Ritter reels in EverStart lead on Mississippi

Ashley nets first place in Co-angler Division; top-20 cut announced

RED WING, Minn. – Overcoming driving rains, high waves and bitter winds, Jeff Ritter of Prairie du Chien, Wis., managed to tame the mighty Mississippi River on the second day of EverStart Series Northern Division competition, landing a two-day sack of 23 pounds, 9 ounces to grab the overall lead in the Pro Division.

“It’s a good feeling,” said Ritter of his first-place finish. “I found some fish in practice late Sunday afternoon and that really helped me. I just hope I have enough fish left to last me a couple more days. I guess tomorrow will tell the story.”

Ritter said that he has been starting off each tournament day fishing with a buzzbait and then moving on to a jig for the remainder of the afternoon.

“The jig has been my bread-and-butter lure the whole week,” said Ritter. “I’ve been targeting most of my fish in about 2 to 5 feet of water. So far, everything has worked out.”

With his highest finish ever in EverStart competition – 14th place – coming on the exact same water in 2002, Ritter hopes he is on the verge of smashing his personal best this time around.

“It’d be really nice to hold onto first place for the rest of the tournament,” said Ritter. “I’m just going to go out there and give it a whirl. I definitely don’t plan on changing my strategy.”

Leuenberger snares second place

Jason Leuenberger of La Crosse, Wis., came up with an innovative strategy on the Mississippi River today – never stop moving. In the end, his approach paid off as the Wisconsin native netted an impressive two-day catch of 23 pounds, 3 ounces to make today’s top-20 cut.

“I felt pretty good out there today,” he said. “But the key was covering as much water as possible.”

Leuenberger said that he planned to keep fishing shallow water for the remainder of the tournament. However, he said if the fish decide to start moving around, that all could change.

“You just never know if the fish are going to cooperate,” he said. “Those fish have fins, and you never know when they’re going to use them.”

Novack in third

Third place belonged to Chris Novack of Willington, Conn. Novack, one of the many representatives of the Northeast to turn in impressive showings this week, recorded a total catch of 22 pounds, 11 ounces.

Best of the rest

Rounding out the top five qualifiers in the Pro Division are FLW Tour pro Wesley Strader (fourth) of Spring City, Tenn., with a catch of 21 pounds, 14 ounces; and Aaron LaRocque (fifth) of Wabasha, Minn., with a catch of 21 pounds, 11 ounces.

FLW Tour pro Dion Hibdon of Stover, Mo., won the day’s big-bass award after landing a 4-pound, 8-ounce bass. Hibdon, who finished in 101st place, won $750 for his efforts.

Ashley fails to relinquish lead in Co-angler Division

David Ashley of Markleville, Ind., apparently liked his first-place finish so much after the first day of competition that he decided he couldn’t imagine finishing anywhere else. Boasting a two-day catch of 15 pounds, 7 ounces, Ashley maintained the overall lead in the Co-angler Division despite the difficulty of adapting to two completely different pro partners.

“On the first day, my pro drove 45 miles south, and today we went 25 miles to the north,” said Ashley. “I’ve seen just about as much of the river as you can this week. I’ve really had to shift some gears. I went from fishing shallow water and grass yesterday to fishing rocks in deeper water today. I’ve changed rods, line and baits all week.”

Despite the nerve-wracking position of being completely at the mercy of his pro partner, gusting winds and generally inclement weather, Ashley has clearly handled himself well. But then again, Ashley has always been fond of the Mississippi River – no matter how difficult and fickle she might behave sometimes.

“It feels great,” he said. “I really like this river. I’ve had some success here in the past. This river really has been good to me.”

But while his first-place finish in today’s competition had Ashley smiling ear to ear, he realizes that the tournament is only half over.

“I’m really excited. But then again, you have to realize that we start all over again at zero tomorrow,” he said. “I want to lead this tournament from wire to wire. But I’m just going to see how everything plays out. So far, I’m having a great time.”

Best of the rest

Rob McMurray of Troy, Mich., finished in second place in the Co-angler Division after landing a two-day catch of 13 pounds, 14 ounces.

Peter Cherkas of Des Moines, Iowa, grabbed the third qualifying spot with a total catch of 13 pounds, 4 ounces.

Rounding out the top five co-angler qualifiers are Louis Woods (fourth) of Winneconne, Wis., with a catch of 12 pounds, 6 ounces; and Troy Sprague (fifth) of Lincoln, Neb., with a catch of 12 pounds.

Loren Berg of East Bethel, Minn., won the day’s big-bass award in the Co-angler Division by reeling in a 3-pound, 11-ounce bass. Berg, who finished the tournament in 44th place, received $250 in prize money for his fish.

Tournament action continues Friday at the 6 a.m. Central takeoff at the Treasure Island Casino & Resort Marina, located at 5734 Sturgeon Lake Road. All of the top 20 pros and 20 co-anglers will have their weights zeroed out before the start of day-three competition.