LIVE BLOG: We’re in the Final Lap of Knockout Round 1 on the Upper Mississippi

Greg Vinson has hammered away with the jerkbait, finally taking the lead in Period 3. Photo by Garrick Dixon

August 23, 2019 • MLF Field Crew • Bass Pro Tour

LA CROSSE, Wi. – It’s the final competition period of the season for five anglers as Period 3 of Knockout Round 1 shapes up on the Upper Mississippi River. We’ve become accustomed to drama around the Elimination Line this season, but it’ll be even more intense as a small handful of anglers hustle for the final couple of spots in the REDCREST Championship Round on Sunday.

1:16 p.m. CT – Let’s take a closer look at Greg Vinson’s day. The Alabama pro has put up a steady stream of scoreable bass: his longest period with a fish was 42 minutes at the start of the second period. Otherwise, Vinson has steadily racked up fish from the start of competition. Powroznik, meanwhile, appears to be in practice mode after dominating the competition through the first round and a half. “P-Roz_ has caught only seven scoreable bass since the end of the first period.
-Joel Shangle

1:00 p.m. CT – New leader. Greg Vinson hurdled Jacob Powroznik for the lead just a few minutes ago, and it doesn’t look like “The Rooster” is slowing down: he’s at 50-1 on 31 fish, and currently has a 3-pound lead on Powroznik. All but one of Vinson’s 31 fish have come on a jerkbait.
-Joel Shangle

12:49 p.m. CT – Back on Michael Neal as we make our way out of the swamp of the lower end of Pool 8. Neal is fishing a creek that feeds the main river, working over a grassline with a white swimbait. The point is between two wing dams, with a sandy shoreline peeking below the grass.
-Mason Prince

12:46 p.m. CT – As the numbers on SCORETRACKER® stand right now, we’re in for a dogfight between two of the biggest names in professional bass fishing. Mike Iaconelli currently sits in fifth place with 31-7. Immediately behind him is Edwin Evers with 29-11. Andy Morgan, Mark Daniels, Jr., and Jeff Sprague are still numerically in the hunt, but need to do some serious work in the final 2:10 to slide into the Top 5. Until then, it’s Ike vs. Edwin.
-Joel Shangle

11:21 a.m. CT – “The Rooster” has had a sneaky-good REDCREST. As I write this, Greg Vinson sits in second place, now just 5-4 behind Jacob Powroznik. The Alabama pro was the most consistent angler in the Knockout and Elimination rounds, putting 48-7 and 50-4, respectively, on SCORETRACKER®. No major swings in weight, just good, solid consistency. And he’s done most of it with a jerkbait, a bait that was barely mentioned in pre-event chatter.
-Joel Shangle

11:12 a.m. CT – Everybody buckle up, the second half of the day is going to be a doozy. In the time it took us to idle from Evers to Vinson, The Rooster slipped from second to fifth, and then back into second. And keep an eye on sneaky Andy Morgan: since making a big move downriver, the three-time FLW Tour Angler of the Year has added four fish to his total and has crept to within 6 pounds of the fifth spot. Morgan just added a 3-8 to his total.
-Tyler Brinks

Stephen Browning is battling for his Championship Round life. Photo by Phoenix Moore

10:47 a.m. CT – Evers is nothing if not determined. The 2019 Points Champion is still focused on the I-90 bridge, and had slowed down considerably with a spinning rod and Berkley finesse worm. He’s picked up a couple on that bait, keeping himself in contention for a spot in the Championship Round: he’s fifth with 25-2.
-Tyler Brinks

10:19 a.m. CT – Here’s an interesting development: Andy Morgan just motored past us near the I-90 bridge and said simply: “I’m MOVIN’ movin,” implying that he’s headed far away from the Black River in hopes of salvaging his day. Morgan is in ninth place and needs something to start happening, so maybe a change is good.
–Tyler Brinks

10:02 a.m. CT – Ike has been fishing outside of a marina near takeoff. We’ve seen this area pay off for other competitors this week, and Iaconelli is catching a few on a small swimbait. Kevin VanDam mentioned on the MLF NOW! live stream that he believes the fishing pressure has gotten to the fish in the Black River, and that sure seems to be true. We haven’t seen the flurries of fish we saw in this area in the Shotgun and Elimination rounds.
-Tyler Brinks

9:54 a.m. CT – Jeff Sprague has found a point with some current and camped out there at the period break. He told us that he thinks he can get some bites throwing a frog over mats. He struggled in the morning on his first spot, but as noted earlier, he’s started to figure things out and had the hot hand as the first period ended. Sprague is in good spirits, and for good reason: switching between a frog and a swimbait, Sprague has already connected twice in the opening minutes of the period.
-Mason Prince

9:40 a.m. CT – The angler on the move as we head into Period 2 is Jeff Sprague. The Texas pro got off to a slow start this morning, going almost 45 minutes before landing his first scoreable bass. Sprague started doing some serious work in the final hour, though, and ended up adding five fish to SCORETRACKER ® in the final 43 minutes for 10-4. He climbed from dead last to second place. Keep your eyes on Sprague.
-Joel Shangle

9:10 a.m. CT – Powroznik just said that he has caught fish all week using a frog. That bait was fruitful again, but he has now moved on to a new spot. He said that he’ll probably come back to his starting spot in the second period, but needs to let that spot rest for awhile so fish can hopefully replenish. He’s now moving down a grassline, searching for a random, big bite.
-Mason Prince

8:45 a.m. CT – Morgan is fishing at a snail’s pace where we saw him catch some yesterday. He’s back to spinning gear, which worked well for him late in the morning in the Elimination Round, but he hasn’t landed anything for almost 40 minutes.
-Tyler Brinks

8:26 a.m. CT – We’ve made our way to a shallow flat in the Black River where Mike Iaconelli and Andy Morgan are fishing. Morgan admitted yesterday that he has “Two areas, and if neither of them is firing, I’ll be rolling home to Tennessee.” So far, it’s a little slow. Fish came up busting between us and Iaconelli, and he made a beeline for them – he was too late, missed one, and then gave up and raced away.
-Tyler Brinks

Jacob Powroznik has piled more than 27 pounds on the scales. Photo by Jesse Schultz

8:21 a.m. CT – Powroznik is fishing the same patch of matted grass where he’s found some schooling fish. He’s missed one bite, but quickly caught a handful more out of this spot. Powroznik is working a frog very slowly over the grass, and you can see on the MLF NOW! live stream where he’s carved a path in the vegetation. Powroznik is on a strong, steady pace: a scoreable bass every 5.06 minutes.
-Mason Prince

8:05 a.m. CT – Mark Daniels, Jr., is doing something we haven’t see a lot of this week: fishing docks. MDJ is moving quickly, firing a white ChatterBait to every side of each dock he comes to in the Black River. It’s slow so far: Daniels has two fish for 2-14.
-Tyler Brinks

8:02 a.m. CT – The bridge isn’t happening this morning. Evers has moved down the bank away from it while Vinson fished his way away from it before making a short move to a small point downriver.
-Tyler Brinks

7:58 a.m. CT – The worm is out of Jacob Powroznik’s hand, for now. He just picked up a vibrating jig as he continues to fish along the same point where he’s done his damage this morning. Powroznik has spent a lot of time in this area the past few days and he knows it well. He’s also mixing in a frog that he’s throwing over the top of some grass, something that has worked for him this week.
-Mason Prince

7:36 a.m. CT – Jacob Powroznik and a wacky worm seem to go together, don’t they? Powroznik has raced out to 12 scoreable fish in just over 30 minutes and already has an 11-pound lead on the field. He’s doing it with the same bait that won him Stage Three in Raleigh, fishing on a school of fish that he’s found off a point on the lower end of Pool 8. We’ve been on him for just a few minutes and watches him pull three fish out of the Mississippi River.
-Mason Prince

7:20 a.m. CT – Sprague’s only bite so far: a pike. The Texas pro isn’t having much luck at his starting point, and he’s ready to move on to the next. He switched up to a crankbait on the edge of the grass, something that MLF photographer Jesse Schultz has seen multiple pros do this week with success.
-Mason Prince

7:14 a.m. CT – We’re parked in a spot near the I-90 bridge in the Black River, where we’ve watched several competitors do some serious damage this week, but today has seen much different conditions. No fog this morning, and it’s a little bit warmer. Greg Vinson and Edwin Evers are working here: Vinson has caught two, Evers has missed a few but has one on the board, throwing what looks to be a small swimbait.
-Tyler Brinks

7:02 a.m. CT – Jeff Sprague is starting the morning fishing an offshoot of a slough, an area he fished in both the Shotgun and Elimination rounds. He’s started with a shad-colored vibrating jig as we go lines in. Sprague admitted to me yesterday that he wishes he was fishing on Saturday instead of today so his areas could replenish. We’ll see if his go-to spots were able to recover overnight.
-Mason Prince