WABASHA READIES FOR WEEKEND OF FLW YOUTH BASS-FISHING TOURNAMENTS
YETI FLW College Fishing tournament set for Friday, Bass Pro Shops FLW High School Open tournament to follow Saturday
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WABASHA, Minn. (July 9, 2019) – Fishing League Worldwide (FLW) is set to visit Wabasha next week, July 19-20, with the YETI FLW College Fishing tournament at the Mississippi River presented by Evinrude and the Bass Pro Shops FLW High School Fishing Open at the Mississippi River presented by Evinrude. The tournaments, hosted by the Wabasha-Kellogg Area Chamber of Commerce and Convention Visitors Bureau, will showcase some of the top young anglers from across the region competing for cash and prizes and angling for their chance to advance to the FLW College Fishing National Championship and High School Fishing National Championship events.
“The river has been crazy high – we’ve had a lot of tournaments cancelled up here – but it’s stabilizing a bit and the fishing is going to be really, really good for the young anglers,” said Yamamoto Baits pro Tom Monsoor of La Crosse, Wisconsin, who has 26 top-10 finishes on the Mississippi River in FLW competition. “The largemouth are biting and the smallies are biting good, too. We’re going to see a lot of mixed bags because everything is biting good right now.”
Monsoor predicted that frogs, topwater baits and jigs would be the key baits for most tournament competitors, and that finding clear water would be the key.
“If they don’t find clear water, they’ll be hurting,” the 16-year FLW Tour veteran said. “Both Pool 4 and Pool 5 are good fishing and hold a lot of fish, but the weather coming into the event will play a role. The current is still running strong, so it’s setting fish up where they should be – in the duckweeds, on riprap and jetties, and points and sand breaks out of the current edges.
“My motto is K.I.S.S. – keep it simple, stupid,” Monsoor chuckled. “Somebody always finds them, and that’s who is going to win. I think the winning weight in both of these tournaments will be 15 to 18 pounds.”
The college anglers will kick off competition on Friday, July 19, at 6:30 a.m. CDT at the Wabasha City Ramp at Izaak Walton Park, located at 707 4th St. W., in Wabasha. The weigh-in will be held at the park on Friday at 2:30 p.m. The high school anglers will then compete on Saturday, July 20, launching at 6 a.m. from the park and weighing in at 2 p.m. All takeoffs and weigh-ins are free to attend and open to the public, and will be streamed live online at FLWFishing.com.
YETI FLW College Fishing teams compete in three regular-season qualifying tournaments in one of five conferences – Central, Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Western. All participants must be registered, full-time students at a college, university or community college and members of a college fishing club that is recognized by their school. The top 10 teams from each division’s three regular-season tournaments and the top 20 teams from the annual FLW College Fishing Open will advance to the 2020 FLW College Fishing National Championship. Additional teams will qualify for the National Championship if the field size in regular-season events exceeds 100 boats.
The Bass Pro Shops FLW High School Fishing Open tournaments are free, two-person (team) events for students in grades 7-12 and open to any FLW and Student Angler Federation-affiliated high school clubs. The top 10 percent of teams at each Open event along with the TBF High School Fishing state championships will advance to the 2020 High School Fishing National Championship. The High School Fishing national champions will each receive a $5,000 college scholarship to the school of their choice.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow YETI FLW College Fishing and the Bass Pro Shops FLW High School Fishing Opens at Facebook, Twitter, Instagra