Glued to the tides

Jersey pro dials in 16 pounds, leads Hudson Stren after two; plus: Northern Division finale scheduled for Kerr moved to Gaston

CATSKILL, N.Y. – The bass are in transition from their summer to fall positions, there’s a 15-inch minimum size limit, and there was a 90-minute fog delay Thursday morning, but somehow Pete Gluszek still managed to catch a big limit weighing 16 pounds to take over the pro lead on day two of Stren Series Northern Division competition on the Hudson River.

Gluszek, who hails from Franklinville, N.J., was one of only two anglers to catch a limit Thursday. On a day when the majority of anglers had trouble catching just one keeper fish, Gluszek’s five bass weighed in at 16 pounds exactly and launched him into first place with a two-day total of 20-12.

“I had a great day today,” he said. “I actually culled two fish today, and I’m really pleased to be able to do that.”

Gluszek’s anchored his limit with a 4-pound, 15-ounce largemouth that won the day’s Snickers Big Bass award.

It was an all-around rough day for most pros, fishing-wise, Thursday – Wednesday’s top pros Ed Cowen and Thomas Wooten both zeroed but still managed to stay in the top 10 – but Gluszek utilized a run-and-gun strategy to hone in on some key bites.

“I love fishing tidal rivers. It’s a little bit complicated because you have to go to multiple patterns. I did a lot of running-and-gunning and also some camping out; I fished it just based on my knowledge of the tides,” he said. “I’ve been blessed with history on this water, having fished it for about 20 years. Today, I fished place where I haven’t made a cast in 10 years, and I was in the right place at the right time about three or four times today.”

Gluszek focused on finding the active bites at low tide, and when high tide arrived to scatter the fish, he slowed way down. He said he caught his kicker fish on a Vertical Lures weedless jig, but he also used two other baits, he said.

“It’s just about making sure you’re at certain areas at low tide,” he said. “You’ve got to make sure that, when you’re at the end of the outgoing and the beginning of the incoming tide, you’re in an area where you’re most comfortable.”

Comfortable for Gluszek is pitching jigs into the river grass. He said the abundance of grass on the Hudson right now is the reason the fish are so spread out, making it difficult for anglers to find them. Still, he said, the grass also serves as his main target.

Local Alexander pops four, takes second

Bill Alexander, a local pro from Sylvan Beach, N.Y., caught the second-heaviest sack of the day – a four-bass catch weighing 11 pounds, 12 ounces – and climbed into the second slot with a two-day total of 19-10.

Alexander said he caught all of his fish on a wacky-rigged Senko, slowly working an area along a rocky bank where the fish had gathered at low tide.

“The water’s fairly off-color, which is keeping them close to shore,” he said. “It’s a short little area with some trees on along the bank. It’s funny, when the water’s down (the bass) sit there waiting for the water to go back up into the trees. But when it gets up in there, you can’t catch them.”

Alexander would have led this tournament after two days if he hadn’t arrived late to check-in yesterday afternoon. He caught one of the better sacks of fish Wednesday with 9 pounds, 13 ounces, but incurred a 2-pound penalty thanks to some time mismanagement.

“I told my wife, `That was stupid. I’ve never been late before,'” he laughed. “There was no good reason for it, either. We were just sitting on the other side of the river thinking we were in a later flight.”

Balog third

Joe Balog of Harrison Township, Mich., took third for the pros with a two-day total of 17 pounds, 6 ounces.

Balog, who exuded confidence yesterday after catching one of the day’s few limits, was singing a different tune after catching just three fish worth 5-1 today.

“It was a tough day today. I had the chance to catch five fish that probably would have weighed around 11 pounds, but I only caught three out of the six keepers fish that I had on today. At a tournament like this, it’s impossible to get over even just one fish that comes off,” he said. “This is a frustrating place. Between the wind, waves, current, boat traffic and eelgrass, it drives you crazy.”

Lavictoire fourth

Pro Thomas Lavictoire of West Rutland, Vt., slipped into the fourth slot with a two-day total of 17 pounds even. He squeaked out two bass weighing 7-2 Thursday.

“I caught a kicker (weighing 4 pounds, 8 ounces) at a quarter to 3, which really helped,” he said. “I really struggled all day. I only had two bites, and I was happy to have them.”

Lefebre rebounds, climbs to fifth

Despite losing his lower unit yesterday, pro Dave Lefebre of Erie, Pa., came back with a relatively hefty four-bass catch today and climbed into fifth place with a two-day total of 15-10.

His Thursday catch weighed a collective 9 pounds, 3 ounces.

“I only had five bites today and I caught four of them, so I’m happy,” he said. “Having a motor helped. I made a really long run south and a fairly long run north just running and gunning. I was unable to do that yesterday.”

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 pros after two days at the Hudson River:

6th: Mike Balon of Clewiston, Fla., 14-7 (also caught the day’s only other limit, 10-6)

7th: Edward Cowen of Greeley, Pa., 13-15

8th: Brian Hensley of Edwardsburg, Mich., 13-4

9th: Thomas Wooten of Huddleston, Va., 12-1

10th: Sparky Petersen of Laytonsville, Md., 11-3

Reed maintains co-angler lead

Day-one co-angler leader Charlie Reed of Hayes, Va., held onto the top spot by catching a single keeper fish on day two. It weighed 3 pounds, 8 ounces and he totaled 11-3 over the first two days.

“I had three bites all day, and two of them were shorts,” he said. “I caught this one about 3 o’clock.”

Second place for the co-anglers went to Larry Perry of Hurricane, W.V., for a two-day total of 10 pounds, 15 ounces. He caught three bass weighing 7-7 Thursday.

Coming in with the heaviest co-angler sack of the day was young Mark Condron of Wilton, Conn. He caught three bass weighing 10 pounds, 4 ounces and climbed into third place with that weight as his two-day total.

Fourth place for the co-anglers went to Bill Spindler of Turnersville, N.J., for a two-day weight of 10 pounds even. He caught 3-10 Thursday.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers was Chuck George of Upton, Pa., with 8 pounds, 8 ounces. He caught 3-12 Thursday.

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers:

6th: Howard Hammonds of Portersville, Pa., 6-11

7th: Mike Orbell of Silver Spring, Md., 6-6

8th: Cliff Blackford of Grass Lake, Mich., 6-3

9th: Richard Perry of Plattsburgh, N.Y., 5-15

10th: Jon Newman of Brielle, N.J., 5-6

Sharon Balon of Clewiston, Fla., and Derek Yasinski of Senoia, Ga., tied for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division, each with a 4-pound, 6-ounce largemouth.

Day three of Northern Division competition at the Hudson River begins as the field of 107 boats takes off from Catskill Point Park at 6:30 a.m. Eastern time Thursday. Following tomorrow’s competition, the fields will be cut to the top 10 anglers apiece based on three-day cumulative weight.

Final Northern tourney moved

Tournament officials announced Thursday afternoon that the final Stren Series Northern Division event of the year, which was originally slated for North Carolina’s Kerr Lake, has been moved to nearby Lake Gaston.

The reason for the move, according to FLW Outdoors’ Tim Porter, was “dangerously low water levels” on Kerr Lake.

The tournament on Lake Gaston will be held Oct. 3-6 as scheduled.