By MLF Communications


LA CROSSE, Wis. – Breezy to the max and far from warm, Day 1 of the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals Championship at the Mississippi River was a struggle for many.

While more than half the field caught more than 12 pounds, a limit wasn’t a given, and nobody cracked the 19-pound mark. Eighteen pounds was no easy task either. Only Alex Davis (18-13) and rookie phenom Banks Shaw (18-08) eclipsed that number with Davis holding a five-ounce advantage over the reigning Angler of the Year.

Jimmy Washam, who won the Tackle Warehouse TITLE championship in La Crosse in 2021, is third with 16-9 and local favorite Steve Lopez of Oconomowoc, Wis., wrangled up 16-2 in fourth.

Day 1 saw a variety of patterns in play, with pros making hay in the remaining mats, some running main-river current breaks, and plenty doing damage in the Black River. Tomorrow, with no forward-facing sonar usage allowed, many pros will be able to keep plugging without a hitch, but some will certainly need to make some adjustments.

Davis Finds Magic Mat

Typically in the hunt on the Upper Mississippi, Davis came into the event off a solid practice and happy to be fishing a championship again. After a fairly slow start to the day, he blitzed up the leaderboard with big largemouth.

“I caught two on a drop-shot, and then I fished for three hours and didn’t really catch anything,” he said. “Then I pulled up to one mat and caught those three and a 4-pounder in like 10 minutes. Then I left, fished the rest of the day and culled one more time on a (Megabass) Magdraft.”

Though it’s hard to anticipate leading an event, Davis knew he was on to something after practice.

“I was hoping it was going to go like that,” he said. “There’s one place, and it’s kind of special. I only sampled it for about 10 minutes today – it was pretty awesome.”

With a much calmer forecast for Day 2, Davis could have a great opportunity to do some more damage, or, he could also arrive at his juice to find it gone.

“The wind was terrible, you can’t cast,” Davis said. “Where I’m at, most of the mat is gone, but there was a little bit left and it was terrible to try to cast. I hope it’ll l be there tomorrow.”

Regardless, Davis is in the hunt, and though he’s won at the Toyota Series and BFL levels, he’s never got it done over more than 10 years fishing the FLW Tour, Pro Circuit and Invitationals.

“It usually haunts me, usually I’m leading or second after the first day and then I nosebomb the second day,” he said. “We’re going to try to correct that this time. It’d be everything to win, especially the championship – it would be awesome.”

All Smallmouth for Shaw

The winner of the Fishing Clash Angler of the Year award and Polaris Rookie of the Year, Shaw has been a revelation this season. So, despite never having fished the Mississippi River before, it was no surprise to observers when he started putting meat on deck.

“I knew the places I found in practice had potential, and I caught plenty of solid smallmouth,” Shaw said. “But I never caught a 4-pounder, and I had two 4s today and a 3 ¾ (on Day 1). It definitely went a little better than expected, but it didn’t completely blow my mind. I knew I was around some pretty big smallmouth.”

Weighing all brown fish on Day 1, it sounds like Shaw is planning on a more diverse gameplan for Day 2.

“I’m going to mix it up tomorrow. I saved a lot of largemouth today that I think didn’t get fished,” he said. “I know I can catch some of the smallmouth again, but I don’t think I’m going to go up to Pool 7 again, I’m probably going to stick around here and shoot for that 16-pound mark and then go up the last day.”

Though turning the electronics off on Day 2 has proved to be no issue for Shaw all year, he’s certainly using his LiveScope more than Davis is. According to the young Tennessee pro, his forward-facing sonar isn’t critical in this one.

“Whenever I’m looking for new areas, it is, it’s lining up the cast,” he explained. “I caught one 4-pounder today on an area I need it, but most of the places it isn’t too bad without it. It could honestly be better.”

If Shaw can win, he’ll complete one of the best seasons of all-time with a title, which would be a pretty incredible way to jumpstart a career.

“In practice I didn’t really think I was around the fish to do it,” said Shaw. “Slowly I started to piece it together, and today I really started to think about it, it would be crazy to get the clean sweep. I lost a 4-pounder at the end of the day today, and something like that could get in your head a little bit, but it makes me want to go out tomorrow and catch them even better.”

Here's a look at the top 10 after day 1:

1. Alex Davis: 5, 18-13
2. Banks Shaw: 5, 18-8
3. Jimmy Washam: 5, 16-9
4. Steve Lopez: 5, 16-2
5. Ken Thompson: 5, 15-14
6. Brody Campbell: 5, 15-10
7. Mitchell Robinson: 5, 15-2
8. Ethan Greene: 5, 15-00
9. Chad Mrazek: 5, 14-13
10. Chris Lane: 5, 14-11