pool 9. He fished his main area in Pool 8 using a technique that he didn’t want to disclose and caught about 10 keeper bass. He did admit, however, that it was a decidedly Western approach.

“Let’s put it this way, I come from the California Delta, and I found something very similar to what we have out there,” Roumbanis said. “It’s very similar to this fishery. There we have the tides, and here the water’s rising and falling a lot. Basically, when I got to my first area, the water level was where I like it.”

Jones second

After a solid first round, Jones kept rolling Friday, saying he fished wing dams on Pool 9 to catch his 15-pound, 5-ounce limit for second place in the Pro Division.

One suspects there’s more to it than just “wing dams,” however. He’s caught a mixed bag of smallmouth and largemouth each day. Friday, he continued that pattern, bringing in two smallies and three largemouths.

“I had a limit by 10 o’clock,” he said. “But they don’t seem to bite that well early. The sun has to get up for me.”

Jones said he caught about 20 keepers Friday, mostly on a Brovarney swim jig. He’s been trying to lay off his fish and save them for the finals, but the stops come out on Saturday.

“Tomorrow, we’re going to hurt them,” he said.

Ritter dangerous in third

Third-place pro Jeff Ritter of Prairie du Chien, Wis., with a limit weighing 14 pounds, 12 ounces, is just over a pound off the lead. As last year’s Mississippi River Northern Division champ – which was launched out of Welch, Minn. – he will press Roumbanis, Jones and everyone else hard heading into Saturday afternoon.

“I feel comfortable right now. I’m just going to fish the fish I’ve got going and do the best I can,” he said. “I’m just moving around hitting about five or six spots a day.”

Ritter, who has also brought in mixed bags all week, said that he’s fishing grassy areas in Pool 9.

“I’m taking about as far a boat ride as you possibly can,” he said.

Lowen fourth

Bill Lowen of Cincinnati, who also made the cut on the Mississippi last year, placed fourth for the pros with a limit weighing 13 pounds, 10 ounces.

He earned the day’s biggest laugh when he said: “This is an awesome place. I was raised on the Ohio River. This place fishes a lot like that, except they have fish and weeds here, which we don’t have.”

Cox still in it to win two in a row

Chris Cox of Appleton, Wis., who won the first Northern event at the Detroit River, still has a shot to make history as the first pro to win back-to-back events within the same division. He caught a limit Friday weighing 13 pounds, 1 ounce and placed fifth.

“I’ve been able to catch a 4-pounder everyday, but today I didn’t,” he said.

How does he feel about his chances to make history tomorrow?

“Hey, pigs are flying,” he laughed. “I won that first one, didn’t I?”

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 pros heading into Saturday’s action at Kerr Lake:

6th: Mike Feldermann of Galena, Ill., five bass, 12-13 (opening-round leader)

7th: Randy Wieczorek of Buffalo City, Wis., five bass, 11-3

8th: Jim Johnson of La Crosse, five bass, 10-0

9th: Clayton Reitz of Morton, Ill., five bass, 9-14 (day-one leader)

10th: Tom Howland of Riceville, Iowa, four bass, 7-9

Grahn grabs big lead on co-angler side

After slop-fishing his way into the cut, Mark Grahn Sr. of Wautoma, Wis., changed his strategy to junk-fishing Friday and caught the only limit from the back of the boat to lead the Co-angler Division with a weight of 11 pounds even.

The difference between slop-fishing and junk-fishing? Around here, shallow grass, weeds and vegetation are considered “slop.” Grahn made the cut by throwing a frog on top of vegetation the first two days. “Junk” is when you throw everything in your tackle box to catch them.

“I caught them four or five different ways today,” he said. “I caught them on tubes, swim jigs, crankbaits, topwaters, and I lost a big one on a frog. Every place we went it was a different way to fish.”

Grahn said he caught about eight keeper fish, which was far more than the rest of the co-angler field could manage.

Daniel Mancini of Necedah, Wis., placed second for the co-anglers with a four-bass weight of 8 pounds, 7 ounces.

Co-angler Richard Herold of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, placed third with a four-bass weight of 7 pounds, 15 ounces.

Fourth place went to co-angler Robert Horick of St. Petersburg, Fla., for a three-bass weight of 5 pounds, 6 ounces.

B.J. Nelson of Louisa, Ky., rounded out the top five co-anglers with a two-bass weight of 4 pounds, 3 ounces.

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers:

6th: Ben Kurth of West St. Paul, Minn., two bass, 3-12

7th: Stephen Copps of La Crosse, two bass, 3-10

8th: Mike Devere of Berea, Ky., two bass, 2-15

9th: Richard Conrad of Eau Claire, Wis., zero bass (opening-round leader)

10th: Homer Stephens of Noblesvile, Ind., zero bass

Final round Saturday

Day four of Northern Division competition at the Mississippi River begins as the final-round field of 10 boats takes off from Clinton Street Landing in Onalaska at 6 a.m. Central time Saturday. Friday’s weights carry over to Saturday, and each division’s winner will be determined by two-day combined weight.