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Potomac River Rayovac FLW Series Smitson Reels In 90th Place

Posted by melvin on June 24, 2014

rayovac-flw-series-james-river-preview-smitson.png Potomac River Rayovac FLW Series Smitson Reels In 90th Place. Rayovac FLW Series Pro Melvin Smitson recaps his Potomac River tournament efforts while dishing out his best Potomac River baits, tournament approach and the one thing he would do different if the tournament was held again this week. Read Melvin's Potomac River Rayovac FLW Series Report >
Story From: www.melvinsmitson.com
Date: June 24, 2014

Potomac River Rayovac FLW Series Smitson Reels In 90th Place
 
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Rayovac FLW Series Pro Melvin Smitson Holding War Eagle Spinnerbait 6/20/14
 
Hello bass fishing fans! The Potomac River Rayovac FLW Series has come and gone leaving in it's wake a few new BIG FISH stories to be remembered for years to come. Big bass on the PRO side was 6 pounds 10 ounces and 7 pounds 7 ounces on the boat rider ( Co - Angler ) side. The overall theme in the tournament for me though happened to be small bass everywhere. Before practicing started, I was looking for fish deep off of shallow flats and I though for sure this was going to be the golden ($40,000.00) 1st place approach.
 
However, the Potomac River tide kept a large number of fish up shallow after spawning. In practice I figured out the bass were keying on small bait fish and not the big baits I was using two weeks ago. This smaller bait fish finding turned out to be very helpful as the tournament moved on. In practice we eliminated a lot of places that the fish were last year about this time or a month earlier. I also figured that the river was still a month behind last year at this time. I caught 10 fish in practice Wednesday but they were all small.
 
My best bass in practice came on a wacky rigged Gambler Ace and he was only around 2 lbs. I met up with a buddy from NY and fished first half the practice on Wednesday and marked a few way points on my graph that had clearer water, bait fish, schools of largemouth bass or ledges. Then on the second half the day I hooked up with another fishing buddy from NJ and fished a little and marked a few more spots on the graph. I marked five spots on the graph in practice. All five spots had fish during the tournament but they were all small.
 
Potomac River Rayovac FLW Series Tournament Day 1:
 
On day 1 of this tournament, I caught a majority of my 5 bass limit of largemouth bass on Gambler TZ Swimmers. The bite was slow and sporadic through out the day on a mostly incoming tide. Around 20 keepers is all I could muster, my biggest bass ( 3.5 lbs ) came in a marina off a wacky soft plastic bait similar to the Gambler Ace. I fished Piscataway, Douge, Pomonkey, Stick Marsh out front of three creeks, most of the keeper fish came from Stick Marsh. My 5 best largemouth bass on day 1 of the Potomac River Rayovac FLW Series Tournament weighed in at 11 lbs 01 oz. Through out the day, on day one. I also used a War Eagle Spinnerbait DBL Willow, Gambler Otter and Gambler Ace Texas rigged.
 
Potomac River Rayovac FLW Series Tournament Day 2:
 
On day 2 of the Potomac River Rayovac FLW Series Tournament. I had an early boat launch and an even quicker limit of 5 bass. I mean boats were literally still blasting off and going past me as I reeled in fish after fish! This is no exaggeration my day 2 started at the stick march with 5 cast I landed 5 fish on my Gambler TZ swimmers. Bass were feeding on schools of little silver minnows with tiger strips. To be totally honest, I'm not sure what type of bait fish they were but the Gambler TZ Swimmer in white really had the bass ripping the rod out of my hand when they hit it.
 
I switched to bigger baits and moved around shortly after securing my limit so I could to try and find big fish. I wound up getting my boat stuck in mud in Pohick up in the pads. Then I ran to Ocaquan caught a few bass there flipping my baits in grass beds. After that I headed out front of Ocaquan and caught a bunch on a frog. I spent the rest of the day where we started at the Stick Marsh and caught a bunch of keepers on War Eagle spinner bait.
 
Day 2 was the best fishing day on the Potomac river for me. I landed 50 keepers easy and my best 5 bass weighed in at 9 lbs 12 ozs. Fish were biting everything I threw at them and believe me when I say everything.
 
The best baits on day 2 off the top of my head were Frogs, Soft Plastic Stick Baits, Gambler Ace, Gambler Otter, Gambler Why Not, War Eagle Spinner Bait, Shallow Crankbaits, Bladed Swim Jigs, Gambler Swim Jigs and Hollow Swimbaits.
 
Overall, I had a great time out on the Potomac river. It's a great place to go and catch lot's of largemouth bass. I just could not dial in the big ones that I needed to move up and make the cut. I finished with 20lbs 13oz for the tournament good for 90th place. FLW paid 38 places in this event and you needed 23lbs 14 oz to reach that mark. Leaving me roughly three pounds off the pay check pace.
 
The day 3 cut off took a little more doing, you needed 27lbs 09 ozs to fish on the final day. Water conditions for this event, coldest water temps were 79,  hottest water temp was 88. Water was stained then the tide would make it muddy. Most of my fish in this event were caught in 5 ft of water or less. My go to rig turned out to be Okuma Helios 35s Spinning Reel on a 6' 9' Medium Action Big Bear Fishing Rod with my Gambler TZ Swimmer.
 
If I could go back and change one thing:
 
I heard about anglers crashing the pads for the past month or so. At one point in the tournament I even drove by 20 boats around one small section of pads in Mattawomen. Bottom line here, is that I'm a grass bed fisherman, especially on the Potomac river. So I did not really ever buy into pad crashing this go round. If I could go back or bump this event up a week, I'd focus on the pads more!
 
Adjustments I made after practice, heading into day 1:
 
Day one was used to key in on the spots that I had seen the bait fish in practice. It was hard to get the big bites so I spent all the rest of day one throwing bigger baits trying to get bigger bites but no results. The fish still were the same size, moved out to the edge and moved in all day looking for a change but never dialed in the big bite.
 
What I learned on Day 1 that helped me on day 2:
 
On Day 2 I decided that a limit of 2 pound fish first thing would be a good idea with the overall weights on Day 1 being down. So we went to the spot I had found with the most bait fish and it was on! I had a limit in the first 5 cast. Again, tried all new spots in the different grass beds but same results, small fish, they were keepers but small.
 
Special Thanks:
 
I would like to thank FLW for having these great Rayovac FLW Series northern series events along with all of my 2014 sponsors who help keep me out on the water.
 
Zeko Shoes, Lizard Leds, The Crab Place, Mercury Marine, Motor Guide, Rat-L-Trap, Gambler Lures, Okuma Fishing, Big Bear Fishing Rods, Buckeye Lures, War Eagle Lures, Pro Sites Unlimited, JWB Art Unlimited, Amphibia Sports, Flatbellies Fishing Lures, Premier Marine and Eco Pro Tungsten.
 
Tight Lines & Heavy Limits,
 
Melvin Smitson