La Crosse, Wis. — A cool spell last week and high water could bode well for the bass fishing at the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Mississippi River presented by SEVIIN. Both factors could awaken lethargic bass from the dog days of summer, while triggering baitfish activity and feeding opportunities as the bite transitions to fall.
Ideally, the weather trend could put largemouth and smallmouth alike in play for the Tackle Warehouse Opens Elite Qualifiers competing in the final event of Division 3.
Typically, smallmouth move out of smaller creeks, or up from deep water and begin positioning on shallow main river areas. Key features are ambush feeding points created by current breaks, such as sandbars, wing dams and other habitat. Likewise, the largemouth migrate from backwater areas into the main river to stage and feed around mixed vegetation, wood and rock that also provide ambush points.
While the playing field of pools 7, 8 and 9 are not facing flood conditions, the abnormally high water is always a favored factor that provides more fishable areas in the current.
Given the consistent historical track record of B.A.S.S. tournaments occurring in the same late summer timeframe makes it notable to review the winning ways that could also be in play this week.
2022: Schmitt dials into eelgrass pattern
Elite pro Bryan Schmitt tapped into his vast knowledge of catching bass in moving water, and dialing into the intricacies of finding subtle differences in vast areas of vegetation to win the late August event with 63 pounds, 4 ounces.
“When you have a fishery with a lot of grass, it’s always about finding something different,” Schmitt said. “The first day, it was about depressions and edges. Then, it got so flat calm that I realized the fish would pick a place on a grass edge or depression and that was the only place you could get bit.”
Schmitt strategically dissected his area (with and without current) until he discovered an 8-foot-deep trench running across the flat, surrounded on top by a bottom depth of 6 feet. The money spot featured a rocky bottom amid the crucial yet subtle depth variation in the eelgrass.
Topwater frogs, swimbaits, bladed jigs and Carolina rigs dominated the lure choices of the Top 10 anglers. Schmitt’s top lure was a Carolina rig. Runner-up Chris Johnston fished a frog around shallow eelgrass mats.
2018: Rising water, relocating bass for the win
Ish Monroe took note of largemouth moving shallower each day on rising water into his backwater area to win the Elite tournament held in June. As the tournament went on, and the river levels continued to rise, the fish moved further back into the shallow backwaters that were covered in grass, lily pads, duckweed and other types of aquatic vegetation. Monroe continued refining his pattern, noting which types of vegetation held the greatest concentrations of bass.
As a result, he won the four-day event with 65-7, and had fun in the process. His top lure was a heavier, large-profile signature topwater frog that could penetrate the surface of dense duckweed. Frogs and punching rigs deployed on heavy action tackle appeared in the top lures gallery from top to bottom.
2016: Spillway creates feeding area for winning pattern
Ott DeFoe’s winning weight of 63-10 during mid-September came by fishing below a low-head spillway where Pool 7 slowly dumped into Pool 8. That created a turbulent flow, which attracted baitfish and bass alike. Later in the day, DeFoe would move to the southern end of Pool 8 to fish grass flats.
For the spillway, DeFoe favored a swimbait retrieved at the speed of the current. The swimbait would tumble through the rapidly moving water, imitating a struggling or dying baitfish being washed downstream in the current. For the grass flats DeFoe fished a punch rig made with a Texas-rigged creature bait, 1 1/2-ounce weight and 4/0 hook.
