UMBCS anglers fish on dangerously low Willow Flowage

It is no secret that water levels on the Willow Flowage vary over the course of the summer, but neither organizers or anglers expected the flowage to be over eight feet low by the morning of July 30 when the Upper Midwest Bass Challenge Series (UMBCS) tournament commenced.

Reports had been coming in that the water was low, but it kept falling and made for some hazardous conditions for some anglers.

The weekend before the tournament there was a report of a friend of the series losing their entire outboard and jack plate after running aground in an area that would normally be safe to run. During the tournament, one team had to cut their day short when they ran into a rock with the trolling motor, snapping the shaft as the wind picked up, forcing them even harder into the offending rock.

However, as far as fish quality, the Willow Flowage did not disappoint. Tournament director Gregg Kizewski of St. Germain joked that most of the fish crossing the scales Sunday could have eaten most of the fish to cross the scales the day before at the Veterans on Water tournament in Lake Mohawksin in Tomahawk. 

While the flowage can be hazardous at times, the quality of the fish brings anglers back time after time. There were by far more smallmouth to cross the scales that day than largemouth, as most anglers expected. In all, 116 fish were brought in from the 32 teams participating. Twenty-four of those were largemouth and 92 were smallmouth. Total weight for all fish was 334.59 pounds This means the average fish was over three pounds. Eleven teams weighed a fish over four pounds. There were also plenty over three pounders to come on the day. 

The brother team of Dylan and Jake Minch brought in the biggest bass at 4.97 pounds. Fourteen teams were able to bring a limit of fish to the scales, despite the tough conditions and low water, which made running around a thing most teams opted not to do as much as they normally would. 

Only four teams were unable to bring a scoreable bass to the tanks.

Once the scales closed, it would take almost 20 pounds to snag the win. Tyler Jesse and Chase Vaughn managed 19.97 pounds to capture first place. The brothers Minch took second with 18.30, with their bag anchored by the big fish of the day. Darin Weiks and Shawn Weiler landed squarely in third place with an 18.22 mixed-species bag. The team brought in two largemouth and three smallmouth. It would take over 15.5 pounds to make the top 10 that day, weights that would normally win at other local fisheries. 

Beckie Gaskill may be reached via email at [email protected].