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Marx Brothers Lead the Cabela's MWC Event on Mississippi River Sponsored by: Ranger Boats
Don Marx of Rockford, MN and Joe Marx of Clearwater, MN have a 4.41 lead over the rest of the 73 Pro Teams fishing the second MWC Central Divsion Walleye tournament of the 2009 season. Don Marx fished two other tournaments in the last three weeks on the same pools of the Mississippi River, but didn't fare as well as he and his brother did today. With a 5 fish limit weighing in at 22.50 pounds, it was his "Big Fish" entry of 10.84 pounds that gave them the "kick" they needed to secure the day one lead.
"I'll be holding my brother's fish again", says Joe in a joking but proud tone. MWC Tournament Director, Kristine Houtman, replies, "It's all a team effort in these events, so his weight is yours and yours is his. It's all good".
 Ralph Diercks(L) of Red Wing, MN and partner Keith Carlson(R) of Goodhue, MN sit in second place after day one with a total of 18.09 pounds. Local Favorites, Keith and Ralph took their second place position in stride today, when Ralph commented, "It was a sit down and hang on kind of day. It was rough. It was really rough out there today".
Juls: Well? How does it feel to be sitting in second place after day one, Ralph?
Ralph: (Laughs) Well, it's a pretty good feeling. We started in the South part of the lake and it was so rough we beat our brains out to get to the North end. But, I knew there would be nice fish in shallower water for Walleye, and that happened to work, for once! (He grins wide)
We traveled from the South end of the lake (Lake Pepin) to the North end of the lake. We didn't have any fish at 11:30, so we had to move. We could only go 20-25 mph...that was it. The lake was blowing up 4's and 5's that were white capping.(His face reveals his dislike as he relives the experience in his mind).
In third place is the Wisconsin team of Gary White of Prairie Du Chein and David Siegele of Patch Grove, with a 5 fish limit of 15.42 pounds.
Fourth Place after day one is the team of Aaron Matthees of St. Charles, MN and Paul Conway of Winona, MN with a basket of Walleye and Sauger that weighed in at 14.48 pounds.
Rounding out the top 5 teams is that of Chad Maloy and Don Denning both of Fargo, ND with a day one weight of 14.45 pounds.
For full results please see the link for the MWC Lake City event here: http://www.liveleaderboard.com
The majority of the field had less than a full limit, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they did not catch fish all day. What that can mean is that they were throwing back fish that were under the length that the team imposed on itself in order to get the weight they thought was needed to win, or just to place high. When time started running out, they might of scrambled to catch any legal fish, but didn't catch a limit in time.
This event is a "no-cull" event, which means no upgrading sizes. After a fish has been placed in the livewell, or "in possession", it cannot be tossed back and replaced by another, so the decision to keep or release a legal fish must be made at the time it's caught.
One thing the MWC does differently in a no cull event, is use fish tags. These tags do not harm the fish and are removed before the fish are officially weighed. This system is a way to keep any teams from culling in a no cull event. Once a tag is put on a fish, it cannot be removed and used on another fish. The tags are cut off at the bump tank.
The teams are allowed 7 fish in the livewell, and they can weigh their best 5. All 7 fish must be brought to the weigh in site, or in the event that a team does not have 7 fish, the unused tags must be brought in with the basket. It's another way to keep track of all the tags.
The rough seas weren't only bothersome to our second place team today. Team number 14...Darren Grapp of New Hartford, IA and his partner, Greg Azbill of Waterloo, IA met with high seas when they decided to head back from the South end of Lake Pepin to the weigh in site in Lake City.
Darren: The wind was incredibly tough today. We should have gone over to the other side of the lake to ride back, but we didn't. We just stayed on this side, and it was a bad mistake. We should of went over there, and we probably could have made a lot better time, but we didn't. Hey! We live to fish tomorrow though! (smiles/laughs)
Winning the Big Fish Pot for today are:
1st Place: Don and Joe Marx with a 10.84 pounder
2nd Place: Daniel Siewert and Tim Dick with a 9.86 pound fish
3rd Place: Dan Zwick and Tony Kobriger with a fish weighing in at 5.65 pounds
4th Place: Gary White and David Siegele with a 5.40 pound fish
Today's weather was chilly and brutally windy. The wind never died down from take off time to weigh in time, so it was a hard day, physically, on all the anglers. I overheard several say they couldn't wait to get back to the hotel so they could soak in the hot tub tonight. All the teams I talked to hoped the winds would die down for tomorrow, and by looking at the forecast, it looks as though their wish might just come true.
Tomorrow's forecast:
Tonight: Widespread frost, mainly after 4am. Otherwise, mostly clear, with a low around 33. Northwest wind between 14 and 17 mph becoming calm. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph. (Don't forget to cover the new plantings in the garden!)
Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 64. Light wind becoming southwest between 10 and 13 mph.
Join us tomorrow morning, here on Walleye Central, as we continue our coverage of the Cabelas MWC event in Lake City, MN on the Mississippi River. Look for more interviews and pictures after tomorrow's blast off. Take off time is 7AM and the weigh in will begin again at 3PM Central Time.
Hope to see you all there!
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