Potomac showdown
With weights bunched up tightly, top 10 pro finalists battle for Saturday’s biggest limit
LA PLATA, Md. – On Friday, the five-bass limits came hard and fast for the pros who made the top-10 cut into Saturday’s final round of Stren Series Northeast Division competition. Look for more of the same today as every one of them has a legitimate shot at becoming the Potomac River champion.
This one will likely be decided by mere ounces. Dave Lefebre leads with a weight of 16 pounds, 12 ounces, but 10th-place Tom O’Bryant has 12-2, with eight others sandwiched in between them. Just 10 ounces off Lefebre’s lead is Chris Baumgardner with 16-2, and the rest of the top five are sitting with more than 15 pounds.
“Everybody’s shooting for the win,” Baumgardner said. “I’m just going to try to go out and catch some fish.”
And if yesterday was any indication, today should be another productive day on the river for most of the anglers. Two factors are playing into their favor: the clouds and the tides. Cloudy conditions finally showed up yesterday morning, which helped pull some bass off their cover and sparked a decent topwater bite in the morning. The sky was even more overcast this morning as the anglers took off, so look for a few fish caught on buzzbaits, spinnerbaits and topwaters early to come across the scale today and make a difference.
The biggest thing, however, is the tide, which has been progressively moving an hour later each day. The morning’s outgoing low tide won’t turn around until about 10:30 this morning, which will give anglers ample time to fill livewells with those bigger bass that have been biting on the outgoing current. And those flipping grass mats in the afternoon should be happy if the water runs at a decent pace on the incoming tide.
Said Baumgardner, “As long as it’s moving, you can catch them.”
Notable
– Lefebre is shooting for his second Stren Series win. He last won a Midwest (then Northern) Division event at the Mississippi River in 2002. He finished fourth in last month’s Northeast Division contest at Lake Erie. He also has a Wal-Mart FLW Tour victory from Old Hickory Lake in 2004.
– In boat No. 7, Larry Evans is going for his second Northeast Division victory of the season. He won the opener at Kerr Lake in June.
– In boat No. 9, Jason Knapp is also gunning for his second Northeast Division win. He won last year’s Stren Series tournament at Lake Champlain.
The stakes
Both the pro and co-angler winners will be determined Saturday by two-day combined weight.
The pros are competing for a top award worth as much as $64,500, including a 519VX Ranger powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard and equipped with a Minn Kota trolling motor, Lowrance electronics and EverStart batteries plus $10,000 cash. Pros have the chance to earn an additional $10,000 bonus from Ranger if contingency guidelines are met. Ranger awards another $3,000 to the winner if he or she is a participant in the Ranger Cup program, or $1,500 to the highest-finishing Ranger Cup participant. Yamaha will match 50 percent of Ranger Cup earnings if the participant meets “Powered by Yamaha” guidelines.
Co-angler competitors are fishing for a top award worth as much as $35,000, including a 519VX Ranger boat and trailer if contingency guidelines are met.
When and where
Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 40 Drury Road in La Plata beginning at 4 p.m. Eastern time.
For fishing fans unable to attend the Stren Northeast tournament taking place this week in Maryland, FLWOutdoors.com offers FLW Live, a real-time video look at the daily weigh-ins. Just access the online application during weigh-in hours to keep tabs on your favorite anglers.
Saturday’s conditions:
Sunrise: 6:25 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 73 degrees
Expected high temperature: 88 degrees
Wind: S at 8 mph
Maximum humidity: 66 percent
Day’s outlook: partly cloudy