The boats hit the water at 6:30 this morning, and began the three flight return at about 2 PM. Weather was excellent except for a slightly rough start., from the Weather Channel:
Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 66F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.
The front has had a day to clear out, and a bubble of high pressure will move in tomorrow afternoon stabilizing the weather through Sunday. Sunday forecasts look like this:
Mostly Sunny High
75°F
Precip
0%
Wind: From NE at 8 mph
Humidity: 52%
UV Index: 8 Very High
Sunrise: 5:12 AM CT
Should be a great event under mostly sunny skies.
watch for reports to begin at about 7 AM tomorrow!
Walleye Weekend Coverage of the mercury Marine National Walleye Tournament is brought toyou by JJ keller Fishing team/ The Reel Shot, Mercury Marine, and WalleyeFIRST. WalleyeFIRST event coverage is sponsored by Lund Boats!
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Posted 6/11/2011 5:41 PM (#98967 - in reply to #98957) Subject: Re: 2011 Merc National, Day One, Schmitz and Bellmer lead
Location: Rhinelander
The bite was indeed as tough as predicted. The DNR looking at the fish said the reason the bite is tough on Bago, and the fish are averaging 16" to 18" is because most are immature females, indicating many if not most of the mature fish have not yet returned to Winnebago from the spawn.
The light winds and cool water temps this afternoon also seemed to have slowed the bite.
Schmitz and Bellmer lead with 14.56 pounds according to the leaderboard when WalleyeFIRST left, yet TFM has it with Monglin and Monglin leading; and the rest of the top ten are displayed below. If they do not adjust the totals, we'll assume something happened to change the standings we are not yet aware of.
It took about 8.5 pounds to make the money, so if the bite stays as tough as it was today, this could be one of the toughest Merc Nationals in history when considering total weight.
The skies should clear tomorrow, and winds will remain light, and move to the East. Light winds are definitely not what most of the anglers are calling for.
300 Teams will hit the water tomorrow out of Lakeside park at 6:30 AM, and weigh in will begin at about 1:30, earlier due to the fact the new no culling rule will bring some teams in with a limit before the flight is due.
2011 Merc National, Day One.