Capitol Grass Is Growing And Fishing Is Good

The Potomac River near Washington, D.C. is one of the most prolific bass fisheries in the country. It's not a toad factory like some southern or western hotspots – it's a place where an angler can go and have the time of his or her life catching wads of hard-fighting 2- and 3-pound bass.

And what makes the river especially fun is that anglers can leave the spinning rods at home. This tidal fishery is a power-fishing dream: Acres of wood, grass and targets

offer a flipping, frogging and ChatterBaiting paradise.

The FLW Tour visits the Potomac this week for its second FLW Tour Open of the season, and the Tour arrives at a good time. The fish have spawned, and although word says they're not ganged up in the grass as well as they'd be perhaps a few weeks from now, the bite's strong and it'll probably take the proven 16 to 17 pounds a day to win.

Note that since the event is a Tour Open, points don't count toward the FLW Tour Angler of the Year race or 2011 Forrest Wood Cup qualification. After the fourth and final Tour Open this fall, the Top 5 in the Open points receive a berth in the 2012 Forrest Wood Cup.

The Open designation also means the field is open, thus several locals are fishing the event, as well as Elite Series pros like Bobby Lane, Aaron Martens, Mike Iaconelli and Fred Roumbanis. The Elite pros will have to hightail it out of town to make the Arkansas River Elite Series event, practice for which begins next Monday.

Before more about the current state of the bite, here's some info about the fishery itself.

BassFan Lake Profile

> Lake Name: Potomac River
> Type of Water: Tidal river
> Surface Acres: Unavailable
> Primary structure/cover: Grassbeds (milfoil, some hydrilla and other grasses), wood (docks, barges, laydowns), shellbeds, ledges, rockpiles
> Primary forage: Name it and it's in here - various crawfish species, carp, yellow perch, minnows, shiners, herring, shad, bullhead
> Average depth: Less than 5 feet
> Species: Largemouths and some smallmouths in the upper reaches
> Length limit: 15 inches (through mid-June)
> Reputation: Lots of numbers, but heavily fished
> Weather: Was obscenely hot (90s), but cooling to 80s. Sunny and stable for competition.
> Water temp: Mid-80s but likely to drop a bit
> Water visibility/color: All different conditions, from stained to clear, depending on area chosen
> Water level: Normal
> Fish in: All depths
> Fish phase: Post-spawn
> Primary patterns: Flipping, ChatterBaiting, frogs/toads/rats, shallow cranking the shellbeds and wood, jigging the ledges and rocks
> Winning weight: 66 pounds (4 days)
> Cut weight (Top 10): 31 pounds
> Check weight (Top 50): 25 pounds
> Fishing quality (1=poor, 5=great): 4 for the Potomac
> Biggest factors: Fish stage, because the post-spawn bite should get better. Also crowding – you need a certain mentality to prevail here.
> Biggest decision: Camp and flip in a community grassbed and fight the crowds, or go cover water with a frog or other moving bait?
> Wildcard: A grassbed that's lightly fished, and stays that way

Camp or Run?

The Potomac is a fairly predictable fishery this time of year. There are certain grassbeds that produce Top 10s and wins year after year, and they're heavily fished.

That's why pros who don't like crowds can struggle at the Potomac. It's also why Florida pros tend to do well at the river. It can actually fish much like a Toho or Okeechobee.

So a pro faces the immediate decision of whether to settle into a proven, crowded area and start to pick it apart, or run to find isolation.

And to break it down further, pros must decide whether to stick with the flipping bite, which can get better as the day wears on, or cover water with a moving bait in hopes of better-than-average bites.

In all likelihood, the Top 10 will include a pretty even split between the flippers and winders.

Field Notes

Following are some notes from pros fishing this week's event.

JT Kenney
"It seems to me like, with a lot of these grass lakes we go to, sometimes the grassbeds will change and the bite won't be as good in some areas. But here, for the last 6 years or so, it seems like the big grassbeds stay the same and everyone fishes the same areas.

"I will say the grass in most areas is a little behind – it's not all the way up to the surface yet. So there's not as much 'good-looking grass' as in years past. But I think that has a lot to do with all the rain and the dirtier water

"For me, I have confidence in one or two or three areas that year in and year out produce Top 10 finishes and good fish when the big tournaments come to town. I'll just settle into one of those areas. It's one of those things where you get there, look up and see 35 boats. You put your nose down and fish and look up an hour later and only see 20 boats. Then an hour later only five boats. It's the same thing that happens in Florida. By 11:00 everybody's gone, then the fish settle down and start chewing."

Andy Morgan
"You can pick your poison here and basically do whatever you want to do and catch some fish every day. It's definitely the kind of place where, if you're a flipper you're in luck, if you're a ChatterBaiter you're in luck, if you're a topwater guy, you're in luck. Heck, if you're a spinning-rod guy, you're in luck. It doesn't seem to matter. If you can settle down into any grassbed and give it a little while, you can catch something.

"Some of the community grassbeds are bigger than ever, some of them are gone. And it's a little odd, but it seems to be a little harder to catch them this time. You don't clobber them like in the past. But we're here just a little bit earlier too. The fishing's not bad by any means, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it get better every day."

Cliff Pirch
"I guess it's the nature of a river, but the good grass here kind of ebbs and flows. Some areas that had been good for me in the past – there's barely any grass there now. I was a little disappointed to see that, but I have found some other areas that really seem to have good grass, clean water and some fish living there.

"Guys will be catching them all different ways. Obviously the grass bite is one of the biggest keys here, but there's riprap, docks, sparse grass, matted grass – just a number of different things you can be doing. So I expect a lot of different patterns going into the Top 10.

"I'm probably going to use several areas, but I'll spend my time there. I don't know the river well enough to run and gun, so I'll probably try to really pick apart several areas."

Jacob Powroznik
"The grass is up good – actually too good, in my opinion, because the fish are tough to pinpoint. And a lot of the water was muddy in practice from the Memorial Day traffic. That's made it a little tough for me. So I think some guys are going to catch them, but I don't think it's going to be like it used to be.

"There's going to be a lot of fish caught on a frog, and a lot of fish caught flipping too. There's about 10 different things going on right now. This is the Potomac – it's unlike any other place.

"If you can get the right bites, you'll do well. If you get two or three good ones a day, you'll be right in the hunt. Whoever catches 17 1/2 pounds a day will win this thing."

Top 10 To Watch

Here's BassFan's recommendation on the Top 10 to watch at this event. In no particular order, they are:

1. JT Kenney – Although Kenney's best known for his Florida exploits, he grew up on the Potomac and is a heavy favorite to win this week.

2. Bobby Lane – One of the Elite Series pros in the field, Lane won two EverStarts here and an FLW Tour stop. Right there with Kenney as an all-out favorite.

3. Jay Yelas – Back in his '90s B.A.S.S. days, Yelas was a virtual lock for a Top 10 anytime he fished the Potomac, and he's got a special connection to the fishery that's tough to explain. He's been eyeing this one all year.

4. Brett Hite – A likely pick given that a ChatterBaiter will almost certainly make the Top 10. Hite's made his living the past several years with the bait and conditions are perfect right now.

5. Mike Iaconelli – Just like Yelas, Ike is pretty much a Top-10 lock at the Potomac, and he won the Tour stop here in 2005. He must be pumped to be back fishing the Atlantic coast, and he should make the Top 10 this week.

6. Jacob Powroznik – Powroznik came out of the Shenandoah BFLs and knows the fishery as well or better than anyone in the field. Said he struggled a bit in practice, but if the bite isn't spot-on this week, that could help him. A strong bet for a Top 10.

7. David Dudley – Dudley, a Virginia pro, was runner-up here in 2007, won the Cup at the James River, and is fishing extremely well overall.

8. Fred Roumbanis – He'll probably be throwing the frog and wakebaiting, which is his strength, and if you've got to pick a frogger for the Top 10, why not Boom-Boom?

9. George Cochran – Has pretty much been on auto-pilot the last several years, but he's probably still got one win left in him, and this is his type of place. Has finished in the Top 10 twice here, and might need to rub shoulders and bump boats – certainly something he's never avoided in the past.

10. Bryan Thrift – He's the hottest pro on the Tour and loves fishing reaction baits. Might not be able to run and gun the way he likes, but he's about the best there is at picking a bank and making the most of it.

Launch/Weigh-In Information

Anglers launch daily from National Harbor Marine located at 137 National Plaza in National Harbor at 6:30 each morning. Weigh-ins will also be held at the marina beginning at 2 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

For a full schedule of family-oriented attractions, click here.

Weather Forecast

> Thurs., June 2 - Sunny - 84°/56°
- Wind: From the NW at 14 mph

> Fri., June 3 - Partly Cloudy - 78°/61°
- Wind: From the N/NW at 7 mph

> Sat., June 4 - Partly Cloudy - 79°/66°
- Wind: From the E/SE at 4 mph

> Sun., June 5 - Isolated T-Storms - 84°/64°
- Wind: From the NW at 7 mph

Notable

> Yelas counts the Potomac among his favorite places, and with good reason – he's posted a hefty load of Top 5s and Top 10s here over the past two decades. For his practice report, click here to go On Tour With the BassFan Big Sticks.