Top 5 Patterns from Potomac River Day 1
Top pros are relying on “typical” Potomac baits
It might seem impossible for 405 miles of water to fish small, but space was hard to come by on day one of the Walmart FLW Tour event presented by Ranger Boats on the Potomac River.
The creeks near takeoff at Smallwood State Park have seen as much traffic as a Washington, D.C. highway at rush hour. On the flip side, anglers who were able to develop patterns that got them away from the crowds, such as day-one leader Adrian Avena, have been able to reap the benefits of what has been a stingy fishery.
Here’s how the rest of the pros in the top five caught their fish today.
2. Troy Morrow – Eastanollee, Ga. – 15 pounds, 6 ounces
In practice, Troy Morrow located a spot he figured he’d have to himself this week. In fact, it was so secluded that he couldn’t even get to it himself at first.
“I messed up today,” Morrow says. “I wasn’t thinking that I couldn’t get in it at low tide, but I showed up this morning and couldn’t get in. I ended up having to kill two hours until the tide came up.”
That downtime actually turned into a blessing when he was able to bag a couple of keepers while waiting. Then the tide came up, and within 30 minutes Morrow and his co-angler both had limits from the special spot.
Morrow wouldn’t elaborate much on the spot other than saying it was a “little thing.” It’s also worth pointing out that he and his co-angler, Eric Carsten, were in the rare group to weigh in smallmouths today.
3. Bryan Schmitt – Deale, Md. – 15 pounds, 5 ounces
This was the most important tournament to Bryan Schmitt this year, and the local guide and tidal expert wasted no time in getting off to a good start.
“There is no one around me, and I had all of my fish by 8:30 a.m.,” Schmitt says.
Despite the early success, however, Schmitt says he was a little disappointed he didn’t do better, and he felt his timing was off after that initial flurry.
“I sat on that first spot a little too long,” he says. “So I was a minute late it seemed everywhere else. I went two hours without a bite at one point.”
Throw in a couple lost fish that would have helped, and Schmitt knows that while he didn’t lose the tournament today, it wasn’t as good a day as it could have been.
In terms of a pattern, he says he’s doing what usually works on the Potomac: throwing Yamamoto Senkos and ChatterBaits.
4. Travis Fox – Rogers, Ark. – 15 pounds, 2 ounces
Travis Fox was the very last boat to take off this morning, which changed up his initial game plan. However, Plan B seemed to work out pretty well.
“I caught a good keeper on my second cast, and I had a limit by 10 a.m.,” Fox says.
That limit included a 5-pound kicker, and best of all, none of those fish came off the spot he wanted to fish, where he figures he’ll start tomorrow. Fox admits he probably didn’t burn a quarter tank of gas today, but he says he found seven or eight spots where he was able to fish more by himself.
5. Shinichi Fukae – Palestine, Texas – 15 pounds, 1 ounce
While Avena had a practice most would drool over, Shin Fukae had a practice he’d like to forget. He didn’t catch 10 fish in all of practice. So when Fukae popped more than 15 pounds today it was a total surprise to him.
“I don’t know what is going on,” Fukae says. “The tide was good today.”
He figures he caught 11 keepers, all while the tide was either falling or rising, rather than during one of the slack periods that occurs at dead low or high tide. Whether or not he can replicate that on day two Fukae does not know. He just knows he doesn’t want to see any wind in the forecast.
Fukae hit five spots today. He relied on one main lure and added in a frog and a Yamamoto Senko when needed.