Pacemaker Fishing Forum

Today, Ruben Johnson and I fished the New Horizon Bass Anglers tournament out of Leesylvaina State Park in Woodbridge. These are the home waters for the club. We fished it in my Center Console. I have to admit, it was pretty funny being out there amongst all of the shiny and fast bass boat. Those things can go over 60 mph....I max out at 40 but usually run around 27-28.

Shotgun start was at 0615 and Ruben and I took off for Mattawoman Creek (that is where we were advised to fish since I have never fished this part of the Potomac) which was a few miles across the Potomac. We entered the creek and started fishing but I told Ruben that something was not just right. After checking the charts, I noticed that we were in eh Chicamuxen Creek just a mile down from our target.

We ran to the right place and started fishing grass in 4-5 feet of water.



Ruben got on the board 1st with a little 10 inch bass but we needed them to be at least 15 inches per the tourney rules.

Then we each caught a couple more (some were 14”)....



but we still had no keepers. We moved from our original spot which was over some rocks and weeds (used trolling motor, very helpful) but we decided to move to see if we could get a keeper or two. On the way to the new fishing hole, the trolling motor got all busted up so now we were up the creek without a trolling motor. We happened up on some nice grass (5-8 feet of water) and we threw the anchor and stated to fish every square inch of hat area. Ruben got into some yellow perch…..



…but that is not what we came for.

A few minutes later, Ruben had changed over to a tube and he got slammed by a 2 ½ lb bass…finally a keeper!!

I then caught a 14 incher...



....and on the next cast, my lure…..



…..and I landed a near 3 pounder!

But that was it. The fishing shut down for us and we went back to the weigh in. While we were pleased that we at least weighed 1 fish, we finished in 18th (Ernie) and 19th (Ruben) place out of about 30 spots. It was a great experience but one really needs a bass boat to properly compete in one of these tournaments.

As we pulled in, I was lucky to get a nice shot of Mrs. Osprey!!



The highlight of the day was watching this guy.....



.....Tony Choi, take 3rd place with a nice limit of fish. He fishes with his wife (she finished 3rd) and he is an outstanding fisherman. Last year, he finished 2nd in the standings of  the Paralyzed Veterans of America Bass Tour Angler of the Year. He has competed on the tour for 13 years. Wow!