Elite

A look at Pasquotank River

The Elite Series reconvenes this week in northeastern North Carolina for the Progressive Bassmaster Elite at Pasquotank River/Ablemarle Sound, a fishery expecting to yield big bass and big weights.

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Mike Suchan
The Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series reconvenes this week in northeastern North Carolina for the Bassmaster Elite at Pasquotank River/Ablemarle Sound, a fishery expecting to yield big bass and big weights.
Not many of the 102 Elites have experienced fishing on the Pasquotank, or even know how to pronounce it. Recent catches show fishing has vastly improved since the last of three B.A.S.S. visits decades ago. In 1981, Basil Bacon won the three-day North Carolina Invitational with 46 pounds, 12 ounces, just a year after Tommy Chapman averaged 20 pounds a day in winning there. In 1975, Jack Hains won the 1975 Currituck Sound Classic with 45-4.
The buzz among Elites researching the fishery was it holds some big’uns. Second-year pro Trey McKinney discovered that first-hand during his February pre-practice, landing five by noon that weighed 32 pounds. Local guide Matt Greschak said he expects an Elite shootout. “You could see somebody hitting the right stretch and landing 25 to 28 pounds and follow it up with a couple 20-pound bags to hang on to it,” he said.
Greschak (above right) won a team event there last week with 26 pounds, which included one over 8 pounds and one just below. “And we didn’t win big fish,” he said. “Think of the Sabine River with Florida weight. If you don’t have one over 8 pounds, you aren’t winning big bass. I think we’ll see one over 10 pounds.” 
Visit Elizabeth City is the event host. Founded in 1794, Elizabeth City has a population of 18,629. With a long history of shipping and marketed as the “Harbor of Hospitality,” the city on a narrow bend of the Pasquotank was named for a tavern proprietress who donated much of the land.
Waterfront Park at 508 S. Water St. in Elizabeth City is tournament central. The field launches April 10-13 at 7 a.m. ET with weigh-ins set to begin at 3 p.m. After two days, the Top 50 compete to determine the 10 who advance to Championship Sunday for the $100,000 top prize and blue trophy.
The available tournament waters are massive. Anglers can travel as far north as Norfolk, Va., and as far south as Morehead City, N.C., about 150 miles apart, and they can go as far as they care up the numerous rivers without locking. However, Greschak said he thinks most of the anglers will concentrate west of takeoff in the Chowan and Roanoke rivers, where power fishing tactics can entice largemouth in backwaters and canals.
Cypress trees and wooded cover are prominent, but some backwater ponds have vegetation and shellbars. “It is mostly wood here,” Greschak said. “I feel like the majority of the guys will be fishing the bank or fishing drains (and) marsh ditches with grass in them as well.”  
There is some riprap along the canal to the Great Dismal Swamp and in the Roanoke, but hard spots are few and far between, Greschak said. Even though there will be some places where forward-facing sonar will shine, spinnerbaits, ChatterBaits and  squarebill crankbaits will be popular choices while flipping baits should also be in play.
A front moved in during practice and dropped temperatures for competition. Greschak said it will be a largely prespawn event but a full moon could put some on beds. He added although close to the Atlantic, the sound doesn’t have tidal influence, but winds fluctuate water levels and can make navigation difficult.
“If people can break down the Chowan and Roanoke (rivers), they will be big players,” he said. “The issue is getting there all four days. The Albemarle Sound gets really, really rough. There’s no place to get gas and you can’t make it when it is that rough without stopping to get fuel. You’ll have to be very strategic.”
Pasquotank is the third of nine 2025 Elite tournaments and comes on the heels of Easton Fothergill’s victory in the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour. Fothergill, who bombed his first two Elites and stands last the points, tied for the second-best single-day weight of 29-6 en route to setting the all-time Classic weight record of 76-15. Qualified for next year’s Classic, the 22-year-old Fothergill won’t have to worry about points the remainder of the Elite schedule.
After two top four finishes, John Garrett leads the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings with 204 points. John Cox is second with 191, David Gaston is third (183) and Bill Lowen, Will Davis Jr. and Wes Logan are tied with 182 points. Canadian Evan Kung leads the Dakota Lithium Rookie of the Year race with 143 points, with Beau Browning (140), Paul Marks (131) and Tucker Smith (122) in hot pursuit.
Bassmaster LIVE coverage will be on Bassmaster.com from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET Days 1 and 2. FS1 will carry the morning action on Day 3 from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. before moving to Bassmaster.com in the afternoon. Championship Sunday coverage will be broadcast on FS1 from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. then move to the website.

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