I had been practicing all week long all the way up to the event. I had three good main river spots that I had a solid bite on and a bunch of confidence in along with a spot inside Mattawoman Creek. I was checking these areas throughout the week at various phases of the tide and had a consistent bite. I mainly used Kaotik Shaker Baits to search the bass out and would then run back through the area with a craw imitation. I also had a solid frog bite going as well. The situations during practice were high bright skies with no wind. As I looked into the weekends forecast, the weather was calling for partially cloudy skies with around 10-15 mph winds. I felt like this was going to be perfect and only improve my approach.

     I drew boat launch #10 which was great. My non-boater pair was also a friend of mine who I had always wanted to fish with but never had gotten the opportunity to do so with. A great angler named David Williams. Why he chooses to go non-boater is beyond me but to each his own I guess.

     I started off in my Creek spot. The tide was high and I felt like if they were going to be in that area than a high tide morning would be my best bet. After a couple of hours I had no fish in the box, so I picked up my trolling motor and ran to my first main river area and was disappointed at what I saw.

     The winds were coming out of the SW a little faster than expected. They had also been blowing overnight which was unexpected. The forecast wasn’t calling for the winds until around noon. Regardless, the winds had trashed my main river areas. All of them, muddying up the water and blowing in drfit wood and loose grass. Too make a long story short, I ended up back at my first spot in the creek. I chanced a couple of other creek areas with no luck but spent the majority of the time back on my first spot scrambling around the area looking for a concentration but only had them scattered.

     The result of my day was 3 fish that weighed just under 7.70 lbs. My non-boater caught 2 for 4 lbs and some change. Between the two of us, we probably caught 30 bass but most of them under the 15 inch minimum. It was definitely a disappointing day for me not because I didn’t whack them like I had been all week long, but because everybody else did. The payout was 15 places and if you didn’t show up with at least 15 lbs, you showed up without a chance. That’s why they call it fishing and not catching I suppose.

     In speaking with some successful fellow anglers, it seems as my pattern was duplicated by many of them, but the morning bite that I missed out on was crucial. I have one more 2 day divisional championship in August. I will be focusing my efforts on that, but now being a shoe in for the Regional, I will also be looking into preparing for that as well.

     I would like to say congratulations to a couple of guys who did really well. Brian “Scutter” Lee, Terry Olinger, and Rich Newton all earned checks with some nice limits brought in and Brad Lear catching them good but placing one just outside the money. I was hanging out with Scutter as the weigh-in line shrank. With three anglers left to go and him sitting in the lead with 19.52 lbs, a 19.61 sack came across the stage bumping him into 2nd. A heart breaker, but a 2nd place finish is good all day long. To see the final results, click here.

To see the current Angler of the Year Standings for the Maryland Division, click here

     Good luck to the rest of you at your next upcoming events and be sure to let us all know how you do.  

Post from: EveryJoe

Potomac River Curve Ball

     I got down to start pre-fishing for the ABA/BASS Bassmaster Weekend Series, Maryland Division tournament on Thursday with a buddy of mine who was fishing the co-angler side. On Thursday I ran around and checked a couple of areas that I had hit last year. Within the first 3 hours we caught 6 or 7 fish. All but one of the fish were too short. I continued on checking a few of the other spots and by 2pm we hadn’t landed another fish. On our way back to the ramp, I noticed an area that looked ideal for what I felt like the bass should be doing. Within 15 minutes of fishing the area, my buddy and me caught 3 fish that were in the 3 to 4 lb class range. I immediatley fired up the outboard and got out of there knowing that this is where I was going to spend my time on tournament day.

     On Friday a strong front came through that made searching for areas difficult. I headed back to some places around the area where I had caught the fish the night before. Between the rain and the colder air temps, I didn’t spend but a few hours out on the water. I also needed some time to make my final preparations before the tournament and get to the registration meeting. The day ended with 4 fish that wouldn’t measure if it was tournament day. By the time I got off of the water Friday, I felt like I had an area that was going to make my chances at placing good and a much better than last years finish of zero. 

     On tournament day I headed straight to the spot. The winds were at around 15-20 miles an hour making it difficult to control the boat and my presentation, but on my first cast I landed a fish that weighed around 2.8 lbs. My nerves were quickly put to rest. The fish hadn’t left and that was my biggest concern due to the front coming through. After taking a beating for another hour or so, I moved to another area that I had caught a couple of nice fish. When I got to the area there where 5 other boats sitting in an area that was only big enough for two tops. I stayed closed to the area but didn’t get anywhere near the other boats. After giving it and hour or so, I picked the motor up and ran back to spot that I had started on.

     After arriving, the wind had settled down and  recruited a few other boats to the spot. I dropped the trolling motor and began fishing. After about 15 minutes I caught my 2nd fish that weighed around 3 lbs. At that point I determined that I was going to spend the rest of the day battling the area trying to fill out my limit. At 12:00 I still only had the two fish in the boat. The good news was that tide was just starting to move back out and I was right where I wanted to be. By 12:45 I had a limit of fish in the boat and had managed to cull one of them out.

     At 12:50 the wind had picked back up so I started making my way back to the ramp. I arrived with about 30 minutes left until weigh in. I turned to my co-angler who didn’t have a fish and asked him what he wanted to fish, wood, rock, or grass? He didn’t have a fish in the boat so I wanted to give him an opportunity to get something in the boat and some points. I knew of an area with some good docks within sight of the ramp. Upon arrival there were a couple of other boats around so we stayed on the outside of the area. He made two casts with his jig before getting it snagged and breaking it off. I recommended he then pick up a crankbait he had tied onto another rod and start covering as much water as possible. He quickly made the comment, “You read my mind”. On his first cast he whacked a fish that weighed in across the stage at 2.99 lbs. A good single fish catch on a day when over half of the co-angler field zeroed.

     My limit ended up weighing 11.60 lbs. and landed me a 6th place finish with a nice paycheck. More importantly I am figuring that my tournament finish will help lift my current place in the point standings from 17th to around 7th place, but I won’t know officially until the points standings are officially posted. So now you can understand why this weekend was without a doubt, “Sweet Redemption”!  

My weekends equipment consisted of:

A 6′6 medium heavy, fast action American Eagle Xtreme Elite Series rod with a Quantum Accurist PT reel spooled with 17lb. Vicious Fluorocarbon line and a Kaotik Lures Shaker Bait Pro. When the tide slowed I picked up a Quantum Kinetic with 10lb. Vicious Fluorocarbon and a Vicious Shakin’ PT worm.

Post from: EveryJoe

Sweet Redemption’s A 6th Place Finish

     Before the morning of the tournament, I pretty much had an idea of how I was going to execute the day of fishing. I felt like I was on a pretty good pattern of pre-spawn fish. I knew going into the tournament that most of the field was going to be sight fishing for any early spawners to be had. While taking that into consideration, I didn’t want to plan on trying to run from spot to spot and taking the chance that one of the other anglers were on the same fish or that the fish weren’t completely locked on.

     I started the day hitting the first of my 7 or 8 spots. I had a milk run graphed out that I was confident I could hit and leave alone for a while and have it re-load. Upon arrival of my first spot I immediately caught my first keeper of the day. A small keeper, but a start. After leaving the area, I hit my second spot and had a small school of buck bass waiting for me. I ended up with a very small limit of around 4 1/2 lbs. within the first 2 hrs. of fishing. Even with a limit in the boat, I was having a hard time focusing. The reason for this was because of a missed fish that I was sure could have tipped the 7lb mark. I set the hook on her and brought her all of the way to the boat as I was guiding her around to the net, she saw it and darted straight under the boat and snapped off. A tough pill to swallow, but one you must take when tournament fishing. Sadly, I hadn’t realized that I had my drag tightened as much as it would go on my reel. With the drag loosened up a bit, I am sure I could have boated the beast on the light 8lb. test line.

     As the day continued, the day slowed down for me considerably, I did end up landing a nice beauty that was somewhere around 4/12 lbs, but that would be it for me. I felt like I could switch patterns and start to catch them again, but with the day nearing an end, I had a few other spots that I had not yet hit.

     On the way to one of my spots, my co-angler had told me about a bedding bass that he had seen during pre-fishing. Without hesitation I swung into the cove planning on giving him 15-20 minutes to work his bed fish. His live-well was empty and I never like to have any of my co-anglers blank. On his first cast onto the bed he whacked her. He wound up just missing big bass on the co-angler side with his 5+ lb. sow. He would end up catching another good fish that had him readily excited about his chances.

     With our time expiring we headed to the scales. My limit of 5 weighed 8.29 lbs and finished me in 33rd. My co-angler managed himself a 3rd place finish with 8.41 lbs. A good day for him, and if he read this congratulations.

     While I know I have expressed my disappointment with my finish, I had the opportunity for a top 10 finish had I not lost that 7 lbr’ early in the morning. Even with defeat comes success. My goal going into the event was consistency and a limit of 5. I accomplished that. I guess the change in goals came after I realized the potential that could have been. A day after, it is still on my mind, but I also have told myself, “What can you do at this point”? One mention I didn’t make is that I am confident that the missed fish would have been the biggest fish (by weight) I had caught on Lake Anna. Those are the kinds of hook-ups you pray for going into the tournament. You know what they say, “You win some, you loose some”!

Post from: EveryJoe

A Disappointing Finish Considering

     With all of this being said, this weekend the Bassmaster Weekend Series, Maryland Division will host it’s 2nd event of the year of Lake Anna, VA. I have some pretty high hopes going into this seeing as if I consider any lake to be in my backyard than Lake Anna is it. In last years event on Anna I placed 6th out of some 90+ boats. This year I am hoping for a repeat performance, but will not be disappointed with less as long as my limit comes in and I make no costly mistakes throughout the course of the day.

     Even with my history on the lake, there is always someone who has more or something great figured out so I will be pre-fishing both Thursday and Friday before Saturday’s event. I will be sure to let you know the details of my day concluding the event. Hopefully they are more positive than negative. Either way, there is always something to be learned so be sure to check back.

     Wish me luck!

Post from: EveryJoe

This Weekends Goal?

     At the pairing the night before the tournament, the field consisted of 100 boats. After it was announced that the tournament will be postponed until Sunday, the field dropped to 78 boats due to a number of anglers unable to fish because of prior commitments. Had the field remained at 100, it would have been the largest field of the year for any BWS division and I believe (without researching) it would have been the largest field of any regular season BWS event in it’s first two years being run by American Bass Anglers.

     I had spent the majority of the week on the river. I was heading out to hit the water everyday after work on Tuesday through Friday. The conditions during practice were much different than what we were given on the day of the tournament. During my practice the conditions were typically mid 60-70 degree air temps with 53-56 degree water temps. The winds would alternate between NW and SW day to day. Friday night the front came through bringing NW winds through at 15-20 mph with 30 mph gusts. That may seem bearable to some, but toss in an opposing tide and you can have a recipe for a whole lot of broken equipment. The front also dropped the air temps about 20 degrees overnight. The conditions for the tournament day were even colder with the highs going from the mid 60’s all of last week to high 30’s by Sunday. The good news was that the winds were able to die down enough to go fishing.

     After launching (boat #26) in the first flight, I pulled up to my area where I had caught a few of my nicer fish during practice. The first thing I noticed was that the water had muddied up a little and dropped 5 degrees. None the less I still had confidence that most of the fish had stayed in the area. Going against everything I should have done, which was to evade power fishing and chunk a jig or plastic, I dropped the trolling motor and proceeded to fan cast the area with a Kaotik Lures Potomac Punisher. To save allot more writing, my morning was barren with fish. My non-boater managed a couple of fish early on that didn’t measure. That would be his story all day long as he threw back fish after fish that unfortunately didn’t measure up.

     At 11:00 I finally caught my first fish for the box. My only guess on the lack of biting was that either the water temps really slowed the bite down and they were waiting until later in the day when the water temps raised a couple of degrees, or they knew (sensed) the front coming in and gorged up a day or two before the tournament.

     I continued to fan cast the rest of the day alternating between my Potomac Punisher and a crankbait. The bite was funny. I was making 30yd. casts and not getting bit until the lure was right at the boat. After the day was all said and done I had a bag of fish that ended up weighing in at 9.12 lbs good for a 17th place finish and one spot away from the money. The rest of the field shared the same struggle as only 6 limits were brought in from the field of 78 boats. The winner managed 19.63 lbs. from his area which is a typical 4th or 5th place finish on the river this time of the year. Still, that amount of weight on a day like it was is great. Congrats to him.

     The next tournament is April 12th on Lake Anna in Virginia. My goal remains to finish top 40 in the divisional points standing to allow me to qualify for the regional. But in all actuality I will be disappointed with a final divisional point standings finish of anything worst than 10th place.    

Post from: EveryJoe

1st BWS Maryland Div. Tournament of the Year in the Books

     Last year the re-schedule would not have been possible due to tournament days falling on Sunday. This year, since the tournaments are all scheduled on Saturdays, missed opportunities such as the one we were faced with today don’t have to be wasted by money and time spent traveling and practicing. The tournament at pairing last night (Friday) had 100 boats. I am pretty sure that is the highest turn out of all of the divisions this year so far but with the postponing I am cetain that there surely be some angler dropouts due to the change in days. When you pay to play on the Potomac, you have got to be ready for cases like this and prepare accordingly. I will let you know how the tournaments turns out. 

Post from: EveryJoe

BWS MD Division Tournament Postponed

10 – Hi-Seas becomes the official line of the BWS. Hi-Seas will give away a $1000 jackpot every month to one ABA member to submits their entry and will also award an end of the year jackpot at the BWS Championship. This is just another simple way to make money through member participation. 

9 – Regional format changes. In 2007, only the top 8 from each division qualified to go straight to the National Championship. The result was a final regular season event that had a significant decrease in angler turn out because of anglers not fishing who did not have a shot at advancing. In 2008, there will be a regional qualifier in which the top 30 from each division will advance. From the Regionals will be a National.

8 – Ears. After the 2007 season, ABA lent it’s ears to the voices of the anglers asking for ways to make improvements. The goal was to bring back the 2007 anglers and in addition recruit new participation for 2008. This alone gave proof to many anglers that they were willing to do what it takes to improve the series and bring more money to the hands of the anglers.

7 – Success at the BASS Elite Series level. This may sound a little weird to you but just listen. The FLW has seen a large increase in popularity in the past few years from the touring pros all the way down to the weekend series guys. A lot of their success has to do with their consistency and the inconsistency that was taking place with BASS. The short of it is, BASS is on a rebound with a great deal of success shown the past few years with the Elite Series. As their consistancy improves, so will the confidence in the grass roots anglers. That confidence will help draw back some of the anglers who had once traded their shirts for another. It might only be two or three per division, but it has to start somewhere. 

6 – An increase in staff. When the ABA took on management responsibilities for 2007, there were definitely some minor behind the scenes kinks that were later found in the coordination and running of the series. After taking a step back and evaluating the season, part of what ABA has done to help improve the problem is increase their staffing numbers to help better manage the influx in ABA membership. 

5 – Fair scheduling. If you look at the 2008 schedule, you will notice that the regional site will host divisions that do not participate in that area. For example: The regional to be held at Kerr lake will host the Maryland Div, NY East, NY West, Georgia East, and SC west. If ABA had placed Virginia or North Carolina Divisions to participate on the same lake the fish on throughout the regular season, that would have easily opened them up for scrutnity for the anglers.

4 – A successful 2007!

3 – Guaranteed $5,000 payout. After listening to the anglers, most of what the anglers wanted to see from a tournament circuit was better payouts. ABA with the help of Triton Boats has put in place a guarantee payout of $5,000 to the 1st place finisher regardless of field size. While you may think that this will result in a smaller payout for the rest of the field, it won’t. The guarantee is part the more money strategy that Triton has helped put in place.

2 – The Triton Black Gold Program. Triton reduced it’s participation with the BASS Elite Series in order to increase its participation with the grass roots anglers at the weekend Series level. The result is more money for Triton boat owners. In some cases up to double your money.

1 – The Bassmaster Classic. There are only a few places that you can gain entry into fishings most covented event and this is one of them. Anglers who wish to fulfill their childhood angling dreams of one day competing in the Bassmasters Classic will continue to take their shot at it through qualification with the Bassmaster Weekend Series.

Post from: EveryJoe

Top 10 Reasons Why The BWS Will Survive 2008

     Announced this week was that the ABAA will again increase their participation with the Armed Forces by operating the annual Military Team Bass Fishing Tournament. The Military Team Bass Fishing Tournament has been in operation since 1991. The tournament is open to Armed Force, Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, their dependants (age 16 and over), National Guard, Reservists, DoD Civilians, and DoD Contractors. Being run out of Robbins Air Force Base, Outdoor Recreation Programmer, Karan Hudgens said, “The tournament has outgrown what we can handle. With ABAA continuing to have such as strong presence with the military, we know it’s the perfect fit”.

     The 2008 tournament will be held in Byrdstown,Tennessee’s at Dale Hollow Lake, May 5-9. Registration information will be available at www.militarybass.com once the site has been update.

     The ABAA has been growing by leaps and bounds over the past couple of years. In 2007 they operated the Bassmaster Weekend Series presented by Toyota Tundra, from the largest fishing enterprise in the world, BASS. That’s not just an easy hand-off. After a successful year, they have gone one step further to better the tournament trail by tweaking and adding new sponsorships to help bring more money and prizes to the anglers. Now with the them assuming primary control of the Military Team Bass Fishing Tournament, they have once again impressed me by showing that they are committed to growing not only their organization, but the sport of fishing as well.

Post from: EveryJoe

Military Team Bass Fishing Tournament & ABAA