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FANTASY: Mississippi River Pundit Picks

By: Rob Russow  (archive)
ESPNOutdoors.com

Pundit picks for upcoming tournament

The Genuity River Rumble on the Mississippi River out of Fort Madison, Iowa, offers the biggest unknown of the 2009 Elite Series season. With only one previous BASS tournament held there, an Open event won by Darrin Schwenkbeck, our pundits didn't have much information to go by when choosing their top-five picks for the event.

The choices were diverse, but not surprisingly, river rats and shallow-water specialists dominated, with both Dean Rojas and Greg Hackney each being called upon by four pundits. Rojas and his frog are expected to play a big role in the tournament and frogs also dominated the Open held here in July of 2006. Hackney can navigate rivers with his eyes closed and pick out the best bass fishing waters.

Other skinny-water picks include Ohio River extraordinaire Bill Lowen and Wheeler Lake champ Tommy Biffle. Both are masters at finding and exploiting key shallow water areas and for their talents, were picked three times by our seven pundits. Arkansas River anglers Scott Rook and Kevin Short also got two nods each.

What would a set of Pundits' Picks be without Skeet Reese and Kevin VanDam? The two dominant anglers are fighting for the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year lead and were chosen three times, because, well, they can dominate anywhere at any time.

Here's a look at who our pundits like at the Mississippi River:

James Overstreet
ESPN Outdoors Photographer

This may be the hardest one to handicap in awhile — nobody seems to know much about this body of water. This is shallow-water river fishing, so here's five anglers you might consider this week.

Scott Rook — Rook has had a very tough year by his standards, but I promise he still remembers how to fish a river.

Greg Hackney — He can catch them shallow, he can catch them deep, muddy water or up in a creek…but he is at his best on a river.

Dean Rojas — With all those flooded bushes on Kentucky Lake he about went crazy fishing ledges. He and Kermie are going to have a reunion in Iowa.

Tommy Biffle — With flipping stick in hand, Biffle may be able to duplicate another Wheeler performance.

Bobby Lane — Never, never, never underestimate momentum in this sport.

Mark Zona
TV Personality

Edwin Evers — All picks this week are guts…this the most neutral destination of the year. He's got good batteries and likes fishing shallow.

Dean Rojas — He loves rivers and racing remote control boats on his off times. Those two reasons alone get him on my list.

Tommy Biffle — The dudes just a downright badass…I think Kid Rock wrote a song about Biffle a few years ago. This one's in Big Poppi's wheel house.

Fred Roumbanis — Every year we have a pop-up thunderstorm from Roumbanis. Why not here?

KVD or Skeet — One of them will be in the top three — you pick who.


Tommy Sanders
Host, The Bassmasters

Kevin VanDam and Skeet Reese — We want to see both these guys on the leaderboard, furiously pounding out big limits. I am sure that my picking them will make it so.

Dean Rojas — Why would there not be a vast, underserved population of frog-hungry bass tucked into each and every backwater pocket?

Fred Roumbanis — See above.

Greg Hackney — A-1 river skills, especially when it comes to finding the right shallow spots and extracting all meaningful bass.

Mark Menendez — Years of river fishing count for something. Plus, I don't think this guy is done for the year yet. Like Duckett in 2007, when a veteran gets a hold of his winning stroke again, he does not slide back to the rest of the field so easily.


Steve Bowman
ESPN Outdoors Editor

Tommy Biffle — He's won here before, even though it's been a long time ago. The river system still fits his style.

Scott Rook — When it comes to rivers, Rook is the best and he'll be able to figure out this system.

Greg Hackney — The Hack Attack has been on track better this year than in any of the two previous. H's another river aficionado. Expect him to bust a big sack on one of these days.

Kevin Short — He knows rivers and he's motivated. He sucked it up at Kentucky Lake after getting off to the best start of his career. He's another who always does well on rivers.

Billy McCaghren — He's had a great rookie season and he knows rivers systems. That's how he qualified for the Elites. Expect him to make a move in this event, and he's cheap too.


Kyle Carter
ESPN Outdoors Editor

Mike Iaconelli — I vowed last tournament that if he did well he had a permanent place on the roster for the last two tournaments, and he finished 14th on Kentucky Lake. The sad part is, that's not a great finish compared to the numbers he's been putting up the last 12 months. He has so much momentum, and considering they're fishing an area that I don't know a lot about, momentum is about all I can go on.

Pop Quiz: What two anglers have made the past three top-12 cuts on the Elite Series?

A: Skeet Reese and Kevin VanDam Byron Velvick.

For some reason, it's hard for me to put Velvick on my team. I guess I'm having trouble forgetting 2007 when he finished 107th out of 108 anglers in the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings. But the guy fished the Classic last year and he's 15th in the standings this year. He gets a spot (which means he will probably stop catching fish). And Skeet, of course, is a simple, but necessary pick.

Aaron Martens — He's been catching fish like crazy, and I think going to a body of water that the Elites haven't fished before will favor Martens.

Bill Lowen — This is my one river pick. He's pretty cheap too at 17.3.


Alan Clemons
ESPN Outdoors contributor

We're shifting gears this week with a waterway that was coming on nicely a year ago with areas featuring vegetation, but much of that was wiped out by the mid-summer floods that devastated the area. The flooding was so bad the Elite Series event had to be moved, and local anglers reported fishing conditions torn asunder. What will they find this year? New growth, although maybe not as much as a year ago, and so landing the big bite will be critical.

Bill Lowen — He's an Ohio river rat and familiar with these types of waters, so he could be one to watch and a good pickup for any fantasy team.

Kevin Short — Another old-school river rat who just may be a darkhorse pick for anyone looking to add a guy to their roster with experience on rivers.

Aaron Martens — If bites are a premium, this guy will capitalize. Winning at Guntersville in April boosted his confidence level as well.

Kevin VanDam — Hey, you can't overlook him no matter where you are, be it a creek, lake or river system. If he needs to camp, he'll do it. If he needs to hit 49 spots on a milk run, he'll do it.

Mark Davis — If the crankbait bite is on, and it very well could be this week, Davis could be one to have on your roster.

Darkhorse Pick — Mark Menendez of Kentucky also could be one to watch if junk fishing plays a role because he's one of the best at taking advantage of different opportunities.


Rob Russow
ESPN Outdoors pundit upstart

Matt Herren — Did I really pick him last week at Kentucky Lake? I must have thought I was picking him for the Mississippi River, because we all know how the SpongeTech Tennessee Triumph fiasco turned out for Herren: 57th, another finish out of the cut. After struggling mightily since his second-place finish in Virginia, Herren gets back to what he knows best: a shallow-water fishery. Once on the verge of making one of the top-12 postseason berths, Herren is now in danger of slipping out of Classic contention. Bring it in Iowa, Herren, your season depends on it.

Bill Lowen — The word on the street is that fishing in Fort Madison will be tough. There is no other angler on tour who knows more about fishing tough rivers successfully than Lowen. His experience on the Ohio River will be crucial this week and when things get nasty, count on him to continue to bring in limits of bass.

Dean Rojas — If vegetation has returned to the Fort Madison area, Rojas should be able to find a good frog bite. If vegetation has not returned to Fort Madison, I think Rojas will still find a good frog bite. I'm pretty sure he could find a good frog bite in a watering hole. These last two events on the Mississippi River and at Oneida should set up perfectly for the frog king to make a big move, sitting just over 100 points out of postseason contention in the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year race.

Jami Fralick — Fralick turned out to be an average pick at Kentucky Lake last week, finishing just inside the top-50 cut. I expect better than that for the South Dakota pro, who seems to fare well on rivers. A great value makes Fralick a dark horse, but not one to overlook as he tries to qualify for the Classic through the Elite Series this year.

Greg Hackney — The Hack Attack picks apart shallow water with the best of them and is a solid choice for the tough conditions that are predicted for the anglers this week. River systems are his bread and butter and sitting in 14th place in the TTBAOY race has him primed for the postseason.



Fred Lalande
Bassmaster.com Web Producer

Kevin VanDam — There isn't a lot of historical data for this location so I'm going to have to go with my gut instinct this time. I'm going to take a chance on KVD. I hear that he's pretty good.

Skeet Reese — If you played your cards right, you've either had KVD or Skeet locked in your lineup since the Classic and so you can probably afford both and still remain within the allotted 50.0 MKT. Both are a safe bet at this point in the season and so you're better of breaking the bank on these two and selecting a cheap angler as your fifth man to compensate.

Michael Iaconelli — Its almost a given that he'll make the 50 cut and there is always a strong chance that he'll finish within the top 12. Ike fished well on the Red River back in February and should do fine on the Mississippi.

Jami Fralick — Fralick has been hit or miss all season but he's cheap. Like Iaconelli, he had success on the Red River and should be ready to rumble.

J. Todd Tucker — I'm officially off the Matt Herren bandwagon after back to back disappointments. J. Todd is currently ranked third in the Bassmaster Rookie of the Year standings and had a strong finish at the Tennessee Triumph. Also, you just can't beat 13.7 MKT.



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