After placing fourth in last year’s Bassmaster Elite at the Pasquotank River, I finished 58th this time around. On a positive note, what I saw this year taught me a valuable lesson.
I had a pretty decent practice, and I found multiple areas with nice fish. I had places that were close and very far away. With that, I felt like I could play the conditions fairly well with the windy days versus the non-windy days.
I felt good going into the event, but this year had some big differences from last year. This year, there was a lot more saltwater moving into Albemarle Sound and the rivers, so it had the fish more concentrated. This made the field fish a little bit smaller.
That place is still massive, but the fish definitely did not live everywhere this time around. There was a lot of empty water, and even though there were a few fish spawning, most of that was wrapped up and they were on their summer patterns.
One of the biggest considerations for the Pasquotank is the distance between the rivers. Once you run to a particular river where the fish are concentrated, the place is so big that you’re basically committed to the river you run into in the morning.
That can present a mental challenge, because if things don’t work pretty quickly, you start spinning pretty fast out there. It’s definitely a mental battle.
I spent Day 1 in the Pasquotank River, where I fished cypress knees and cypress trees. It was pretty straightforward — just beating the bank with a ChatterBait, buzzbait, urchin and frog. I caught 12 pounds, 10 ounces and placed 43rd.
The second day, I made a 190-mile round trip and fished way up the Chowan River. I wanted to go to the Chowan both days, but it was so windy on Day 1. I decided to play it safe and survive in the Pasquotank.
I thought people would be more spread out in there with a little less fishing pressure, but it turned out a lot more guys made the run than I’d thought. Basically, I could almost always see one or two competitors.
The Chowan has a lot of the same habitat you find in the Pasquotank, but it also has more offshore structure — brush, stumps and rockpiles — so it fishes bigger. I fished a Neko rig and an urchin and caught 11 pounds, 11 ounces.
After my practice, I thought I’d have a decent shot at a Top 10, but things didn’t pan out. When you make that big run with limited fishing time, it’s hard to adapt and change. Ultimately, I ran out of time and couldn’t figure out how to make them bite.
Looking back and seeing how other guys caught fish, there are definitely some baits I would have tried. That was my biggest lesson — to always bring all the baits I think I might use.
I went into this event with an idea of how I wanted to catch ‘em, but it reminded me I have to do a better job of keeping an open mind. I have to be willing to adapt, so I’ll carry this mindset into the next time we fish the Pasquotank River.
