National Championship launches on the Mississippi
LA CROSSE, Wis. – It’s game time for the massive field of anglers competing in La Crosse, Wisconsin for the High School Fishing World Finals and National Championship and anglers are getting the Mississippi in prime bass catching form.
Teams will weigh a three-fish limit each day for this event and that means finding ounces could be incredibly valuable for teams trying to separate themselves and push their way up the leaderboard. Limits should be plentiful as June is prime time for lots of fish catches on Pools 7,8 and 9 but teams that can catch multiple 3- and 4- pounders will for sure set themselves apart.
About the fishery
Pools 7, 8, and 9 of the Upper Mississippi River are known as a grass fisherman’s paradise. Backwaters, sloughs, drains, and troughs with various vegetation options will play into teams’ game plans this week. With weed growth plentiful so far this year at La Crosse, anglers should have little issue finding green, healthy pads, duckweed, milfoil, and coontail in all the pools. Also at play are a variety of current-related hard cover options. Wing dams, sand drops, and current swings can all hold both largemouth and smallmouth alike and will play a factor in the high schoolers’ success this week. This week, teams will also have to contend with low water conditions, making access to backwaters and shallow water flats tougher. Regardless, a lot of fish, and potentially some big ones will be caught, as rumors are already swirling of practice giants amongst teams.
The practice report
Quinton Meldahl of Caledonia High School is just a short drive from Pool 8, where the tournament will launch from. He’s feeling good about his shot to contend in the World finals this week, despite low water conditions making some areas tough to access.
“I live like 20 minutes from Pool 8, so I fish here a lot,” said Meldahl. “We found some fish, green ones, in a few areas. It’s hard though, things are a lot shallower than they usually are. You can’t get back up into things as far.”
Meldahl feels like the largemouth bite will likely be his team’s ticket to success this week, but the smallmouth bite is more than in play this week, according to his boat captain Hunter Rud.
“I fish this place quite often and the smallmouth have been getting going a little bit,” Rud said. “I heard rumors of a 6-pounder caught today. So, I wouldn’t count smallmouth out of it at all. I just think the smallmouth are trickier to find. They’re going to be on some sneakier spots offshore. But for the people that do find them, they will hold up a lot longer.”