Mississippi River Elite Series

Brent Chapman – Practice Recap
Wednesday, September 7, 2016

It’s definitely not the La Crosse that I’m used to. It’s definitely a different animal and I think a lot of it has to do with 10 days ago, the water was 3 feet higher, then it came down. Now, the current is ripping. The only comparable is last year when we were here for MLF. We were here at the same time and the current was perfect and the fish were stacked up. Now, there’s a tremendous amount of current and the fish are scattered out.

I practiced in all three pools and I hope that wasn’t a mistake. I didn’t want to miss something exceptional. I feel I know enough about this place, I can go back to expand on what I found the first day of practice. I have been impressed with the quality here.

There is a whole lot more grass. There’s a lot of duckweed and eelgrass and maybe that has it messed up. Last year, there was a good defined edge to the grass and you could flip those edges. The high water has washed the duckweed out and there are no good edges to it. Still, I think we’re going to catch ‘em here. I’m just hoping the massive rains we had Tuesday and today don’t mess stuff up. If I go out tomorrow and the water’s 2 feet high, I’m not sure how that will play.