The 26th annual Dick Hiley St. Jude Bass Classic, being held out of Wabasha, MN on pools four and five of the Mississippi River took place on May 4th and 5th.
Much like many other days that the Midwest has seen this spring, the anglers were dealt less than favorable conditions from Mother Nature, rain, and wind. But this did not hamper the fishing on pools four and five of the Mississippi River. Numerous big limits (six bass) were weighed in, with the team of Cody Wiemann and Josh Aitken taking the day one lead with a mega limit of smallmouth totaling 23.95 lbs. Northland Tackle Pro Glenn Walker and tournament partner Jeremiah Shaver brought in a healthy limit weighing 18.75 lbs, landing them in 28th place for the day.
No wind, high skies, warming temperatures, and FOG greeted the 76 teams on the morning of the second day of the Dick Hiley St. Jude Bass Classic. Teams were originally scheduled to blast off at 7:00 am, but with little to no visibility on the Mighty Mississippi River, teams were held until around 8:45 when visibility returned.
With new weather conditions, rapidly moving bass, and a shortened fishing day, many of the top teams from the first day struggled to repeat their day one weight. The team of Adam Bartusek and Bass Talk Live host, Matt Pangrac had nearly identical day one and two weights, with 21.40 lb’s on day one, and 21.45 lb’s on day two, giving them the win and a first-place prize of $25,000 with a total weight of 42.85 lb’s. The team fished a variety of spots on both pools four and five, for bedding smallmouth bass, which was a prevalent pattern for many of the top bags from day one.
Glenn Walker and Jeremiah Shaver made a big jump following their respectable day one weight, by catching 20.92 lb’s on day two. This jumped the team from 28th place after day one, for a final tournament finish of 7th place with a total weight of 39.67 lbs.
Full results from the 26th Annual Dick Hiley St. Jude Bass Classic.
On day one, Walker and Shaver covered water to locate shallow water largemouth holding around stumps and patches of matted dead reeds. Being able to put the bait way back in the flooded trees, and fish it over the matted dead reeds was important to getting bites, so Glenn relied on the Reed-Runner Frog. “The bites weren’t often, but when you got one it was a quality bass,” said Glenn. These quality bites included the team’s big bass of the day, a 4.22 lb largemouth.
Sitting in 28th place after day one, Glenn and Jeremiah knew they needed a big bag on day two to jump up in the standings, so they returned to where they finished fishing on day one where they caught their bigger bass. Cooler water temperatures greeted them in their main area, so a quick change in fishing locations was needed. “We just kept sliding back with the rising water…and the bass, and found a hard bank, that had some hardcover, laydowns, and dead reeds around it,” explained Glenn.
Following a few quick bass on the Reed-Runner Frog, the team slowed down and started fishing wacky-rigged Senko’s, both on a TroKar Pro V Finesse Hook and along with the Northland Fishing Tackle Elite Series Weedless Wacky Jig. As the shortened fishing day progressed, Walker and Shaver kept pace with a wave of new bass moving into the shallows and progressively increased their six-bass tournament limit throughout the day. “At times the weighted Weedless Wacky Jig gave that Senko a faster fall rate, and triggered another bass into biting,” said Glenn.
Fishing around the heavy cover of laydowns and dead reeds, it was important to get the bass hooked, away from the cover and towards the boat immediately. For frogging, Walker noted that 65 lb Seaguar Smackdown braided line ripped right through the dead reeds. On his wacky rig, a 20 lb main line of Smackdown braid, connected to a 10 lb Seaguar Gold Label Fluorocarbon leader, allowed him to present the bait subtlety, while still being able to get the upper hand on the bass. “A big key for me was my Shaman Spinning Rod 7’2″ ML, this rod allowed me to cast my Senko to the shallow waters where the bass were hiding, feel the bite as the bass were moving the Senko off of their bed, and then battle them to the boat with ease,” explained Glenn.
