CHARTING NEW
(BACK)WATERS
he winding back channels and
sprawling backwaters of the
Mississippi River near La
Crosse, Wis., offered a stunning playing
field for the Major League Fishing Bass
Pro Tour’s top performers in 2019, who
came to town last summer to contest the
inaugural REDCREST presented by
Venmo championship. Among the top
50 anglers who made the field was Zack
Birge. The 28-year-old pro from
Oklahoma led the Shotgun and
Elimination rounds on days one and
two, and put up the second-best weight
in day four’s Knockout Round, when this
photo was taken. Unfortunately for
Birge, like the Mississippi’s powerful
waters that flow south from La Crosse,
the force that was Edwin Evers was too
much to hold back. Evers ran away with
the Championship Round on the final
day to make history as the first-ever
REDCREST winner. Birge, who won
three times in his FLW career, finished a
respectable fourth.
T
PHOTO BY GARRICK DIXON
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