Barnburner expected for La Crosse finals - Major League Fishing

Barnburner expected for La Crosse finals

Tight weights, high temps prevail on Mississippi River Saturday
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Minnesota pro Douglas Stanton makes some early casts on the Black River at La Crosse Saturday morning. Photo by Jeff Schroeder. Angler: Doug Stanton.
July 15, 2006 • Jeff Schroeder • Archives

ONALASKA, Wis. – Near-record high temperatures approaching 100 degrees are expected on the Mississippi River for Saturday’s final round of Stren Series Midwest Division competition, but don’t expect the catch rates to fall too much. Chances are, many pro finalists have already caught their limits in cooler conditions early this morning.

Veteran Stacey King led all comers into the day with a five-bass limit Friday weighing 15 pounds, 7 ounces, but he’s got company. Lots of it. In fact, all 10 pro finalists are sitting within just over 2 pounds of each other, which is really the equivalent of the weight of a single smaller bass. While King has 15-7, 10th-place John Bomkamp has 13-6, and there are eight other pros sandwiched between them.

“I don’t know, it will be really close,” said eighth-place pro Chris Cox, who finished third at this event last year. He had 13 pounds, 11 ounces coming into today. “The big fish didn’t bite for me (Friday), but they did bite really well for about 45 minutes.”

Barring some sort of problem with the heat, it will be a shock if even one of the pros fails to bring in a limit Saturday on this prolific fishery. The trick to winning, however, will be the anglers’ abilities to find and catch those crucial 4-pound kicker smallies and largemouths. Catching lots of fish is fun, but here size does matter.

Both the pro and co-angler winners will be determined Saturday by two-day combined weight.

Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 3107 Marketplace in Onalaska beginning at 4 p.m. Central time.

For fishing fans unable to attend the Stren Midwest tournament taking place this week in Wisconsin, FLWOutdoors.com offers FLW Live, a real-time video look at the daily weigh-ins. Just access the online application during weigh-in hours to keep tabs on your favorite anglers.

In boat No. 7, co-angler Michael Taylor, along with pro Jim Jones, gives a nod as they take off for SaturdayThe stakes

The pros are competing for a top award worth as much as $64,500, including a 519VX Ranger powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard and equipped with a Minn Kota trolling motor, Lowrance electronics and EverStart batteries plus $10,000 cash. Pros have the chance to earn an additional $10,000 bonus from Ranger if contingency guidelines are met. Ranger awards another $3,000 to the winner if he or she is a participant in the Ranger Cup program, or $1,500 to the highest-finishing Ranger Cup participant. Yamaha will match 50 percent of Ranger Cup earnings if the participant meets “Powered by Yamaha” guidelines.

Co-angler competitors are fishing for a top award worth as much as $35,000, including a 519VX Ranger boat and trailer if contingency guidelines are met.

Saturday’s conditions:

Sunrise: 5:37 a.m.

Temperature at takeoff: 73 degrees

Expected high temperature: 100 degrees

Water temperature: 77-84 degrees

Wind: SW at 12 mph

Maximum humidity: 46 percent

Day’s outlook: sunny

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