LA CROSSE, Wis. (May 20, 2019) – Boater Cade Laufenberg of Goodview, Minnesota, won Saturday’s Bass Fishing League (BFL) Great Lakes Division tournament on the Mississippi River at La Crosse with five bass weighing 16 pounds, 7 ounces. For his day on the water, Laufenberg pocketed $4,355.
“I started by running down and fishing the north end of Pool No. 9, and ended up catching a 15½-pound limit,” said Laufenberg, who earned his fourth career win as a boater in FLW competition – second on the Mississippi River. “I had a little point with some current on it where largemouth were staging and getting ready to spawn. I caught a couple of good ones on a 1/8-ounce weedless Ned rig, and another two, including my heaviest of the day, on a jig.”
Laufenberg said he used a green-pumpkin and purple-colored Z-Man Big TRD on his Ned rig, and a 3/8-ounce, Alabama Craw-colored Matt Herren Dirty Jigs flipping jig with a green-pumpkin Big Bite Baits College Craw trailer. Laufenberg then said he then ran up to Pool No. 8 to catch some spawning fish, but couldn’t get anything going. Still looking to upgrade, he said he went with a backup plan.
“I worked on the south end of Pool No. 8 and caught a 3½-pound spawning smallmouth on a regular 1/16-ounce Ned rig (green-pumpkin) Finesse TRD,” said Laufenberg. “With 15 minutes to go, I caught another in a spawning bay near takeoff on the north end using the Ned rig, and that was my winning fish.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Cade Laufenberg, Goodview, Minn., five bass, 16-7, $4,355
2nd: Mike Gabel, Saint Charles, Ill., five bass, 16-6, $2,178
3rd: Brad Wessling, Elkhorn, Wis., five bass, 15-13, $1,383
4th: Jared Mataczynski, Wausau, Wis., five bass, 15-12, $970
5th: Kevin Ruh, Onalaska, Wis., five bass, 15-5, $831
6th: Tim Brogan, Arpin, Wis., five bass, 15-4, $762
7th: Brian Fitzpatrick, La Crosse, Wis., five bass, 15-2, $693
8th: A.J. Menssen, Bloomington, Ill., five bass, 15-1, $623
9th: Steven Johnson, Lake Villa, Ill., five bass, 14-12, $554
10th: Clayton Reitz, Morton, Ill., five bass, 14-8, $460
10th: Nick Trim, Galesville, Wis., five bass, 14-8, $710
Mark Balbinot of Canton, Illinois, caught a 4-pound, 14-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $570. Josh Mohn of Lansing, Iowa, won the Co-angler Division and $2,078 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 15 pounds, 12 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Josh Mohn, Lansing, Iowa, five bass, 15-12, $2,078
2nd: Mike Cottrell, Hartland, Wis., five bass, 14-3, $1,039
3rd: Colby Wolff, Shawano, Wis., five bass, 13-8, $691
4th: Robert Shufelt, Clintonville, Wis., five bass, 13-6, $427
4th: Mark Persson, Otsego, Minn., five bass, 13-6, $527
4th: Mongshoua Xiong, La Crosse, Wis., five bass, 13-6, $427
7th: Alan Bernicky, Joliet, Ill., five bass, 13-5, $396
8th: Brad Ballard, Winona, Minn., five bass, 13-3, $312
9th: Nicholas Oates, Union, Ill., five bass, 12-15, $259
9th: Rene Luis, Chicago, Ill., five bass, 12-15, $259
Zuteus Sevenants of Holmen, Wisconsin, caught the heaviest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 4 pounds, 1 ounce. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $142.