Herold hangs on for Mississippi River co-angler win
ONALASKA, Wis. – Richard Herold of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, took top honors in the Co-angler Division by mounting 16-pound, 9-ounce two-day effort in the final round of EverStart Series Northern Division at the Mississippi River. He edged out runner-up B.J. Nelson of Louisa, Ky., by almost a pound and a half and took home $5,000 for the victory.
“Yeah, I’m surprised,” Herold said. “But when I caught that big one, it made everything easier.”
Herold’s catch Saturday – four bass weighing in at 8 pounds, 10 ounces – was anchored by a nice 3 1/2-pound kicker, which helped him surpass Nelson, who made a furious rush at the title by catching the day’s only limit from the back of the boat.
Fishing with pro Jeff Ritter, Herold caught most of his fish on black-and-white topwater frogs in shallow slop.
“I missed two fish, but I was real happy with today,” he said. “I didn’t get as many bites today, but when they did, they came completely out of the water. It was nuts.”
Nelson caught the heaviest co-angler sack Saturday – five bass worth 10 pounds, 15 ounces – but ultimately collected $4,000 for second place. His final weight was 15-2.
“I had a great time,” he said. “It’s been a dream just to make the top 10. I caught all my fish on a Gene Larew Hoo Daddy Jr. next to some bridge pilings. It was my third fish, I was just happy with that.”
Robert Horick of St. Petersburg, Fla., finished third for the co-anglers with a final weight of 13 pounds, 13 ounces and collected $3,420.
By tiebreaker, fourth place and $2,420 went to co-angler Daniel Mancini of Necedah, Wis., who also caught a final weight of 13 pounds, 13 ounces.
Day-three co-angler leader Mark Grahn of Wautoma, Wis., failed to catch a keeper Saturday but still finished in fifth place thanks to his Friday weight of 11 pounds even. He earned $1,920.
Rounding out the top 10 co-angler finishers at the Mississippi River:
6th: Stephen Copps of La Crosse, 9-10, $1,820
7th: Mike Devere of Berea, Ky., 8-15, $1,720
8th: Ben Kurth of West St. Paul, Minn., 6-0, $1,620
9th: Richard Conrad of Eau Claire, Wis., 1-10, $1,520 (opening-round leader)
10th: Homer Stephens of Noblesville, Ind., 1-5, $1,420
Devere, who also finished in the top 10 at the Detroit River last month, will take the lead in the Northern Division co-angler points standings. He has 385 points.
Coming up
The next EverStart Series event is a Northeast Division contest at the Potomac River near Woodbridge, Va., Aug. 17-20.
The next Northern Division tournament will be the third event of the regular season, held on Lake Michigan at Escanaba, Mich., Aug. 24-27.