No one was more surprised to see Chris Beaudrie atop the leaderboard than Beaudrie himself. Nevertheless, a two-day total of 33 pounds, 14 ounces has the pro from Princeton, Ky., leading Day 2 of the Bassmaster Northern Open at Upper Chesapeake Bay in Maryland.
On Day 1, Beaudrie placed second with 17-08, just 11 ounces off the lead. Adding 16-06 on Day 2, Beaudrie heads into the final day with nearly a 7-pound lead over Trey Swindle.
“You could have bet me any amount of money and never in my wildest dreams would I have thought this would happen,” Beaudrie said. “It’s going so good; I’m catching my fish quickly and I’m looking forward to having a full day of fishing tomorrow because both days I’ve stopped fishing at 12 (to conserve the spot).”
With tough late-summer conditions plus the week’s full moon creating a tough bite, Day 1 yielded only 44 limits on the pro side and 23 for co-anglers. Day 2 saw those stats drop to 34 and 19.
Despite making his first appearance on Chesapeake Bay, Beaudrie looked like he was competing on a totally different fishery. Returning to his Day 1 spot, he stayed within 20 to 30 minutes of takeoff.
Notably, the area he selected was not very productive during practice. However, Wednesday’s rain ushered in a pleasantly refreshing cooldown that lowered water temperatures and brought a rejuvenating force.
“One of the areas I’m fishing has an extremely large culvert,” Beaudrie said. “On Monday, the (plume of water) dumping out of there was 3 or 4 feet high, so it was pouring fresh water into the area.”
Also helping Beaudrie’s cause – abundant forage.
“You can hear the baitfish schooling in the grass nonstop, which wasn’t happening during practice,” he said. “I only found one other area that had that bait activity in the grass and it came alive on the first morning of the tournament.”
Beaudrie opted to keep his bait details under wraps for now, but he said a single reaction bait produced all of his bass. The key, Beaudrie said, was working the bait slowly.
“The pattern I’m doing is a little different than what other guys are doing,” Beaudrie said. “Hopefully, we can finish it out.”
Encouraged by two strong days of productivity, Beaudrie said he’s eager to get back to his spot.
“Both days, I got what I thought I needed and then left them alone,” he said. “At the end of the day, I found one more spot and made a cull. That’s a whole stretch where I think I might be able to catch some as well.
“A 20-pound bag is possible in my area. The stars would have to align perfectly, but it’s definitely possible. By fishing half days in there, I haven’t exploited it.”
Hailing from Cleveland, Ala., Swindle is in second place with 26-15. Adding 11-03 to his first-round limit of 15-12, Swindle gained three spots in the standings, but doing so required overcoming two obstacles.
“My main area was covered in boats this morning, so I started on one of my better places from yesterday, but the tide was wrong this morning,” Swindle said. “Yesterday, I caught them on a falling tide, but this morning, it was rising and it was going to get really high and it wasn’t going to start falling until noon.
“I just went around and found more fish. I had a little more than I thought, but it was a grind. I was throwing a crankbait, and I caught every one of my fish off a new place, within that area that was covered up.”
Pete Gluszek of Mount Laurel, N.J., is in third place with 26-01. After placing sixth on Day 1 with 15-09, the Chesapeake Bay veteran followed with 10-08. A late-day adjustment proved critical to his success.
“I had to get more finessey today,” Gluszek said. “Yesterday I caught them power fishing and finesse fishing; today I really had to lean on finesse.
“The areas where I caught them yesterday were absolute mob scenes today. I struggled to find a place where I could be effective and I did this afternoon. I made two nice culls – I caught two 3 1/2-pounders and a big smallmouth. That got me into the cut for tomorrow.”
Cole Drummond of Effingham, S.C., is in the lead for Phoenix Boats Big Bass honors with his 5-13.
Here are the totals for the 10 anglers who advanced to the final day:
1. Chris Beaudrie: 33-14
2. Trey Swindle: 26-15
3. Pete Gluszek: 26-01
4. Trevor McKinney: 24-09
5. Chad Pipkens: 23-14
6. Kyle Austin: 23-02
7. David Gaston: 23-00
8. Kyle Patrick: 22-08
9. JT Thompkins: 22-08
10. Duke Nave: 22-04
