Monroe started out in 20th place on
Thursday’s opening round, moved up
to sixth on Friday, third following
Saturday’s semi-final round of
competition and then into the top
spot on Championship Sunday. (Photo
by: B.A.S.S. / Seigo Saito)
“I
noticed
some
very
similar
grass
and
duckweed
not too
far from
where I
got
stuck,
so I
decided
to start
there,”
he said.
“I ended
up
catching
a solid
limit of
bass
before I
ever got
to my
original
destination.
That
taught
me a lot
about
where
the fish
were
located
and how
they
were set
up.”
(Photo
by
Thomas
Allen)
Cal
native
Ish
Monroe
comes
from
behind
to win
Mississippi
River
Bassmaster
Elite
By
Staff
Writers
BassMaster.Com
LA
CROSSE,
WI -
Notching
his
fifth
Bassmaster
victory,
Ish
Monroe
of
Hughson,
Calif.,
produced
a solid
limit of
largemouth
bass
that
weighed
16
pounds,
2 ounces
to win
his
first
victory
in six
years at
the 2018
Bassmaster
Elite at
Mississippi
River
presented
by Go
RVing.
Monroe’s
four-day
total
was
65-7,
edging
out
Jacob
Powroznik
of North
Prince
George,
Va., who
produced
a
four-day
limit of
64-12.
Powroznik
finished
in
second
place.
Across
the four
official
competition
days,
there
were
four
different
leaders,
which
kept the
event
very
exciting
until
the
final
weigh-in.
Monroe
started
out in
20th
place on
Thursday’s
opening
round,
moved up
to sixth
on
Friday,
third
following
Saturday’s
semi-final
round of
competition
and then
into the
top spot
on
Championship
Sunday.
The
impressive
victory
earned
the
44-year-old
pro
valuable
Toyota
Bassmaster
Angler
of the
Year
points
and a
$100,000
payday.
“Everybody
knew
that the
rising
river
levels
would
affect
the fish
and how
they
positioned
on the
structure,”
Monroe
said. “I
had a
plan,
but
early on
Day 1, I
got
stuck on
a
sandbar,
and that
was as
stuck as
I’ve
ever
been in
a bass
boat. I
freed my
boat,
and it
turned
out to
be a
blessing
in
disguise.”
Monroe
said
that
after he
got
stuck,
he was
hesitant
to run
the
Mississippi
River
backwaters
too
quickly,
so he
decided
to fish
his way
into the
area he
had
originally
intended
to start
the
tournament.
“I
noticed
some
very
similar
grass
and
duckweed
not too
far from
where I
got
stuck,
so I
decided
to start
there,”
he said.
“I ended
up
catching
a solid
limit of
bass
before I
ever got
to my
original
destination.
That
taught
me a lot
about
where
the fish
were
located
and how
they
were set
up.”
(Photo
by
Thomas
Allen)
As
the
tournament
went on,
and the
river
levels
continued
to rise,
the fish
moved
further
back
into the
shallow
backwaters
that
were
covered
in
grass,
lily
pads,
duckweed
and
other
types of
aquatic
vegetation.
“Today,
the
larger
bass
were as
far back
into the
slop as
they
could
be, but
once I
found
them
this
afternoon,
I caught
plenty
of very
nice
bass. It
was
important
to
understand
where
the bass
moved as
the
water
rose,
and that
was the
key
component
to my
victory
this
week,”
he said.
“Every
fish I
brought
to the
scales
this
week
came on
my Ish
Monroe
Phat Mat
Daddy
frog by
River2Sea,”
he said.
“It’s a
heavier
frog
with a
larger
profile,
which
was
critical
to bust
through
the
dense
duckweed
that
covered
most of
the
water
where my
fish
came
from.”
Monroe
used his
signature
series
7-foot,
4-inch
Daiwa
Tatula
Elite
Series
frog rod
paired
with a
Daiwa
Zillion
SV
baitcaster
that was
spooled
with
65-pound
Maxima
braided
line.
The
combo
was
critical
to
hooking
fish and
pulling
them
from the
dense
cover
that
covers
much of
the
Upper
Mississippi
River.
The
last
time
Monroe
won was
in 2012
on
Florida’s
Lake
Okeechobee,
which
made
this win
all the
sweeter.
“Every
time I
win, it
means
more
than the
last,”
he said.
“The
competition
on the
Elite
Series
is
getting
tougher
and
tougher,
especially
with all
the
young
anglers
on the
scene
doing so
well.
Winning
on such
a
fantastic
fishery
means
the
world to
me.”
Rounding
out the
Top 5
are
Randall
Tharp
with
64-5,
Gerald
Spohrer
with
64-0 and
Jacob
Wheeler
with
62-3.
Monroe
also won
the
Toyota
Bonus
Bucks
Award of
$3,000
for
being
the
highest-placing
eligible
entrant
in the
program,
and the
Power-Pole
Captain’s
Cash
Award of
$1,000
for
being
the
highest-placing
angler
who is
registered
and
eligible
and uses
a
client-approved
product
on his
boat.
The
second-highest-placing
eligible
entrant
in the
Toyota
Bonus
Bucks
program,
Powroznik,
received
$2,000.
The
Phoenix
Boats
Big Bass
award of
$1,500
went to
Chad
Pipkens
of
Lansing,
Mich.,
thanks
to a 5-8
largemouth
bass he
caught
on Day 1
of the
event.
Brent
Chapman
was
awarded
$1,000
for the
leading
the
Toyota
Bassmaster
Angler
of the
Year
points
race at
the end
of the
event.