Steve Kennedy said a bait change was the key in his 16-pound, 5-ounce bag that propelled him from 65th place to 2nd place yesterday. Kennedy switched from a green pumpkin-colored soft plastic lure to a color that he thinks more closely resembles the blue crabs that are massed in the area he’s fishing.
“The first pitch with the new bait and I broke off on the hookset,” Kennedy said yesterday. “So I retied and two pitches later I caught a 1 1/2-pounder that regurgitated my (broken off) bait into the boat. I thought, ‘There’s something about that bait that he really, really, really likes.'”
It was a clue that Kennedy used the remainder of the day. And he was catching bass in areas he’d previously fished with no success. A simple color change seemed to be the key.
“There’s obviously a million blue crabs around where I’m fishing,” Kennedy said. “I found a bait that I think imitates a little blue crab. I brought a bunch of them that I don’t usually carry, but I’ve done well with them on the Potomac and other places like that.”
You could call Kennedy “The Crab Whisperer.” We’ll see if they’re listening to him today.