PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, Wis. – Jim Caulum of Rockland, Wis., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 15 pounds, 2 ounces Saturday to win the Bass Fishing League Great Lakes Division tournament on the Mississippi River at Prairie Du Chien. For his victory, Caulum earned $4,119.
“I caught all of my fish Saturday on a white Lethal Weapon swimjig,” said Caulum. “Right away we locked from pool 10 to pool 9 and ran to an area that I knew from practice. I was able to get four from there, but I only had one decent keeper, a nice 3 ½ -pound smallie. I then moved to my second spot, and caught between 60 to 70 fish. There were a lot of shorts there, but every now and then you would pop a nice keeper.
”I sat at that spot for the rest of the day and was able to weed through them,” Caulum continued. “I ended up with around 10 keepers throughout the day. It was pretty tough to get the size. I was fishing in the eelgrass from 3- to 6-feet deep.
“I’d really had a terrible practice coming in to this tournament,” Caulum went on to say. “I was nervous that I wouldn’t be able to find a limit, but I’m really happy that it turned out well for me. That was the key to my victory – the confidence that I was doing the right thing despite the tough practice. I just stuck with what I knew.”
Rounding out the top 10 pros were:
2nd: Caleb Kuphall, Mukwonago, Wis., five bass, 14-12, $2,059
3rd: Jimmy Johnson, La Crosse, Wis., five bass, 14-10, $1,374
4th: Gary Haskell, McHenry, Ill., five bass, 14-3, $961
5th: Kevin Wolfram, Sugar Grove, Ill., five bass, 13-9, $824
6th: Chris Aswegan, Lisbon, Iowa, five bass, 12-15, $755
7th: Brian Fitzpatrick, La Crosse, Wis., five bass, 12-11, $686
8th: Dennis Rhead, Elmwood, Wis., five bass, 12-8, $618 + $1,000 Evinrude Bonus
9th: Adam Hermsen, Marion, Iowa, five bass, 12-3, $549
10th: Ronald Cherkas, Grimes, Iowa, five bass, 12-1, $480
Ronald Syverson of La Crosse, Wis., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 12 pounds, 10 ounces Saturday to win $2,059 in the co-angler division.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:
2nd: Scott Kircher, Pepin, Wis., five bass, 11-7, $1,030
3rd: Rex McTier, Endeavor, Wis., five bass, 11-6, $687
4th: Jason Ferge, Markesan, Wis., five bass, 11-4, $480
5th: Chad Kerr, Burlington, Iowa, four bass, 10-6, $412
6th: Neil Lemaster, Fort Madison, Iowa, five bass, 10-3, $378
7th: Kyle Rabelhofer, Silver Lake, Wis., five bass, 9-6, $343
8th: Jerry Propst, Jasper, Texas, four bass, 9-2, $309
9th: Nick Zimbauer, Eau Claire, Wis., four bass, 8-11, $275
10th: Chad Schultz, Loves Park, Ill., four bass, 8-2, $240