On May 5th, 2007, launching within minutes of our nations capital, 42 teams from the Mid-Atlantic division of The Fishers’ of Men National Tournament Trail competed on the famous tidal waterways of the Lower Potomac River. This fishery consistently ranks as one of the top 10 destinations in the U.S. for quality bass fishing, in both numbers and size although the immense tournament pressure is definitely starting to show its effects. Having just missed the full moon phase by 3 days, in which the week prior many 27+ pound bags were reported to have been weighed in, our field of talented anglers still managed to catch 138 fifteen inch plus largemouth bass for a total weight of just under 403 pounds! A testament to the quality of the fish was that all but a few had already “spawned out” creating havoc amongst anglers trying to locate the better quality females who had just left the beds. Teams that figured that out early reported having caught their fish in typical early post spawn locations throughout the northern and southern ends of the river system. Most fish were caught on jigs, soft plastics and crankbaits. Weather early was partly cloudy and in the high 60’s with tides high by 10:00am but by weigh-in time, temperatures had fallen 15 degrees and rain deluged our anglers and crowd at Smallwood State Park.
Winning close to $1400 via their 5 fish bag that weighed in at 20.75 pounds was the team of Paul Wiley and Jon Crans. Anchoring that sack was the big bass of the tournament at 6.58 pounds. This win, in combination with their 2nd place finish on the “Flats” last month, puts these guys in 1st place for the coveted Divisional Points Championship. ( A special thanks to the team of Rob Hager and Joe Tomaloff who took the time out of their fishing to assist this team with their breakdown and keeping perfectly within the rules, ferried there fish in so that they could make the weigh-in on time. )
Source: http://www.fomntt.com/schedule.php?id=984
5 fish bag that weighed in at 20.75
