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Top lures at Upper Mississippi River Open

Check out the top lures that prevailed on a stingy Upper Mississippi River for the Turtlebox Bassmaster Open at Upper Mississippi River presented by Battery Tender!

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Photography by
Andy Crawford
Photography by
Solomon Glenn
Minnesota
The Upper Mississippi River is always a tempermental body of water with elements constantly changing and fish on the move. The Top 10 anglers last week utilized a wide variety of tactics and even pools to find success.
For Michael Harlin, he locked into one main strategy to carry him to the biggest bag of Day 3 and the victory over long-time local Tom Monsoor by just over a pound. Dropping water throughout the week presented a challenge with moving fish and tougher navigation in backwaters.
Harlin’s area held some late spawing and fry guarding activity, which seemed to keep those fish around even with the dropping water. This gave the Missouri angler the victory and berth into the 2027 Bassmaster Classic.
Click here to buy these lures at Bass Pro Shops.
Brent Shores (10th, 40-2)
Shores focused on three main presentations while fishing current areas and breaks. He would use the current to drift the baits to where the fish were sitting. The Accu Cull bait keeper secures the baits while not in use.
For higher in the water column, Shores utilized a green pumpkin Zoom Fluke and dyed the tail chartreuse.
He also used a Geecrack Imo Kemushi 60 on a Ned rig.
A Deps Cover Scat produced some key bites and gave the fish a unique look. Shore added wire to the hook to increase the weight while fishing in the current.
Dylan Fogarty (9th, 41-11)
While primarily focusing on the grass flat area, Fogarty relied on three main baits.
A Yo-Zuri 3DB Pencil was his walking bait of choice for topwater strikes in more open areas.
A buzzbait was key when the water dropped and more grass came closer to the water’s surface.
As an alternative tactic, Fogarty used a Queen Tackle Flipping Jig.
Brett Hite (8th, 43-4)
Hite targeted different types of cover with three main baits.
An Evergreen Flat Force in Green Craw was a bait Hite could bounce off hard cover and draw a reaction strike.
Alternatively, Hite utilized his tried and true 1/2-ounce Evergreen Z-Man JackHammer and 3/8-ounce Baby Jack in a green pumpkin color. A Yamamoto Zako and Zako Slim were his trailers.
Hite also used a brown kicking frog when he ran across some thicker cover.
Wyatt Marler (7th, 43-5)
While focusing on rocky banks and currents, Marler relied on three strategies.
When he wanted to get really close to the bank and keep the presentation up, he used an urchin-style lure mainly.
A XPS Finesse Tungsten jig with an XPS Crawdigy Craw trailer got some key fish on rock, especially late on Day 3.
He also rotated in an XPS Swim Jig with the same XPS Crawdigy Craw trailer.
Aiden Denzer (6th, 43-8)
La Crosse, Wis., angler Denzer used his local knowledge, targeting hard spots on flats and points with current. Two key baits carried him to a Top 10 finish.
His first bait of choice was a green pumpkin speed craw on a Carolina rig.
For a reaction bite, Denzer turned to a red lipless crankbait.
Click here to buy these lures at Bass Pro Shops.
Brock Bila (5th, 43-13)
Bila’s three baits brought him a fifth-place finish.
A Bill Lewis MR6 was his crankbait, which he colored with a Sharpie. He fished it on an MH Phenix Feather and 12-pound fluro line.
For a larger presentation, Bila picked up a prototype Clutch Gill that will be released in about a month. He threw that on a Phenix Recon Elite 8-foot heavy fast rod and 20-pound line.
When he needed to flip, Bila used a Yamamoto Yama Bug in black and blue.
Alex Wetherell (4th, 44-12)
A frog and a stick worm did most of the damage for Wetherell.
A 70 size Caperlan FRG Frog in black was his go-to frog. He did swap the legs to white for contrasting colors.
He backed the frog up with a Caperlan Yubari STKW Stick Worm on a #1 BKK Weedless Wacky hook.
Ryan Michl (3rd, 45-13)
Berkley Maxscent Flux Gill did much of the heavy lifting for Michl.
He chose the smaller 3.5-inch version while he flipped it on a 3/4-ounce weight and 50-pound braid.
Tom Monsoor (2nd, 45-14)
The 77-year-old local knows this river better than anyone and almost locked up another win on his home water. Like usual, he did his damage on a variety of his homemade baits.
The first was a Tom Monsoor urchin on a custom long-shank swim jig head.
A long-time favorite of Monsoor’s is his brown swimjig.
For a little deeper situations, Monsoor turns to the same setup but a swim jig with a slightly different head that he calls the Poison head.
Michael Harlin (1st, 47-1)
Harlin locked a frog in his hand all week to produce his win.
This black Booyah Pad Crasher was his workhorse. Harlin had to color it back to black after catching so many fish on it. He started catching them on the first day of practice on this frog and never looked back.
Harlin and family pose with the first-place trophy.

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