Lobato Wins Bass Fishing League Tournament on Mississippi River at La Crosse

September 9, 2019
BFL News Archive

LA CROSSE, Wis. (Sept. 9, 2019) – Boater Fernando Lobato of Sparta, Wisconsin, won the Bass Fishing League (BFL) Great Lakes Division tournament on the Mississippi River at La Crosse Sunday after catching a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 31 pounds, 2 ounces. Lobato earned $5,316 for his win.

  

Lobato said he caught his fish over the weekend on the upper end of Pool No. 8. He got an early limit Saturday working a Bone-colored Heddon Zara Spook around scattered eelgrass. Looking to upgrade, he switched to a 3/8-ounce black and blue-colored Kureiji flipping jig with a Sapphire Blue Zoom Super Chunk trailer, which he threw around wood in 10 to 12 feet of water, specifically in deep holes next to grass flats. On Sunday, Lobato couldn’t get the topwater bite going, so he opted for a Banana Shad Kureiji Mississippi swimming jig, which he worked in the same grass as Saturday.

  

“I got a limit, but it was small,” said Lobato, who logged his first win in FLW competition. “I upgraded a couple of times dragging the [Kureiji] flipping jig in the holes. At about 10 [a.m.], I switched to a shad-colored [Strike King] 5XD crankbait and caught two big fish away from the wood, a little deeper. I think they were preparing for the weather to cool down.”

  

Lobato said he managed to catch 30-plus keepers each day, weighing in all largemouth.

  

“Catching fish on the swimjig Sunday was key for me because I knew everything had changed. I think the weather was cooling off and they’re not used to it yet.”

  

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

               1st:          Fernando Lobato, Sparta, Wis., 10 bass, 31-2, $5,316

               2nd:         Cade Laufenberg, Goodview, Minn., 10 bass, 29-5, $2,858

               3rd:          Kyler Chelminiak, Sullivan, Wis., 10 bass, 29-0, $2,074

               4th:          Travis Brueggen, Cashton, Wis., 10 bass, 28-3, $1,240

               5th:          Mike Brueggen, La Crosse, Wis., 10 bass, 28-2, $1,746

               6th:          Brandon Gann, Sparta, Wis., 10 bass, 27-4, $975

               7th:          Glenn Walker, Savage, Minn., 10 bass, 26-5, $886

               8th:          Douglas Chapin, Green Bay, Wis., 10 bass, 26-4, $797

               9th:          Anthony Getchell, Menominee, Mich., 10 bass, 26-1, $709

               10th:        Kevin Johnson, Sparta, Wis., 10 bass, 25-14, $620

  

Travis Seitzinger of Avon, South Dakota, caught a bass weighing 4 pounds, 7 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $333. Jason Agpalza of Rock Island, Illinois, won the Co-angler Division and $2,758 Sunday after catching a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 25 pounds, 8 ounces.

  

The top 10 co-anglers were:

               1st:          Jason Agpalza, Rock Island, Ill., 10 bass, 25-8, $2,758

               2nd:         Kristian Dus, Chicago, Ill., 10 bass, 20-13, $1,479

               3rd:          Alan Bernicky, Joliet, Ill., nine bass, 20-11, $1,036

               4th:          Jessie Pollard, Whitehall, Wis., 10 bass, 18-13, $620

               5th:          Brent Schroeder, Caledonia, Minn., eight bass, 17-9, $532

               6th:          Jeff Pfeffer, Isanti, Minn., eight bass , 17-6, $487

               7th:          Rick Ragner, La Crosse, Wis., eight bass, 17-6, $443

               8th:          Paul Ambrose, La Crosse, Wis., eight bass, 16-12, $399

               9th:          Jeremy Parker, Batavia, Ill., eight bass, 15-12, $354

               10th:        Troy Karafa, Hebron, Ill., seven bass, 15-8, $310

Mark Persson of Otsego, Minnesota, caught the heaviest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 4 pounds, 3 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $334.