NORTH EAST, Md. — Almost exactly a year ago, the Bassmaster Elite Series was on a difficult East Coast tidal-influenced river – the Delaware, near Philadelphia. It took just less than 12 pounds a day for Mike Iaconelli to win that event. And his margin of victory was 8 pounds.
This year, it’s essentially a second verse, same as the first, when the Huk Performance Fishing Bassmaster Elite at Chesapeake Bay begins Thursday. Complicating this year’s four-day tournament, practice was practically worthless because of rain and high tides, followed by a combination of low tide and a west wind that blew water out of the bay.
“In my mind, this afternoon the last couple of hours, that was really the first day of practice,” said Jacob Powroznik.
He lives in nearby Port Haywood, Va., and, like Iaconelli was last year, he is considered to be the angler with a significant home waters advantage.
But nothing is going to come easy for anyone in the 107-man field. Several anglers reported getting very few bites in practice. In fact, some said they got no bites in practice.
“The Delaware River was a fish factory compared to this place,” said Matt Herren, and his opinion was shared by many at Wednesday evening’s anglers’ meeting.
Said Powroznik, “This was still going to be a tough tournament (without the unusual weather and tides during practice). It’s August. It’s the worst time we could be here. We’ve had two messed up tides. The fish don’t have a clue what to do.”
But Powroznik noted one big difference between the Delaware River and Chesapeake Bay, saying, “There’s an abundance of 3- to 5-pounders in this place. I know it hasn’t shown it in practice. But I’m telling you, there’s a bunch of big ones in here.
“In the spring, when the bass are just coming up on the flats, you can catch 80 to 100 per day and most are 3- to 5-pounders.”
Iaconelli agreed, saying, “It’s way better than the Delaware in terms of the number of fish and the size of the fish. Ten to 11 pounds was a good day on the Delaware. I don’t think that will hold up here. Even with it this tough, you’re going to need 17 to 18 pounds a day to win here.”
Powroznik doesn’t have a number quite that big in mind, but it’s close.
“If I caught 16 pounds a day, I’d have a really good chance of winning this tournament,” he said. “That’s what it’s going to take. If somebody averages 16 pounds a day, they’re going to win.”
However, the two-day cut to the Top 50 anglers for Saturday is predicted to be unusually low. One angler said he thought it might take a two-day total of only 6 or 7 pounds to make the cut. The more common prediction was 10 to 12 pounds.
Yes, there will be lots of whiffs on a tidal fishery in August.
“Wherever we go – the Hudson, the Potomac, the James, here, the Delaware, even the California Delta and the Louisiana Delta, it’s going to be tough in the summertime,” said Iaconelli. “Fish are spread throughout the system. There are no big groups. You’ve got to hunt and peck. You’ve got to junk fish.”
And somebody will figure out a tidal timing pattern that will provide a glimpse of the bass population in Chesapeake Bay.
“I’ll probably be ‘practicing’ throughout this tournament, if I’m fortunate enough to fish all four days,” Powroznik said. “You’re not going to be able to fish the same stuff every day. You’re going to have to change up.”