It’s a Ouachita Wednesday

Rain coming for FLW day one

MONROE, La. – It’s all systems go on the Ouachita River for the third stop of the 2005 Wal-Mart FLW Tour season.

The threat of rain loomed large over takeoff as 200 boats put in at Monroe’s Forsythe Park Wednesday morning, but that didn’t dampen spirits too much. The forecast is calling for just one day of rain this week, and a few anglers have reported catching some sizeable bass in practice.

“I think we’ll see a few nice stringers today,” pro Ray Scheide said.

Still, many others have found the fishing tough so far here on the Ouachita. Dock talk this morning had it that a good chunk of the field planned to lock up into Arkansas and the Felsenthal pool today to capitalize on a better bite up there. The river at Monroe is high and muddy, which might discourage some anglers from fishing the bayous and backwaters around here.

On the other hand, the water has been and is still falling, so look for a few pros to try their luck in nearby Bayou D’Arbonne in search of those big prespawners on the move.

The purse for this tournament is $900,000, with $100,000 going to the pro winner and $20,000 going to the co-angler winner.

Wednesday’s weigh-in begins at 3 p.m. Central time at Forsythe Park, located at 2401 Sycamore St. in Monroe.

Here at FLWOutdoors.com, weigh-in coverage on FLW Live begins at 3 p.m. Central time.

Wednesday’s conditions:

Sunrise: 6:26 a.m.

Temperature at takeoff: 45 degrees

Expected high temperature: 56 degrees

Water temperature: 52-56 degrees

Wind: from WSW at 11 mph

Maximum humidity: 61 percent

Day’s outlook: showers