Despite the palpable anticipation of starting a new season, takeoff for Day 1 of the AFTCO Bassmaster Elite at the St. Johns River was postponed due to dense fog. A recent warming trend interacting with a still cool river and surrounding swamps produced a hazardous situation and the lack of significant wind has this soup standing firm throughout the fishery.
Within minutes of that prudent call, Palatka’s Main Street Bridge — less than a mile from the Palatka City Docks takeoff site — disappeared. But contrasting this obscurity, several anglers shared key points of clarity.
Jason Christie: Returning to the Elites after a 2-year break, the Oklahoma pro noted that solitude will be his ally this week. Lacking the massive eel grass beds of yesteryear, today’s St. Johns will not spread a tournament field like it used to.
Christie said the entirety of tournament waters could be in play, but it’s more likely that fish will congregate in key areas. Shallow cover and hard edges are the main attractions and most of the productive spots will quickly attract crowds.
“Even though there is over 150 miles of fishable water, there’s going to be a lot of guys fishing around each other. After the first day of an event, I do my best to think outside the box. I may not find the best place, but if I can find a place that’s good and have it to myself, I feel like I have a good chance.
“I may not be doing good after the first day, but on a 4-day event, (it may work better for me). Now, did I find a place? We won’t know until I get there and see how many boats are there.”
Mark Menendez: Having fished the St. Johns River since 1987, the Elite veteran from Kentucky has a wealth of specifics stored away in mental vaults. This week, he’s waving goodbye to memories.
“I threw away all old knowledge. After the first day of practice, I caught a 12-incher, the next day I struggled to get two or three bites. The third day of practice, I’m running in the fog, I pulled over on a bank, went 50 yards and got five bites. So I marked that spot and I’m going back.”
While the 72-square-mile Lake George (Florida’s second largest lake), south of takeoff, tends to attract much of the tournament field, Menendez said he’s committing to nearby Crescent Lake.
“There’s some wood in this area and there is some scraggly vegetation, which is odd for here right now. It’s an area where I’m just going to lock down and go fishing. I did not see a tournament boat the entire day. I think the lack of pressure is the key.”
Josh Stracner: Making his Elite debut, the Alabama angler was chomping at the bit. Clearly, he’s eager to begin this new chapter in his career, but he’s also excited about a potential game-changing point that became clear to him and many others at Tuesday’s practice conclusion.
“I really didn’t learn anything until the last day of practice and they just started moving up to the bank. Everybody saw it. It had been really tough and then, with this week’s warming trend, the most clear thing that happened is the fish are moving up to spawn.
“I think they’re coming up in big waves. I found a couple of areas where I previously didn’t see any fish. I went in there late on that last day of practice and they were just swimming in.”
Typically, afternoons tend to offer the best opportunities, as increasing solar influence raises shallow water temperatures and stimulates the fish. Stracner’s hopeful that if the fog clears enough to allow safe navigation, he’ll have his shots at that afternoon period.
“I have a late boat number, so hopefully that gives me a few extra minutes to try to do something this afternoon.”
Derek Hudnall: Also encouraged by a clear shoreward movement, Hudnall said he’s looking for several giant bags — something in the upper 20’s or better. Doing so, he said, will require combatting a different type of obscurity.
“I will more than likely lock a wacky rig in my hand because I cannot see (most of the fish) I’ll be targeting because the water in this river is so dark and it’s extremely hard to see them.
“Even fish spawning in a foot of water are so hard to see unless you get right on top of them. If I catch them, I think it will be a finesse presentation to catch those very, very shallow and finicky fish.”
Hudnall notes that Rodman Reservoir, included in this year’s tournament boundaries, offers significantly higher clarity, thanks to abundant vegetation. However, with the fog delay cutting into fishing time, and anglers will have to calculate the pros/cons of making this run and waiting on the lock.
