Special Report

Genuity River Rumble attracts pro anglers

The Monsanto sponsored Genuity River Rumble is this week on the Mississippi River at Fort Madison, Iowa. The Bassmaster Elite Series event involves 100 of the nation’s top professional anglers hitting the water Thursday. Weigh-ins each day will whittle the tourney down to the top fifty boats that fish Saturday.

“Sunday the top twelve will fish, so it’s only twelve boats fishing on Sunday and they’re fishing for $100,000, first place,” said J. Todd Tucker a professional angler from Moultrie, Georgia. Tucker is one of eight rookies in the series but has been fishing full time for a number of years.

AUDIO: J Todd Tucker (11 min. MP3)

“You really have to have that experience to be able to come out here and compete with these guys. If you don’t, you’re just going to get beat every time,” said Tucker, while practice fishing before the start of the event. “So you really got to know what you’re doing, what you’re looking for, what baits to throw; you’ve got to have a big tackle box.”

After a career of raising quail and selling tractors and irrigation equipment, Tucker began his career finding fish, which he says is the primary challenge of successful fishing. But unlike NASCAR or football, he says fishing is a sport people can do from a very young age to a very old age.

He also offers advice in finding a good fishing spot on the Mississippi River.

“What you want to look for is basically visible cover, whether it’s lily pads or trees or stumps or something like that,” he said. “You want to fish shallow and you want to throw some smaller baits, such as buzz baits, small crank baits, small spinner baits or Texas rig worm.”

The Monsanto-sponsored Genuity River Rumble at Fort Madison, Iowa, including several related events, is open for the public to watch through Sunday.