Standing still

More flat conditions on tap for day two of FLW Series on Columbia River

TRI-CITIES, Wash. – It’s not something anglers generally “wish” for, but those fishing the Walmart FLW Series National Guard Western Division event on the Columbia River are actually yearning for a little dose of wind.

Day one delivered a beautiful scene for river tours, but those flat calm conditions with a high bright sky always make for tough fishing. Baitfish are not pushed to predicable areas, bass feel no stimulus to move about and fishermen make lots of casts between bent rods.

Day two will bring no more wind than the first day, but anglers were no doubt encouraged to see the rising sun reflecting off scattered clouds. A small push of cooler air approaching the area threw just enough atmospheric formation across the sky to periodically block, or at least, filter the increasing sunlight. This will yield good topwater potential early and late.

Ken Mercurio of Reno, Nev., currently sits in 52nd place with 9 pounds. He struggled most of day one and fell a fish short of his limit, but afternoon action gave him cause for day two optimism.

“I only had one pound at 2 o’clock, but I was able to pick up some reaction baits and in an hour and 10 minutes I put three more fish with it,” Mercurio said. “Fortunately, one went about 4 ¾ pounds and that got me back in the game.”

Today, Mercurio will give his Reaction Innovations Vixen a good surface workout as long as conditions allow. “I think the cloud cover will be more conducive to reaction bites today. I’m going to go after them right away with the reaction baits and typically, the mid-morning will slow down and you need to go after them with down baits. If the sun gets higher and the chop gets bigger, switch back to reaction baits.”

Working rock piles and breaks with jigs, Carolina rigs, dropshots and wacky worms will be the dominant pattern during most of the day. Eleventh place pro Gene Batey said that finding the mixture of rocks and weeds will be intrinsic to success. Dual food sources, plus feeding strategy makes this scenario attractive to smallmouth.

“The fish are eating crawdads and they’re eating the shad in the river, so you have to have that combination (of habitat),” Batey said. “Because there’s no current, they have to have some way to ambush the baitfish.”

Also important, Batey noted, is an enticing retrieve. Again, the lack of current means predators won’t see a lot of food zipping past, so anglers must impart a lot of motion in their baits to attract attention.

“You have to give (your bait) some action,” Batey said. “The fish aren’t real antsy right now, as you can tell by the (day one) weights.”

Most of the field will target smallmouth bass, as largemouths are considered mostly a bonus bycatch. However, a handful of anglers hauled in some impressive green bass, including seventh place pro Cameron Smith who secured day one big bass honors with his 5-pound, 8-ounce largemouth.

Smith found his big fish and a few of its brethren in a small backwater lake that he discovered in practice. His spot requires a commitment of time, but he said he’ll return there today and see if he can entice more largemouth with the wooden rat bait he used on day one.

“I’m going to gamble again to see if there are any (bass) left in there,” Smith said. “I think there are a couple of 3-pounders that I saw in practice but I didn’t catch (on day one). Then, I’ll just go catch a safety limit and hope that a couple of them are large smallmouth.

“I’m around a lot of small smallmouth, but there are a couple of 3-pounders that I got in practice so I’m hoping for one of those good bites. As long as I’m catching them, I’m happy.”

Logistics

Anglers will take off from Columbia Point Marina located at 660 Columbia-Point Drive at 6:30 each morning. Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins will also be held at the marina beginning at 3:00 p.m. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 2801 Duportail St. in Richland at 4 p.m. Children will also be treated to a Family Fun Zone prior to Saturday’s weigh-in from noon to 4 p.m. at Wal-Mart. Activities in the Family Fun Zone include the Kellogg’s trout pond, a Ranger boat simulator and assorted fishing-themed games. All activities are free and open to the public.

The entire field competes for the first three days of FLW Series events. Co-angler winners are determined on day three based on the heaviest accumulated three-day weight. The top 10 professionals continue competition on day four, and the winner is determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from all four days. Pros are fishing for a top prize of $125,000 and co-anglers are competing for a $25,000 award.

Thursday’s conditions

Sunrise: 6:39 a.m.

Temperature at takeoff: 56 degrees

Expected high temperature: 90 degrees

Water temperature: 65 degrees

Wind: SW at 4 mph, switching WNW

Humidity: 30 percent

Day’s outlook: partly cloudy, sunny in the afternoon