Three-for-all in promised land

Carl Jocumsen sits in third place, 12 ounces behind leader Aaron Martens, but there's a problem as they and Randy Howell are sharing the area that might not hold out.

CECIL COUNTY, Md. – Over the course of the first two days of practice for this week’s Huk Performance Fishing Bassmaster Elite Series tournament on the Chesapeake Bay, Australian pro Carl Jocumsen had a grand total of one bite.

It was time for a Hail Mary – at least that’s what they’d call it in American rules football – in a season that had peaked in early April, when he finished sixth overall in an Elite Series event on Guntersville. Since then, his rookie campaign had rapidly and consistently turned sour, with his best subsequent effort being a 57th-place finish a month later.

“There’s only so much you can take,” he said, referring both to the season as a whole and to this particular event. “It hurts to get knocked down and knocked down again, but I’m going to keep at it and not be denied.”

After two tough days of scouting in Maryland, he took a flier on a distant tributary and it seems to have paid off. Right now he sits in third place overall after two days of competition, a paltry 12 ounces behind leader Aaron Martens.

Just one problem – while the water seems to hold a population of larger than average fish, one of the two anglers he’s sharing it with is the angler leading the pack. Chad Pipkens sits between them, just an ounce ahead of Jocumsen.

Randy Howell, currently in 14th place, 9 pounds back of Martens, is also in the same area as Martens and Jocumsen, and while all three stressed it’s a decent-sized area, it goes without saying that they’d still rather have it to themselves.

“There’s not a lot of boats in there, but there’s not a lot of fish in there, either,” said Martens. “If there were two more boats in there it would be toast.”

Jocumsen caught a 4-pounder there on his first cast upon reaching it in practice, and later in the day he caught one around 7. Just two bites, but it was the quality that convinced him to come back. It hasn’t been lights out either competition day, but his first fish Friday was a 5-pounder, so it can seem like two bites there are the equivalent of four or five elsewhere.

Howell found the area through internet research, and when he and friend Brent Chapman made the gut-pounding run across the bay to get there, they too got limited bites, even though they were the right caliber.

“I caught one 4-pounder and Brent caught one 4-pounder,” Howell recalled. “It was the prettiest water I’ve seen anywhere here. That was enough to convince me to take the risk to make that run. There are few fish, but the ones you do catch are good ones.”

While the trio experienced more outgoing tide today than those anglers who stayed closer to the ramp, by “the last hour of the day every yacht in Baltimore County was out there,” Howell said, and their wakes thrashed and muddied the water under his best low tide docks.

On a hot and sunny Saturday it should be even more crowded, not necessarily with anglers, but with pleasure boaters out for a good time. They’ll care more about catching rays than catching bass.

Further complicating the matter is that the area has a no-wake restriction in effect on the weekend, so while the three pros could run around pretty much at will Friday, on Saturday their quick game of hopscotch will more closely resemble a deliberate chess match.

Martens planned for that change, noting that on Friday he tried to fish the areas farther into the no wake zone so he could focus on closer zones Saturday. That may be key, because it sounds like many areas are not replenishing, which is normally a hallmark of tidal fisheries.

“I haven’t caught a second fish off of the stuff where I caught one earlier yet,” Jocumsen said. “Today I caught three in the last hour in a totally new area. I’ve only had five bites each day, so tomorrow I’m just going to put my head down and fish.”

If he looks up, he’s almost guaranteed to see two of the top anglers in the sport plying their trade, but for all three of them this week the vast Chesapeake Bay has been reduced to one little playground.