Potomac River Bassmaster Northern Open

I had 1 ounce less than I did yesterday -- 14-14 (today) -- and finished 6th. And today I had big bass of the day and of the tournament, a 6-01.

I went to one place and stayed there the whole day -- the same place I fished the last three days, though on the first day I only caught 2 fish there. We had the least amount of pressure there today of all 3 days. One dude did me wrong, but it wasn't a big deal. It all worked out.

It's one of the biggest community holes on the river, so I was surprised about the low pressure. It was just me and two other guys today, and we fished there pretty much all day the last two days. But we had a spectator wall guarding our area. About 4 to 6 boats were watching us at all times, and were kind of keeping other boats from coming in. It was nice.

Also, it seemed like the BassFan boat scared them off. They'd see the boat and think it was some big name, and they better stay away. The shark boat probably did it (laughs).

The leader of the tournament was fishing there when I got there. He was right where I wanted to fish. He'd fished there the last 2 days so it was cool, and he only stayed there 10 minutes.

The place I was fishing wasn't tide-dependent, and they bit pretty much all day. I caught 15 or 16 keepers today -- better numbers and one big one, but I didn't catch a bunch of 3-pounders to put with that 6-pounder.

It was perhaps the clearest water on the river, about 10-18 feet deep, with all kind of pilings, rocks and chunks of concrete down there. People who know the river will know exactly where that is.

I was dropshotting a 6-inch Kinami prototype worm -- just a straight worm -- with 2 different rigs: one with a No. 2 Gamakatsu dropshot hook (nosehooked), and the other with a 1/0 straight-shank Daiichi hook (Texas-rigged). I'd throw the Texas-rig in that thicker stuff, and when I knew the stuff was light rock I throw the nose hook.

I used 3 different colors of worms: a kind of shad color, a tequila sunrise and a perch color (green with black stripes).

I fished it on a 7' Shimano V rod (medium-action, spinning), a Shimano Sustain 2500 reel, and 8- and 10-pound Triple Fish Fluorocarbon. I think the fluorocarbon made a big difference. I caught at least twice as many fish as anyone who was around, and I smoked all 3 of my non-boaters and we were fishing right under the boat. So there had to be some difference, and I think it was that line.

I think the fish couldn't see it as well, and it's a light line that's very sensitive. A fish would just peck at it, and I could feel him. I'd know to leave the bait there and not keep dragging it. That helped me a couple of times. I'd feel pecking there, stop it and then they would come back and eat it, and I'd catch them.

I had 14-15 today, a little better than yesterday. I probably caught 12 or 13 keepers. My biggest was around 3 3/4 pounds.

I stuck it out and stayed in one area for most of the day, though I did catch one in another area. The bites were staggered. It's typical Potomac River fishing. You can watch the other fishermen, and when one person gets bit, other people will too. It's like the fish come in little waves or something.

The wind switched to out of the south today, and it looks like it's going to storm this afternoon. The wind held the tide up a little -- it was a little higher and stayed a little longer than it should have. It didn't really affect my areas, but I think it affected some of the people fishing grass.

I'm going to stay in the same area tomorrow. There's 15-20 pounds that can be caught there if you have a little luck go your way. Three other competitors are fishing really close to where I'm fishing, and I'm pretty sure they're all fishing tomorrow. The only thing I'm worried about is that three local tournaments are (tomorrow), so it may be a little crowded anywhere you go. I imagine weights will go down a little bit.

My day started out pretty good. The first place I went to I caught about a 2 1/2-pounder and jumped off a 3-pounder, and then I caught another keeper. From there I just went fishing. I fished a bunch of different places, hitting scattered wood and docks. I didn't fish the weeds because I didn't find anything I thought was super-special there. I have a feeling I know where the tournament will be won, a grass bed about 2 miles long, but I didn't catch enough there to go there. But I know they're there.

I caught probably 12 keepers, and had 13-00 even. I thought the fish weighed a little bit more, to tell you the truth. I had 2 fish that were 16 inches long and those were my shortest fish, and I had one that was 3 1/2 pounds. I don't know how those fish only weighed 13 pounds. But I had what I had.

I think I can at least catch that again tomorrow and fish on Saturday, which would be good because that means money.

Today the water was really high because we had a south wind blow real hard. It was tougher fishing than it has been, but the wind will change directions so it'll work out. We'll also have a bad tide for the tournament, but it'll be manageable.

About three-quarters of the field will be on half a dozen grass beds. A couple of the beds are big so (crowding) won't be too bad.

I'm doing alright. Yesterday I probably had about 13 pounds, and the day before I had about the same amount. I think I'll try to gamble a little bit, and will shoot for a bigger weight. I won't just catch 5 fish. I'll go after bigger fish since this is the only (Northern Open) I'm fishing. I feel comfortable doing that on a place I know fairly well.