Belated RCL D-Day
Fog takes up precious two hours of fishing time in second leg ahead of top-12 cut
RED WING, Minn. – After a two-hour fog delay on day two of the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Championship, the 220 competitors belatedly left the launch, the truncated day forcing many of them to reconsider their game plans or to stick with what little they had going.
Making matters more dicey in difficult conditions on the Mississippi River, with big fish and limits atypical, were subfreezing temps during the delay and the fish-diminishing grip of a high-pressure system. Carpeted boat floors were coated with a thick layer of frost.
“This is a cold front, and it’s the most severe of any you’re ever going to see,” says Yamaha pro Shannon Kehl of Menoken, N.D., departing the day in 23rd.
Faced with a lack of any options closer to the launch, 26th-place Crestliner pro Rick Olson of Mina Lake, S.D., planned to lock through to Pool 4 and run south to where the river leaves Lake Pepin.
“I’m going to have to get my fish fast,” says Olson, whose long run should take three roundtrip, leaving him with perhaps an hour and a half to troll Rapala Shad Raps on leadcore line.
And while 10th-place Crestliner pro Scott Fairbairn of Hager City, Wis., had hoped to go big in Pool 4, Fairbairn opted to stay closer to home in Pool 3, where leadcore trolling turned up an 11-pound, 10-ounce limit Wednesday.
If one thing is certain considering the conditions, it’s major upheaval in the standings that will come at the end of the second day of competition. Some competitors near the top will drop out, some far lower will move up, and it’s anyone’s guess who will get the job done and make the top-12 cut until the scales tell the tale.
That will happen at Thursday’s weigh-in, which starts at 3 p.m. Central time at Treasure Island Resort & Casino.
For fans outside the Red Wing area, you can follow the drama of RCL Championship competition live every day on FLWOutdoors.com. Complete with live, streaming audio and results, FLW Live is your fastest and most complete option for catching all the walleye action from the Mississippi River. Transmission begins every day at the start of weigh-in.
Thursday’s conditions
Sunrise: 7:10 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 34 degrees
Expected high temperature: mid-50s
Water temperature: 53-58 degrees
Wind: calm
Relative humidity: 100 percent
Day’s outlook: sunny with increasing afternoon clouds; south winds 10-15 mph
Day-two links: