NORTHEAST, Md. — As the final day gets underway, it’s obvious that those who know and understand what’s going on in the 2012 Cabela’s Bassmaster Federation Nation Mid Atlantic Divisional aren’t going to talk. That’s understandable.
At least three state teams are within striking distance of a win, and most of the individual state leaders have at least one angler breathing down their neck. No one wants to give up information that a competitor may use to his advantage. Still, we do know some things.
The fishing is improving. Thanks to yesterday’s numbers there’s no doubt about that. And most of the anglers think that trend will continue. After the storms on Tuesday things have settled down. It’s getting warmer and the water is clearing. Today is expected to be around 80 degrees. Last night was mild, somewhere in the low to middle 60s.
The bluebird skies of Thursday — there was a little bit of scattered, thin cloud cover but it didn’t amount to much — didn’t hurt a thing. Today is expected to show anglers much of the same. All in all it’s going to be another beautiful fall day on the Upper Chesapeake Bay. Those who bank on the weather feel like they’re in pretty good shape. They may very well be right.
Not everyone thinks the weather is what’s controlling things, however. One of them is the individual leader from West Virginia, Robby Fleshman. He thinks maybe the tide is what’s in control this week.
“I’m telling you, Thursday was tough. I know I caught a pretty good sack but it was close. I managed one fish by pitching a plastic bait to wood early in the morning. After that, I didn’t get a bite for hours. I had the trolling motor on high for most of the day running all over the place. But then, with about 30 minutes to go, everything went wild. I started catching them.
“High tide was somewhere around noon. All I can figure is that with the tide going out they went wild. Nothing else changed. The sky was as bright then as it was all day and the wind was light, at best. I was fishing the same spots with the same fast moving lure, too. The tide’s the only thing that changed.”
Be it the weather or the tide, the most common baits seem to be topwater plugs, spinnerbaits and the occasional plastic creature bait on the end of a pitching stick. Most everybody seems to be working the grass, although exactly how is something they’re keeping to themselves. That’ll all change tomorrow, right after there is no tomorrow.