Shin Fukae, a Texas angler who is originally from Japan, learned some quick lessons on the James River Thursday as he moved into the lead in the pro division of the Bassmaster Northern Open. His five-bass limit weighed 16-10.
Fukae credited his co-angler, Andy Semonco of Chester, Va., with helping him figure out how to catch bass on the James. Semonco, who fishes a local tournament series on the river, also did well with a three-bass limit of 7-13 to move into second place on the co-angler side.
Fukae mentioned that he had an “okay” practice a couple of weeks ago. But, when he returned to the river to practice this week, he mainly looked around at spots he fished in past tournaments on the James and stayed out of the areas he pre-fished to prevent burning those fish.
“I couldn’t find a new spot (in practice), so I decided to fish exactly what I fished two weeks ago,” Fukae said.
Fishing the high tide in the morning produced best for Fukae and Semonco. “We caught our fish pretty quick,” Fukae said. He was puzzled, though, because he thought he would catch fish better later in the day on the low tide.
Fukae has proven his versatility in catching bass in different types of waters. He won the 2014 Northern Open fishing shallow and deep in August at New York’s Lake Champlain. On Thursday, he made a long run and fished four different lures in 10 spots to catch his fish in the tidal waters of the James.
Lanexa, Va., angler Steve Colgin relied on his experience on the river to move into 2nd place with a 16-05 limit.
“It was just river fishing – hitting and missing,” Colgin said. “I would pick up one bait and throw it for an hour and catch a fish and thought I had something going. Then I would pick up something later on and catch another one and then just do the same thing over.”
The 56-year-old Colgin caught his fish on the high tide early and on the outgoing tide late. He said he ran the “whole river” and tried about 40 spots. “I went way down and then worked my way back up,” he said.
Here's a look at the initial top 12:
1. Shin Fukae: 16-10
2. Steve Colgin: 16-05
3. Ken Iyobe: 16-02
4. Cameron Smith: 16-01
5. (tie) Seiji Kato: 15-10
5. (tie) Jake Whitaker: 15-10
7. Matt Madlener: 15-03
8. Greg Dipalma: 15-02
9. Carl Jocumsen: 14-10
10. Brad Webb: 13-10
11. JT Kenney: 13-07
12. Brandon Palaniuk: 13-06
