Frogging the Mighty Mississippi
Stren Series day two under way on the river
ONALASKA, Wis. – The heat continues on the Mississippi River as the Stren Series Midwest Division tournament looks to close out its fish-filled, two-day opening round Thursday.
Despite temperatures that climbed into the low 90s Wednesday, anglers came in raving about the bass fishery on this stretch of the Big Muddy. Limits were plentiful, with both largemouths and smallmouths filling many, many weigh-in bags.
Look for that trend to continue Thursday as anglers try to make the top-20 cut out of the opening round.
Other trends surfacing this week include the emergence of the frog as a go-to bait for bigger bass, and the fact that a fair share of the top limits came out of Pool 9, one river pool down from the La Crosse-Onalaska area.
Last year, Fred Roumbanis won this event by catching shallow largemouths on a frog in Pool 9, and it’s a pattern that more than a few pros, like Dan Morehead, who placed 13th on day one, seem more than happy to duplicate.
“Really, you can catch them any way you want to catch them because the fish here are just stupid,” Morehead said. “(Wednesday), I caught one on a spinnerbait and a few flipping, but I caught the majority of them on a frog. As long as I can get through the lock, I feel really good about (my chances).”
And with the bass here being so indiscriminate, jigs and plastics have also caught a few nice keepers.
Both the Pro and Co-angler divisions will be cut to the top 20 apiece, based on two-day combined weight, following Thursday’s action. Look for the pro cut weight to settle in around 25 or 26 pounds and the co-angler cut weight to hover around 17 or 18 pounds.
Day-two weigh-in festivities begin at 2:30 p.m. Central time at Clinton Street Landing in La Crosse, Wis.
On the Web
For fishing fans unable to attend the Stren Midwest tournament taking place this week in Wisconsin, FLWOutdoors.com offers FLW Live, a real-time video look at the daily weigh-ins. Just access the online application during weigh-in hours to keep tabs on your favorite anglers.
Thursday’s conditions
Sunrise: 5:35 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 72 degrees
Expected high temperature: 90 degrees
Water temperature: 76-83 degrees
Wind: SSE at 9 mph
Maximum humidity: 57 percent
Day’s outlook: mostly sunny