WOODBRIDGE, Va. – EverStart Series anglers had every reason to look forward to this week’s Northeast Division tournament at the Potomac River: In June, the Wal-Mart FLW Tour notched its third-heaviest total catch rate ever on the tidal river. But warm, late-summer conditions have quelled the bass bite on this otherwise fantastic fishery.
Jim Short, a pro from Ocean Pines, Md., who fishes the FLW Tour as a co-angler, said water temperatures have hovered around the upper-80-degree range in recent weeks up and down the river. That has stifled bass’ appetites and left some anglers scratching their heads. Short said one fellow pro even reported a water temperature of 101 degrees near a power-plant outflow that usually serves as a good fishing spot.
“When that happens, (the fish) just get sluggish,” Short said, “just like people, you know.”
With air temperatures expected to reach the high 80s again Wednesday, anglers are in for balmy fishing conditions to start the week. And afternoon sunshine won’t make it any easier as the day wears on. Some relief came in the form of overnight rain and thick cloud cover early in the morning, but the sun will burn that off quickly.
Still, this is the Potomac River. As the third stop of the 2005 Northeast Division, it wouldn’t pay to bet against this fishery. All four venues in this division – Kerr, Erie, the Potomac and Champlain – have proven themselves as world-class bass fisheries, each with their own unique personalities. The Potomac has tons of good bass, and with 400 or so of the top anglers in the Northeast going after them, there’s little doubt that somebody will catch them.
Two hundred pros and 200 co-anglers will compete for two days to determine the top 10 pros and top 10 co-anglers who advance to the final round based on their two-day accumulated weight. Weights are cleared for the final round, and anglers compete for two more days to determine the winner. Winners are determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from days three and four.
The winning pro earns an Evinrude- or Yamaha-powered Ranger 519VX equipped with Garmin electronics, a Minn Kota trolling motor and EverStart batteries plus $10,000 cash. If the winner is the original owner of a Ranger boat that is used during the tournament, the winner also receives a $10,000 bonus from Ranger for a top pro award of $60,000. If the winning pro is a Ranger Cup participant, Ranger will award another $3,000 cash (or $1,500 to the highest-finishing Ranger Cup participant if not the winner), and Yamaha will match 50 percent of Ranger Cup winnings if the angler’s boat is powered by a Yamaha outboard. Garmin will award the winning pro $1,000 if he uses only Garmin electronics and at least one unit is a qualifying unit, thus boosting potential winnings for the top pro to $65,500.
The winning co-angler receives $5,000 cash, and if the winner is a Ranger boat owner, Ranger will award a new Ranger 519VX for a total prize package worth $35,000. Co-anglers who make the final round of each regular-season EverStart Series event and wear an EverStart/Evinrude shirt and cap on stage are also awarded points toward the EverStart Batteries and Evinrude Outboard Engines Co-angler Award. The co-angler receiving the most points by the end of the season receives an Evinrude 225HO Direct Injection outboard engine rigged on a Ranger boat equipped with a Minn Kota trolling motor and EverStart batteries.
Anglers take off from Leesylvania State Park at 6:30 Eastern time each morning. Wednesday and Thursday’s weigh-ins will also be held at the marina, which is located at 2001 Daniel K. Ludwig Drive in Woodbridge, beginning at 3 p.m. Eastern. Friday and Saturday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 17041 Jefferson Davis Hwy. in Dumfries beginning at 4 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
Wednesday’s conditions:
Sunrise: 6:25 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 71 degrees
Expected high temperature: 87 degrees
Water temperature: 83-91 degrees
Wind: NNE at 5-10 mph
Maximum humidity: 66 percent
Day’s outlook: mostly sunny