BassFan Staff Report

LA CROSSE, Wis. — To catch fish, you have to know where they are. But looking past that obvious truth, knowing where they are often requires an understanding of where they’re going.

Bassmaster Elite Series pro Pat Schlapper said that principle will factor keenly into the Upper Mississippi River Elite Series that will serve as the season finale this week in La Crosse, Wis.

“It’s the time of year when mornings are starting to get cool and fish are probably going to transition into fall stuff,” Schlapper said. “In my opinion, it’s probably going to be at the early stages of (the transition).

“I think you’ll see the main channel play. I think you’ll see backwaters play. A little bit of everything will be going on. I think it should be a good tournament.”

Main Event

It'll also provide the backdrop for the showdown for the Angler of the Year title. Reigning AOY Chris Johnston is seeking to become the first repeat AOY since Kevin VanDam in 2010-11 and just the fourth angler in Bassmaster history to achieve the feat. Johnston is currently tied for the top spot with Trey McKinney with 690 points apiece and there are seemingly just as many storylines that could unfold. Among the most compelling:

> If Johnston is able to prevail, much of the talk about him being a smallmouth specialist will fade away, if it didn’t already with his AOY title a year ago.

> Johnston would join Hall of Famers Roland Martin, Guido Hibdon and VanDam as the only anglers in B.A.S.S. history to repeat as AOY. That’s impressive company.

> A McKinney AOY win would punctuate arguably the best two-season run an angler has ever to start their career on the Elite Series, or any tour for that matter.

> McKinney, who turned 20 in February, would be the youngest AOY winner by a good margin, besting VanDam’s 1992 title when he was 25 years, 1 month and 22 days old.

> Lurking 40 points behind Johnston and McKinney is Japanese pro Kyoya Fujita, who has three top-5 finishes in the last four derbies.

The event will also settle the Rookie of the Year chase with Paul Marks holding a nine-point cushion on Tucker Smith. Easton Fothergill, Emil Wagner are still mathematically alive as is Evan Kung, but he’s a longshot to overtake those four and erase a 93-point deficit.

Read and React

As Schlapper explained, the fall transition finds fish heading toward the sites that they’ll use to ride out winter’s harshness. The fish move gradually, but steadily, and they do their best to fill their bellies along that course.

“Both smallmouth and largemouth want to feed, but they’ll typically set up on different places depending on where they’re moving to,” Schlapper said. “In certain areas, you will catch a mix of fish off a spot; or one day, it’ll be smallmouth on a spot, and the next day, it’ll be largemouth.

“That happened the last time we were at La Crosse, and that’s all about those fish migrating. You could definitely catch both on the same type of (main-river) stuff, but you’re not gonna go find a school of smallmouth way in a backwater on a patch of duckweed.”

In terms of calculating the course to those cold-season destinations, Schlapper said smallmouth typically winter on slackwater areas of the main-river channel. Largemouth tend to hunker down in heavily vegetated areas close to deep water.

The last time the Elite Series visited La Crosse in 2022, heavy rains sent muddy plumes into the Mississippi. Finding ribbons and pools of cleaner water proved essential to many anglers’ success, and Schlapper’s looking for the same importance this year.

“That’s always a major factor on the river,” he said. “That’s what the vegetation does, especially the eelgrass; it’ll really help filter out the water. Current, vegetation and clean water — those are the biggest things that dictate where fish are going to be.”



B.A.S.S./Craig Lamb
Photo: B.A.S.S./Craig Lamb

The upper Mississippi River out of La Crosse, Wis., presents a challenging set of conditions and will force anglers to make several key decisions each day this week.

Wing dams, the rock walls positioned along the river to direct current inward and prevent siltation of the navigational channel, will be a popular target.

As Schlapper notes, these structures create prime feeding opportunities for fall fish, so some anglers will likely base at least some of their game plan on running several wing dams until they find active fish.

Another of the Upper Mississippi’s distinctive habitat scenarios comprises deeper water edging up to a shallow sandy ledge. These “sand breaks” offer prime feeding spots for fish — especially smallmouth bass — to run up and gobble the local forage, but it’s all about timing.

“Sand is always a factor down there, but it’s one of the more difficult things to figure out,” Schlapper said. “You could win on sand if you found the right deal, but unless you know where the good stuff is, it’s really hard to find that stuff.

“Somebody might be fishing down a stretch of vegetation and the fish come up busting and they find a spot like that. I’ve fished (the Upper Mississippi) for over 20 years and that’s one of the hardest things to find, because there’s so much of it and so much of it looks good, but the fish are not always there.”

Having closely monitored water levels, Schlapper said: “Overall, the water has been higher than normal pretty much all summer. It’s been dropping, but then all of a sudden, it’ll rain a bunch and then it’ll come back up. Unless something crazy happens, I think it’s gonna be a little higher than the last time we were there.”

Schlapper said a high river will expand opportunities, as fish — mostly largemouth — push farther into shoreline cover. That’s particularly relevant, as this year’s flourishing vegetation offers expansive habitat.

Top largemouth baits include frogs, swim jigs, bladed jigs, Texas-rigged flipping baits and Carolina rigs. Smallmouth anglers typically throw a mix of topwater walkers or poppers, swimbaits, Fluke-style baits and lipless baits.

The Upper Mississippi usually delivers plenty of fish, and most anglers will catch their limit, but those bigger fish of 3-plus pounds are the difference-makers. Hefty largemouth and smallmouth roam this fishery, but finding such kickers can prove challenging.

At the 2022 event, Maryland pro Bryan Schmitt found just enough to edge out 2024 Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year Chris Johnston by just 4 ounces, winning the event with a total of 63-4. Schlapper said he expects this year’s weights to be tight at the top of the leaderboard.

“I’ve been following the weights for local tournaments pretty closely this year, and I think if you can stay in that 16 1/2 to 16 3/4 pounds a day (range), I think you would have a chance at winning,” Schlapper said. “As far as making the cut, I really think that 13 (pounds) a day will do it.”

Those that excel in this final Elite event of the 2025 season will do so by figuring out those seasonal movements, finding ways to tempt bigger-than-average fish and capitalizing on every bite.