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On The Road Again - Red Wing, MN
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Posted Thursday, June 27th, 2002 to The Bass Pro Diary
The Mighty Mississippi, with its dirty stained water, muscles over the boats in the Everstart Series Northern Division Opener, but the bass are weakened at the sight of flashy and natural colored lures.
June 26th, 2002
What a day on the Mississippi River! Today started off my quest for the prize of placing high on the list of winners for the Northern Division of the FLW Outdoors Everstart Series in Red Wing, Minnesota. Getting started was quite a trip, though, due to the fact that the main lock running between the two pools of the river had a heavy day of barge traffic - making almost every boat in the competition wait an hour and a half before fishing could start. The lock did fill up with bass boats, though, as we all headed out for a day of bass hunting.
In the morning, my partner and I headed off to test our luck on largemouth in and around some of the marinas. We flipped tubes and jigs over, around, under, and through the various docks and piers. We managed to pull in two decent sized largemouth along the shore line behind a pier (one each), and both had fish in out livewell by 8:00 in the morning. My partner caught his bass flipping a plastic tube in the vegetation, and I caught mine in the same vicinity pitching a small, natural colored skirted jig tipped off with a Mojo Pro Tackle Skinni Mini trailer (black widow color). It frustrated me, as three casts later I managed to get the lure snagged and had to cut my Black Widow fishing line to move on. I was frustrated, as I did not have another small skirted jig in my tackle box. At least makes the rest of your day easier knowing that there is a good sized fish thumping around the livewell behind you as you move on to your next fishing spot!
The remainder of the day was spent throwing spinnerbaits along the rocky banks of the river and lake (Peppin). The bass were biting, but the majority of them were white bass - and they do not qualify for weigh-in. I had no further luck for the rest of the afternoon, but my partner was able to collect a couple more smallies for his weigh-in bag. Oh well, that happens sometimes! I did not get discouraged, and headed in to the weigh-in with my hefty Mississippi River bass to see how I did against the remainder of the anglers.
My bass weighed in at 2 pounds, 10 ounces. It was not the biggest bass I have ever weighed in, but it was big enough to keep me in the top 50 anglers (the top 50 positions paid out winnings) on the scoreboard for the day. All that should be needed is another 2 to 3 pounds of fish tomorrow and I will more than likely be driving home with a paycheck!
The remainder of the evening included me driving around the city of Red Wing trying to locate another small skirted jig in natural colors. That was a challenge! I finally found some in a clearance bin at a local dealer’s store.
June 27th, 2002
Well, the day would take a turn for the worse, as I would find myself fish-less at the end of the day. I really despise that feeling. The spinnerbaits that were so productive for smallmouth yesterday, wound up producing nothing for me today. What even made the day more frustrating is the fact that the Mighty Mississippi managed to eat up about a dozen of my fishing lures (my partner lost about the same). It gets difficult when you are fishing along large rocky banks, as the rocks can easily snag up hooks, lures, and weights. It is even worse when the area includes the windy side of the lake (worse for lures - better for finding fish). I think that the bad part of the whole day was the heavy stain the water possessed. Trying to hunt down smallies in chocolate milk colored water can be very difficult for everybody. The anglers who were really successful on this day were ones who managed to locate some of the more “clear” areas of the river system.
Well, I had no fish to weigh in, but was thankful that I at least had the chance to weigh in one decent sized fish (more than what many of the other anglers had the chance to weigh in). All I can do is put the tournament behind me, be thankful for my 88th place finish - knowing that there were many anglers behind me on the final standings list. Now I need to focus my attention towards the Canadian Open next month, and know that I will be starting over from scratch in a new tournament. The worst thing any angler can do is get frustrated from a so-so finish, and let it brew inside of him/her into the next tournament on the schedule. Every tournament is different, including different competitors, different fish, different bodies of water, and different weather conditions. Knowing that is key to preparation for a new event, from a mental standpoint.
Curt S. Strutz
“The Bassmeister”
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