They were here yesterday

Rising water could reposition Mississippi River walleyes

RED WING, Minn. – Although the weather at takeoff was pleasant, with temperatures in the mid-50s and partly cloudy skies, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour anglers recognize the fact that the Mississippi River is on the rise. Heavy rainfall from the weekend is finally taking its toll, and the river is expected to rise 2 to 3 feet by Saturday.

Unfortunately, fish that were caught consistently during practice may be gone now that it is tournament time. Despite the rising water, local Cannon Falls, Minn., pro Scott Banks believes there will be some big weights brought in today.

“There will be a handful of guys with around 25 pounds today, I would guess,” Banks said.

Banks’ plan is to start the day by trolling and then later switch to three-way rigs with live bait.

“It’s been pretty good for numbers of fish, but its changing every day. There will be a lot of running and checking a lot of areas.”

Defending FLW Walleye Tour Championship winner Robert Lampman also had a fairly successful practice. He described the bite as hit or miss and noted the size of the fish were better than he expected. Lampman said he caught fish as big as 8 pounds during prefishing.

“Its going to be an interesting tournament,” said the De Soto, Wis., native. “I’m setting my sights at getting five between 18 and 21 inches. Put five in the box early and then go looking for that big guy.”

Lampman said he plans to start the day trolling up in Pool 3.

“All three pools have that big-fish capability.”

Logistics

A full field of 150 pros and 150 co-anglers will take on the Mississippi River for their share of a $503,300 purse, including as much as $100,000 for the winning pro and $18,000 for the winning co-angler.

Colvill Park in Red Wing will host daily takeoffs each morning at 7 a.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins will also be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Central time. Saturday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 295 Tyler Road S. in Red Wing beginning at 4 p.m. The community is invited to attend daily takeoffs and weigh-ins, which are free and open to the public.

Pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day and fish for a combined boat weight. Pros compete against other pros, and co-anglers compete against other co-anglers. The full field competes during the three-day opening round for one of 10 final-round slots based on their three-day accumulated weight. Weights carry over to day four, with the winner determined by the heaviest four-day weight.

Every angler who receives weight credit in a tournament earns points, with 150 points awarded to the winner, 149 to second, 148 for third, and so on. These points determine angler standings. The top 50 pros and 50 co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the 2006 FLW Walleye Tour Championship.

Wednesday’s conditions

Sunrise: 5:58 a.m.

Temperature at takeoff: 54 degrees

Expected high temperature: 70 degrees

Water temperature: 56-60 degrees

Wind: W at 14 mph

Maximum humidity: 36 percent

Day’s outlook: partly cloudy