Whitehall’s Pollard Grabs Co-angler Title
Boater Nick Trim of Galesville, Wisconsin, brought a three-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing 12 pounds, 3 ounces, to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Great Lakes Division tournament on the Mississippi River at La Crosse. For his efforts, Trim pocketed $6,105.
Trim worked through backwaters in Pool No. 7 to catch his fish Saturday. He said he weighed his three largemouth off of one bait – a Spro Dean Rojas Bronzeye 65 frog, in Barney and Red Ear colors.
“My areas had really thick weed mats with sandy bottoms, which provided some nice cover for the fish,” said Trim, who tallied his first career win in FLW competition. “I didn’t get a bite at my first spot, but I have some history with those fish, so I decided to move 500 yards away and caught a 3-14 as well as a couple of smaller ones.”
At a third area, Trim wasn’t able to get one in the boat. Around 9:30 a.m., he decided to return to where he caught the 3-14 and reeled in another 4-pounder with his frog – his biggest of the day.
“I also lost a big one that rolled on my frog twice,” said Trim. “I switched to a (Missile Baits) D Bomb with a 1½-ounce tungsten weight with a Trokar flipping hook and got it halfway back to the boat, but it came unbuttoned. It was close to 5 pounds, which is a giant for the Mississippi River.”
From there, Trim returned to his first area and caught a 2-15, also on the D Bomb.
“I figured I needed one more big one, so I kept working that weed mat,” said Trim. “I got 60 yards north of where I caught the 2-15 and set the hook on a 4-pounder with the frog. I had just finished telling my co-angler that I could really use a 4-pound bite, and then it happened.”
Trim noted that his 7-foot, 3-inch Fitzgerald Stunner HD heavy rod was crucial to his success.
“The power that rod has to get bass out of heavy cover is phenomenal – it really helped me out.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Nick Trim, Galesville, Wis., three bass, 12-3, $6,105
2nd: Kevin Ruh, Onalaska, Wis., three bass, 10-10, $2,144
2nd: Jeff Krisher, Madison, Wis., three bass, 10-10, $2,044
4th: Nathan Huss, Elkhart Lake, Wis., three bass, 10-6, $1,515
5th: Yamamoto Baits pro Tom Monsoor, La Crosse, Wis., three bass, 10-3, $981
6th: Josh Ystenes, La Crosse, Wis., three bass, 9-15, $899
7th: Jeff Ritter, Prairie du Chien, Wis., three bass, 9-14, $818
8th: Nick O’Keefe, La Crosse, Wis., three bass, 9-13, $736
9th: Rick Bosshard, Hartland, Wis., three bass, 9-12, $654
10th: Brandon Gann, Sparta, Wis., three bass, 9-11, $572
Jerry Robackouski of Joliet, Illinois, brought a 4-pound, 4-ounce, bass to the scale – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $370.
Jessie Pollard of Whitehall, Wisconsin, won the Co-angler Division and $2,419 Saturday after catching three bass weighing 9 pounds, 5 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Jessie Pollard, Whitehall, Wis., three bass, 9-5, $2,419
2nd: Kristian Dus, Chicago, Ill., three bass, 9-4, $1,210
3rd: Chad Schultz, Rockton, Ill., three bass, 9-0, $686
3rd: Kevin Waeyaert, Coal Valley, Ill., three bass, 9-0, $686
5th: Jordan Hirt, Glenwood, Iowa, three bass, 8-15, $484
6th: Kevin Andera, Calmar, Iowa, three bass, 8-12, $444
7th: Ronald Syverson, Holmen, Wis., three bass, 8-9, $403
8th: Greg Oppegard, W. St. Paul, Minn., three bass, 8-7, $363
9th: Ed Remian, Schiller Park, Ill., three bass, 8-1, $323
10th: Spencer Clark, Maryland Heights, Mo., three bass, 8-0, $282
Tom Lindsay of Glenview, Illinois, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 4 pounds even. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $365.
The T-H Marine BFL event on the Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wisconsin was hosted by the La Crosse County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 25-27 BFL Regional Championship on Lake of the Ozarks in Osage Beach, Missouri. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.
The 2018 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com.
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 in 2018 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW and their partners conduct 286 bass-fishing tournaments annually around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Portugal, South Africa and Spain. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show, broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros.
By: Brian Johnson, FLW
