MOLINE, Ill. – It’s another beautiful day for fishing on the mighty Mississippi River. All 219 boats took off from Sunset Park in Rock Island, Ill., at 7 a.m. Thursday for the second half of the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Championship’s opening round.
The promising weather could belie the fishing on the river, which was somewhat frustrating for many anglers Wednesday. With a 20- to 27-inch slot limit and anglers restricted to keeping mostly 15- to 20-inch walleyes, it’s tough to catch a keeper the right size, much less accumulate weight. Only two of the most sought-after fish – those over 27 inches – came across the scale on day one.
Consequently, weights are relatively low for those in contention to make the top-12 cut today. After the first day the 12th-place weight in both the pro and co-angler divisions was 7 pounds, 11 ounces – less than the weight of the single biggest fish caught: pro leader Tom Keenan’s 8-pounder.
So it won’t take much, in relative terms, to advance to Friday’s fishing, but it will take a solid effort here. In addition to the slot, trolling anglers are dealing with mucky water conditions brought on by heavy water runoff upriver. Not only that, many anglers are making long runs and spending a lot of time waiting for locks, which curtails their fishing time.
But it’s not all bleak. For every lock, there are a thousand wing dams to choose from which could hold fish. RCL anglers up and down the river have a lot of options. Finding the right one will be the test.
Both the pro and co-angler fields will be cut to the top 12, based on two-day weight, following Thursday’s fishing.
Thursday’s weigh-in will be held at the Sunset Park in Rock Island beginning at 3 p.m. Central. For those unable to attend in person, real-time weigh-in results are available at FLWOutdoors.com with FLW Live beginning at weigh-in time.
Thursday’s conditions
Sunrise: 6:58 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 53 degrees
Expected high temperature: 73 degrees
Water temperature: 72 degrees
Wind: variable at 3 mph
Maximum humidity: 49 percent
Day’s outlook: sunny