Cowen’s 13-15 looms large in the Catskills

Cold front, tough bite curb limits on the Hudson

CATSKILL, N.Y. – This is Rip Van Winkle country, and it appears that the bass in the Hudson River may have been nipping at the same magic elixir that befell Washington Irving’s most famous story character for 20 years. At the very least, it can be said that the bass bite was a very sleepy one Wednesday, leaving Ed Cowen’s 13-pound, 15-ounce five-fish limit the mark to beat on opening day of Stren Series Northern Division competition.

Out of the field of 214 pros and co-anglers, just four anglers managed to squeak out limits – all of them pros. Not only that, just under half the Pro Division failed to catch a single keeper, which has got to be some kind of record for tough fishing in the normally fruitful Northern Division.

“Man, I flat wore myself out today,” said Cowen, a pro out of Greeley, Pa. “I must have stopped 50 places to fish.”

Cowen’s run-and-gun effort was rewarded when he caught the day’s Snickers Big Bass – a 4-pound, 14-ounce largemouth that looked like a football – late in the day on a spinnerbait. Cowen’s main pattern, like many, was flipping grass, but he said he also wore out bridge pilings and other underwater structure all up and down the river. The spinnerbait, he said, was the key to his bigger fish.

A couple of crucial factors have converged to frustrate many bass-hungry Stren anglers on the Hudson River this week. One, a cold front moved through the area over the weekend and left the skies cold and clear Wednesday, which diminished the bass bite. Two, a 15-inch minimum size limit is in effect for this event, as opposed to the usual 12-inch limit at most tournaments, so competitors are throwing back many of the smaller fish they’ve fought so hard to catch.

Still, Cowen, who caught just five keepers Wednesday, likes the lay of the land here in the Catskills, and he came out defending the virtue of this fishery. In fact, Cowen has already won two boats in local competition here years ago.

“A lot of guys are struggling out here and complaining about the fishing, but this is a super fishery. It’s just in transition right now,” he said. “The Catskills are great; I love it here.”

Pro Dave Lefebre, who caught just two fish weighing 6 pounds, 7 ounces but still claimed 14th place, agreed. “There’s tons of wood, old barges, docks and everything to fish here, and the fish are everywhere. It’s fertile and everything looks great, but it’s just a tough time to be here,” he said. “They’re in transition. Soon there’ll be a massive migration into the creeks. In three weeks, this is going to be the best place in the world, but right now it’s hard.”

The leaders, like Cowen, all said the key to unlocking the bite here right now is the tide.

“They key is really being at the right place when the tide’s right,” Cowen said. “Mostly, it’s the outgoing tide; they bite all over the place on the outgoing tide.”

Balog digs in for second

While many pros were struggling to catch just one keeper late into the day, Joe Balog actually quit fishing about 9:15 a.m. Wednesday. By that early hour, the pro from Harrison Township, Mich., had already filled out his limit with smallmouths.

Balog slipped into second place with a weight of 12 pounds, 5 ounces.

“I’m fishing for almost all smallmouths. It’s a pattern that I practiced quite a bit, and I’m just keying on that pattern along a decent stretch of the river,” Balog said. “It’s a pattern more than it is a particular spot. If there’s a pile of rock in the current, I’m going to pull up and throw at it. I figure if I can catch five fish a day at this thing, I’m going to win going away with it.”

Given his relatively productive day, it’s understandable when Balog says he favors tough-bite tournaments over limitfests like he tends to experience on his home water, Lake Erie.

“I’ve always done better at tough tournaments,” he said. “I just like it. I like to really pick apart an area slowly, work hard and fish subtle baits. I’ll say I’ve got six to eight potential areas to go to, and today I only fished two of them. So I’m feeling very confident. My detriment would be the wind.”

Wooten third

Despite losing a good fish, Thomas Wooten of Huddleston, Va., still managed to place third for the pros with a five-bass weight of 12 pounds, 1 ounce.

“I had one on that I really should have got to the boat and culled out with,” he said. “But I think the knot got in the eye of the hook, and it broke off.”

Wooten landed five keepers, and said he caught most of them flipping grass. He also caught another good one on a crankbait.

“I was flipping the chestnuts, and that’s what I love to do,” he said. “Put a flipping stick in my hand and I’m a happy man.”

Lavictoire fourth

Hudson River veteran Thomas Lavictoire of West Rutland, Vt., earned fourth place for the pros with a three-bass weight of 9 pounds, 14 ounces.

Lavictoire grew up fishing the river with his dad, also named Thomas, who’s also an accomplished veteran of Hudson River tourneys. But even for him, Wednesday was a tough day.

“It’s just a grind, an absolute grind. With so few bites, every catch is an absolute nugget,” Lavictoire said. “It’s a 30- to 40-spot milk run that I’m making, and I think I fished 40 places before I got a bite.”

Petersen, Stiefel fifth

Sparky Petersen of Laytonsville, Md., and Ed Stiefel of Mahwah, N.J., tied for fifth place in the Pro Division, each with a weight of 9 pounds, 4 ounces. Petersen caught three bass and Stiefel caught four.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 pros after day one at the Hudson River:

7th: Joseph Sancho of New Windsor, N.Y., five bass, 8-8

8th: Art Ferguson of St. Clair Shores, Mich., three bass, 8-4

9th: Chris Novack of Mansfield Center, Conn., three bass, 7-15

10th: Bill Alexander of Sylvan Beach, N.Y., three bass, 7-13

Reed leads co-anglers

Charlie Reed Jr. of Hayes, Va., earned the top spot from the back of the boat with a three-bass weight of 7 pounds, 11 ounces.

“I caught them on spinnerbaits, and I lost a good one today,” Reed said, “That really hurts when it’s this tough.”

Rest of the best

Co-anglers Mike Orbell of Silver Spring, Md., and Bill Spindler of Turnersville, N.J., tied for second place, each with 6 pounds, 6 ounces. Orbell caught two bass and Spindler caught three.

Fourth place went to co-angler Jon Newman of Brielle, N.J., for two bass weighing 5 pounds, 6 ounces.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers was Boyd Dowell of Minerva, Ohio, with two bass weighing 4 pounds, 15 ounces.

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers:

6th: Daniel Ferguson of Durham, N.C., three bass, 4-13

7th: Chuck George of Upton, Mass., one bass, 4-12

8th: Thomas Rizzo of Rochester, Pa., two bass, 3-15

9th: Arch Cornett of Huntsville, Ala., one bass, 3-13

10th: Renee Hensley of Edwardsburg, Mich., one bass, 3-10

George also won the day’s Snickers Big Bass award on the co-angler side for his 4-pound, 12-ounce kicker fish.

Day two of Northern Division competition at the Hudson River begins as the field of 107 boats takes off from Dutchmen’s Landing at 6:30 a.m. Eastern time Thursday.