Highs, lows on manic Mississippi

Big bites, limits are exception in tough first day of RCL competition; Vandersteen’s 22 pounds, 6 ounces outdistances pro-and-co teams

RED WING, Minn. — On opening day of the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour Championship, Pools 3 and 4 of the Mississippi River delivered a manic mixed bag emblematic of extreme lows and considerably less drastic highs: 53 zeros, 39 one-fish catches and 17 bags weighing in the double digits. Leading the way in the campaign for Thursday’s precious top-12 cut is the sole competitor to weigh more than 20 pounds, Douglas Vandersteen of Lundar, Manitoba, who nailed four walleyes for 22 pounds, 6 ounces.

But can Vandersteen and others within shouting distance – and even those a fair piece down in the standings – come up with solid weight in one of the trickiest, most unpredictable bites in recent memory?

“I know from what I’ve seen on this river in the last two weeks, you can’t expect the same results two days in a row,” Vandersteen says.

Which is why anyone, even the zeros, has a shot to hero with a big weight on Thursday’s day of reckoning after a first day with only 25 five-fish limits.

As was the case with the results, what did the trick Wednesday on the walleyes was a smattering of classic river techniques – some leadcore trolling with shad baits, some casting with the same, some jigging. More important, say the contestants with decent sacks, was matching the technique to spots that held fish when so much of the river was void of them. So, too, was combating high winds on a frigid early fall day when morning temperatures were below freezing.

Against the wind

For Vandersteen, a long run to a wing dam at the far downstream reaches of Pool 4 paid off not only with the right fish, though he was one shy of a limit, but also with the impracticality of running around to search other spots. Vandersteen says he committed to a spot for fear of running out of gas on the return trip, which made him stay on a spot that turned out big fish on shad baits in spite of – or, more likely, because of – the wind.

“A lot of guys don’t like windy water,” Vandersteen says. “But I don’t mind windy because of the wave action.”

Well within striking distance in spite of the wind is the winner of the RCL qualifying tournament on Devils Lake, Crestliner pro Rick Walter of Casper, Wyo., who came up with three sizable walleyes weighing 10 pounds, 14 ounces, good for 14th place.

It was tough in all the wind, with all your gear on, trying to stay focused and watch your line,” Walter says. “I haven’t been catching a lot of fish, but they’re the right fish.”

Another jigger in contention is Ranger pro Jack Neuman of Naperville, Ill., who’s in a three-way tie for fifth with Scott Allar of Welch, Minn., and John Hertensteiner of Victoria, Minn. All brought in five-fish limits weighing 12 pounds, 13 ounces.

For Neuman, the day was better than expected by the grace of one big bite that turned into a 5-pound walleye – an aberration considering a pre-fishing period that had consisted primarily of small fish.

“I’ve been here for 10 days, and I was convinced five dinks would get you in shouting distance,” Neuman says. “Then, if you can get a big one, you have a shot.”

Limits vs. lunkers

Neuman says he had to work a lot harder for his fish, though, vertical jigging on current breaks downstream of a wing dam, a break from the typical pattern of fishing a wing on the upstream side. Neuman worked harder due to the wind and a drastic reduction in the number of fish, down from 20 earlier in the week to 10 on Wednesday.

“We got in behind some current breaks, and we thought we could get five fish,” Neuman says. “But right away in the morning we stuck the big fish. We went trolling for another big one and only got one upgrade.”

Trolling was another strategy to stay in the game on day one. Crestliner pro Scott Fairbairn of Hager City, Wis., a riverfront town on the Mississippi, trolled up an 11-pound, 10-ounce limit to put him in 10th place.

Grinding out a limit as well by trolling was Lund pro Todd Frank of Pulaski, N.Y., who came up with a creative wrinkle to weigh a limit of 9 pounds, 6 ounces and put him in 23rd place, a little more than a pound out of 12th.

In a treacherously snaggy area of underwater rip rap, Frank rigged up leadcore line to a 30-pound Berkley FireLine leader to which he connected a short wire leader to keep the jagged rocks from shearing off his shad baits.

“That was a lot of work,” Frank says. “I’m trolling 2.5 to 3 mph on some of the nastiest stuff ever.”

Meanwhile, a notable contender in the early stages of the tournament is Joe Johnson of Casper, Wyo., who weighed but two fish. The catch? They tipped the scales at 12 pounds, 1 ounce, good for ninth place.

If anything, Johnson’s catch is indicative of the major move an angler can take with a couple of big bites – which, of course, are what’s on everyone’s wish list on the second day of competition, a day of reckoning that will decide the top-12 cut in the campaign for up to $400,000 for first place.

Thursday’s takeoff starts at 7 a.m. Central time from Treasure Island Resort & Casino.

Click here for a preview of day two.

Day-one links:

Photos
Pro results
Co-angler results
Day-two pairings
Press release