LA CROSSE, Wis. — Redemption came in a most unexpected manner for Michael Harlin, who overtook a local legend to win the Turtlebox Bassmaster Open at Upper Mississippi River presented by Battery Tender.
After placing 68th on Day 1 with 12-3, the pro from Osage Beach, Mo., added a second-round limit of 17-11 and rose to sixth. In the final round, Harlin added the day’s heaviest bag, 17-3, tallied a three-day total of 47-1 and edged La Crosse’s own Tom Monsoor, who had led for two days, by a pound and 3 ounces.
Rising 67 places from the opening round certainly qualified as redemption for Harlin, but winning the final Division II event had an even deeper meaning. Four months prior, a self-reported culling violation in the division opener at Sam Rayburn Reservoir disqualified his Day 1 weight and ultimately resulted in a 196th-place finish.
“After Rayburn, I couldn’t have felt much lower, it was a tough drive home,” said Harlin, who placed fifth in the second Division II event at Grand Lake. “I felt like, after that Rayburn, there was a chance something like this might happen, but I would have never guessed that it would be here.”
For his first Bassmaster win, Harlin collected the $43,628 top prize. He also received an invitation to fish the 2027 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour, March 19-21 at Lake Hartwell.
Additionally, Harlin’s impressive comeback qualified him for the newly installed Nitro Boats Bassmaster Elite Qualifiers presented by Bass Pro Shops Series. Anglers placing in the Top 50 in each of two divisions’ Angler of the Year race, plus the Top 35 in the Turtlebox Bassmaster Opens presented by Battery Tender Overall Standings will advance to the “EQs.”
This stand-alone series will feature three events, spanning from September through November, to qualify anglers for the Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series. Harlin finished 40th in Division II standings.
With the event launching from Pool 8, tournament waters also included pools 7 and 9. Harlin spent most of his time in 7, but a slower first round required him to fill out his limit on grass beds back in Pool 8.
Harlin’s main focus was a shallow grassy area in the lower end of Lake Onalaska (Pool 7). That habitat delivered his big second-round bag, but he found Championship Saturday’s breezier conditions limited that option.
“I started on the grass patch that I caught them out of yesterday and the wind really messes that up; they don’t like the wind,” Harlin said. “I was throwing a frog in a really big grassmat and almost every fish that I caught showed itself first.
“I was seeing the fish and making a super-long bomb cast and trying to hit ’em right on the head and they were coming up and eating it. Today, that was not happening because the wind was boogering that up.”
With the game clock ticking, Harlin made a key decision around 11:30 and ran into a backwater area farther up Pool 7. That spot produced a 4-10 on Day 2, so he knew the area held game-changing potential.
“I was really worried about getting on pad with my cameraman in the boat because it’s super-shallow and the water has dropped,” Harlin said. “In practice, the fish were in the rice, but during the tournament, they couldn’t get there because it was too shallow, so they were just swimming around out in the middle.
“Something told me, in that wind, I’d be able to trick those fish. I pulled out a Fluke — I hadn’t caught one on it all week — and I caught three of the fish I weighed on it. I caught the other two on a Booyah Pad Crasher frog.”
Concerned about safely exiting the treacherously skinny area and having enough time to lock back to Pool 8, Harlin wrapped up about two hours before check-in and headed back to the tournament site at Veterans Freedom Park.
Interestingly, the low water conditions that plagued many with diminished habitat, actually benefitted Harlin’s efforts.
“I think the lower water helped me because they were getting more grouped up,” he said. “They couldn’t be as (scattered). I caught ’em where they had to be.”
Monsoor, who won last month’s Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation at Mississippi River presented by Lowrance started strong by leading Day 1 with a limit of 19-6 — the event’s heaviest bag. Day 2 yielded only four keepers for 12-1, but Monsoor maintained the lead by a 2-ounce margin.
Day 3 was a little more productive, with a limit for 14-7, but that Day-2 stumble was too much to overcome. Monsoor finished second with 45-14.
“Right now, the fish are in some sort of transition,” Monsoor said of the unsettled stage in which he found most of his fish. “They’re not where they’re supposed to be yet and that makes it tough for everybody.”
Monsoor caught most of his fish on his homemade 1/2-ounce swim jig with a homemade craw style trailer. He also caught fish on a swim jig with a homemade urchin style bait.
Ryan Michl of Newton, Ill., finished third with 45-13. His daily weights were 14-1 0, 15-6 and 15-13.
Fishing mostly in the Lake Onalaska region of Pool 7, Michl caught his fish by flipping grass with a Texas-rigged Berkley Flux Gill.
“Current was the key for me and you had to have some grass in the current,” Michl said. “A lot of times you’d see the (vegetation) shake and you’d set the hook. It was awesome.”
Alex Wetherell of Middletown, Conn., won the $500 Phoenix Boats Big Bass award for his 4-14.
Brody Robison of Dawson, Ala., won the Turtlebox Bassmaster Opens presented by Battery Tender Division 2 Angler of the Year title with 749 points. Wyatt Burkhalter of Coker, Ala., finished in second with 738, followed by Zane Parker of Kingwood, Texas with 728, Brock Bila of Republic, Mo., with 725, and Yui Aoki of Minamitsurugun, Japan with 710.
Bila leads the Nitro Boats Bassmaster Elite Qualifiers presented by Bass Pro Shops standings with 1,225 points. Dillon Falardeau of Hixson, Tenn., is in second with 1,196, followed by Burkhalter with 1,146, Trey Schroeder of Theodosia, Mo., with 1,116, and Darold Gleason of Leesville, La., with 1,116.
Explore La Crosse hosted this event.