Every second counts

Time, walleyes potentially limited for first day of RCL Championship on Mississippi

MOLINE, Ill. – With thousands of wing dams, a maze of backwaters and a surfeit of possible ways to catch fish, the possibilities are endless for opening day of the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Championship on the Mississippi. Something more valuable and more precious, however, could be severely limited: time.

The 220 pro-and-co-angler teams are launching from Pool 16, but more plentiful numbers of walleyes due to annual stockings are available two pools up, on Pool 14, a journey of at least 20 miles along with the interruptions of two locks. Travel times are expected to reach two hours in each direction with the delays; fishing time will be further truncated by a lock schedule calling for the competitors to return to the downbound lock at 14 between 12:15 and 12:45 p.m.

“I’m going to do it even for two hours of fishing,” said Lund pro Todd Frank of Pulaski, N.Y.

While pre-fishing results have been meager because of muddy water and debris from rainfall well upstream within the last two weeks, with action on wing dams and in the channel sporadic, a new pattern may be emerging.

“The fish have pulled out of the river and into the backwaters,” Frank said.

The water isn’t terribly high and is currently falling a touch, if not holding steady, and backwaters and even shallows with lily pads could turn out some fair catches and perhaps even limits despite complaints about the production everywhere else.

The most important asset of the backwaters and areas off the channel is clearer water with visibility of up to a foot instead of a few inches. Even so, following the practice period’s prelude to a fish, the action isn’t going to be easy.

“You’ve got to grind it out in a spot where you’ve caught a fish or two and hope, I guess,” said Lund pro Mike Gofron of Antioch, Ill., the 2002 runner-up on the Mississippi River out of Red Wing, Minn.

Even if the water is stained and warmer than normal, near 70 degrees, too warm to spur the early fall bite, expect the competitors to employ a mix of techniques, including jigging, three-way rigging and trolling with both leadcore line and crankbaits as well as three-way-rig stickbaits. Plentiful flotsam in the form of weeds and debris, though, is making offerings with treble hooks more difficult to fish than jigs and rigs with single hooks.

All the more reason, then, that cleaner backwaters could play a vital role in day one’s weigh-in when the field starts returning at 3:15 p.m. Central to Sunset Park, in Rock Island – that is, if there’s enough time to get there, get the job done and get back given the limitations of the locking schedule.

Tournament logistics

The winning pro at the RCL Championship is guaranteed a cash award of $150,000. If the winner is a registered owner of a Ranger, Crestliner or Lund boat, he will earn a $150,000 bonus, and if his boat is equipped with an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard, he will receive another $100,000 for a total cash award of $400,000.

The winning co-angler is guaranteed $75,000 cash and is eligible for a $45,000 bonus from Ranger, Crestliner or Lund if he is a registered owner. The winning co-angler will also receive a $30,000 bonus if his boat is equipped with an Evinrude or Yamaha for a total cash award of $150,000.

The full field will compete on days one and two for one of 12 semifinal-round spots in their respective division. Weights are cleared for the semifinal round, and anglers compete for one day to determine the top six pros who will compete in the final round. The co-angler winner is determined after day-three competition. Final-round pros start at zero and compete for one day for position and prize money.

Sunset Park in Rock Island will host daily 7 a.m. takeoffs throughout the event except for Friday, when takeoff is at 8 a.m. Wednesday and Thursday’s weigh-ins, Sept. 29 and 30, will also be held at the park beginning at 3 p.m. Weigh-ins Friday and Saturday, Oct. 1 and 2, will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 3930 44th Ave. in Moline beginning at 5 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Saturday.

Ranger Boats and Evinrude Outboards are teaming up to present On the Water Demo Day on Saturday, Oct. 2. The festivities begin at Sunset Park with a children’s fishing clinic from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. On-the-water demonstrations will start at 11 a.m. and conclude at 2 p.m.

Wednesday’s conditions

Sunrise: 6:57 a.m.

Temperature at takeoff: 43 degrees

Expected high temperature: 65 degrees

Water temperature: 72 degrees

Wind: west at 4 mph

Relative humidity: 100 percent