LA CROSSE, Wis. (July 30, 2020) – Local pro Tom Monsoor of La Crosse, Wisconsin, caught a five-bass limit weighing 14 pounds, 8 ounces, to vault to the top of the leaderboard on day two of the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at the Mississippi River presented by OPTIMA Batteries in La Crosse. Monsoor’s two-day total of 10 bass weighing 28-11 will give him a 12-ounce advantage as the event enters into day three of competition in the four-day Super Tournament that features 200 of the world’s best bass-fishing anglers from FLW and Major League Fishing (MLF) competing for a top cash award of up to $160,000.
After starting the day in seventh place, Monsoor caught a limit in Pool No. 8 consisting of two smallmouth and three largemouth bass Thursday to move into first place. He says that the tournament is still completely up for grabs with two days of competition remaining and the fishery changing each day.
“I can’t believe that the River has been fishing as tough as it has been, but I had more weight today than I did yesterday so I guess it wasn’t too bad,” said Monsoor, a 17-year FLW pro veteran who has 25 previous top-10 finishes on the Mississippi River in FLW competition. “Yesterday I started out in Pool 7 and it did not work out. My two starting spots I didn’t get a bite – and I thought I could catch a limit at both. But that’s La Crosse – it can change overnight.
“Today I hunkered down in Pool 8 and it worked out a little better,” Monsoor continued. “I tried everything. I threw a topwater, I threw a popper, I threw a buzzbait, a football jig, a swimming jig, a Senko, and a homemade Bitsy Bug. All my weight is coming on the jig, but I’m trying other stuff. I see some big fish feeding but they ain’t biting. I don’t know why, yet.”
Monsoor said he remains on the lookout for the “big bite”, and that he almost had it in the boat late yesterday.
“Near the end of the day yesterday I thought I had snagged a stick, because it wasn’t fighting – it wasn’t moving. Then it came to the surface and opened its mouth – it was a 4- or 5-pounder – and the hook flew out. I’ve got good hooks, but the fish just didn’t get all of it. That bass would have been another couple of pounds, at least.
“That’s why this is still anybody’s tournament,” Monsoor went on to say. “I could get nothing tomorrow, and somebody else can catch a big bag. You can just stumble into them. I’m going to keep looking because I haven’t really found them yet.”
The top 20 pros after day two on the Mississippi River are:
1st: Tom Monsoor of La Crosse, Wis., 10 bass, 28-11
2nd: Scott Wiley of Bay Minette, Ala., 10 bass, 27-15
3rd: Bailey Boutries of Daphne, Ala., 10 bass, 27-14
4th: Zack Birge of Blanchard, Okla., 10 bass, 27-13
5th: Bradford Beavers of Summerville, S.C., 10 bass, 27-9
6th: Ron Nelson of Berrien Springs, Mich., 10 bass, 27-4
7th: Tyler Stewart of West Monroe, La., 10 bass, 27-3
8th: Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tenn., 10 bass, 27-2
9th: Clark Reehm of Elm Grove, La., 10 bass, 26-7
10th: Clayton Batts of Butler, Ga., 10 bass, 26-1
11th: Kyle Hall of Granbury, Texas, 10 bass, 25-7
12th: Matt Lee of Bremen, Ala., 10 bass, 25-7
13th: David Walker of Sevierville, Tenn., 10 bass, 25-7
14th: Mike McClelland of Blue Eye, Mo., 10 bass, 25-4
15th: Jon Englund of Farwell, Minn., 10 bass, 25-1
16th: Dustin Connell of Clanton, Ala., 10 bass, 25-1
17th: David Gaston of Sylacauga, Ala., 10 bass, 24-15
18th: Casey Ashley of Donalds, S.C., 10 bass, 24-13
19th: Kurt Mitchell of Milford, Del., 10 bass, 24-12
20th: Jesse Wiggins of Logan, Ala., 10 bass, 24-11
Full results for the entire field can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Jim Tutt of Longview, Texas, won the $500 Berkley Big Bass award Thursday in the pro division after bringing a fish weighing 4 pounds, 10 ounces to the scale.
Overall there were 797 bass weighing 1,774 pounds, 3 ounces caught by 190 pros Thursday. The catch included 119 five-bass limits.
The Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at the Mississippi River presented by OPTIMA Batteries is hosted by Explore La Crosse.
In Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Super-Tournament competition, the full field of 200 pro anglers competed in the two-day opening round on Wednesday and Thursday. The top 50 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight now advance to Friday. Only the top 10 pros will continue competition on Championship Saturday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.
FLW anglers are vying for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the Tackle Warehouse FLW TITLE presented by Toyota, the Pro Circuit championship. The 2020 Tackle Warehouse FLW TITLE presented by Toyota will be held on Lake Michigan in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, Aug. 24-29.
MLF pros competing in the Pro Circuit Super Tournaments will fish for prize money only. No points will be awarded toward any championship or title to MLF competitors. Only the original Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit anglers will compete for the AOY title throughout the remainder of the season. AOY points in the final events will be awarded based on Pro Circuit anglers finishing order. The top-finishing FLW pro will receive “first-place points” regardless of where he finishes in the overall standings, and so on.
Anglers will take off at 7 a.m. CDT each day from Stoddard Park, located at 502 Forest Lane, in Stoddard. The weigh-in each day will also be held at Stoddard Park and will begin at 4 p.m. Attendance is limited to competing anglers and essential staff only. Fans are encouraged to forgo the daily takeoffs and weigh-ins and follow the event online through the expanded four-day “FLW Live” on-the-water broadcasts and weigh-in coverage at FLWFishing.com.
Television coverage of the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit at the Mississippi River will premiere at 7 p.m. EDT, Sept. 11 on the Outdoor Channel. Running now through Dec. 27, FLW will air 312 hours of Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit action on the Outdoor Channel and the Sportsman Channel. Each two-hour long episode goes in-depth to break down the final rounds of each regular-season competition. Episodes premiere in Friday night primetime slots on the Outdoor Channel, with additional re-airings on the Outdoor Channel and the Sportsman Channel.
The popular FLW Live on-the-water broadcast will air on all four days of competition, featuring live action from the boats of the tournament’s top pros each day. Host Travis Moran is joined by Toyota Series pro Todd Hollowell and MLF’s Marty Stone to break down the extended action each day from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. On-the-water broadcasts will be live streamed on FLWFishing.com.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
About FLW
FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, FLW and its partners conduct more than 290 bass-fishing tournaments annually around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Namibia, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, and Zimbabwe.
FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show while Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. Acquired by Major League Fishing in late 2019, FLW is expanding its programming in 2020 to the Outdoor Channel and the Sportsman Channel as well as on-demand at MyOutdoorTV (MOTV).
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