Greg Alexander of Hebron, Md., made the most of his James River debut by sacking up a day-1 limit of 21-02 to lead the James River Bassmaster Northern Open
“I fish the Potomac and other tidal rivers, so I’m familiar with tidal fisheries,” Alexander said. “In practice, it seemed like you could catch them better on the high outgoing water than at any other time, but today I caught them all day.”
Alexander attributes his success to dialing in productive areas in practice and then giving them time to produce on day 1.
“I could catch a lot of fish in a lot of places, but I found a couple of areas that were holding a little better fish,” Alexander said. “So, I just put my nose down and fished extremely slow through these areas.”
Alexander said he caught approximately 30 keepers, including one around 6 pounds at about 11 a.m. He started his day with a 5-pounder in the first hour.
Alexander spent his day on the James and caught his fish around cypress trees. There’s no lack of this hard cover on the river, but Alexander said his fish were in specific scenarios.
“Everybody’s fishing cypress trees, but I got keyed in on a little deal,” Alexander said. “I could look at (a spot) and say, there’s one there.
“The way the trees are set up is key for me. I’m catching them shallow; they’re in 1 to 4 feet. Some of these fish are getting ready to spawn and it looked like some of them have been done (spawning) for a long time and they’re just up there eating.”
While a Senko, shaky-head, ChatterBait and beaver-style bait produced for him, Alexander caught his weight fish on a 1/2-ounce Cheeseburger Jig with a chunk trailer. An unnamed color proved essential for Alexander, but he also found that a specific presentation made a difference.
“I got keyed in on a jig that I like; I have just the right size, the right color, the right weight – I can go right behind people and catch them,” he said. “I’m definitely trying to do something specific with that jig.”
Jonathan Kelley of Old Forge, Pa., is in 2nd place with 19-06. With multiple patterns established, Kelley worked through his options to recover from a disappointing morning that was likely caused by the mild cold front that lowered water temperatures by several degrees.
“I started on what I knew would get me a big limit, but the cold weather that came in and the low tide we had this morning really affected those fish,” Kelley said. “I scrapped that plan of fishing a pad field and I went to fish wood, but the tide was so low, I struggled.
“I ended up just picking one fish here, one fish there. It really came down to good decision-making on specific tides. That’s what got me the right bites. I was expecting to catch over 50 fish today, but I only caught 10.”
Kelley ended up catching his fish on rock structure in the Chickahominy and the James. Noting that he caught his fish on several different baits, Kelley said the cooler water temperatures required a slow retrieve.
Mike Hicks of Goochland, Va., is in third place with 18-13. While he had fared well in the pits (mining areas off the main river) during practice, devoting time to that pattern stung him today.
“I ran downriver and actually did better down there, and I only caught one fish that helped me once I came back up around noon, so I gave up at least three and a half hours of not catching anything today.”
Downriver, Hicks targeted cypress trees and caught his fish on a variety of baits, including a popping frog, crankbait, ChatterBait, flipping rig and dropshot.
Kerry Frey of Middlebury, Ind., took big-bass honors with a 6-08.
Friday’s takeoff is scheduled for 6 a.m. ET at Osborne Park & Boat Landing. The weigh-in will be held back at the landing at 2 p.m.
Here are the totals for the early Top 10:
1. Greg Alexander: 21-02
2. Jonathan Kelley: 19-06
3. Mike Hicks: 18-13
4. Bo Boltz Jr.: 18-08
5. Gary Adkins: 18-07
6. Jefferson Hamilton: 18-06
7. Hugh Cosculluela: 18-03
8. (tie) Jeff Queen: 17-09
8. (tie) Tyler Williams: 17-09
10. Michael Murphy: 16-15
