By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor


Even as tough as practice conditions were leading up to the Potomac River FLW Tour, there was a strong sentiment that anyone who could average 15 pounds per day during the tournament would put themselves near or at the top of the leaderboard come Sunday.

Clark Wendlandt didn’t plan it this way, but he validated those prognostications, catching 60 pounds even at the historic river that runs through Washington, D.C., to claim his fourth career FLW Tour win and end a 14-year stretch without a victory.

He caught at least 14 1/2 pounds each of the first 3 days, including 17-13 on day 2, and then capped off the week with 12-14 to beat two-time Angler of the Year Andy Morgan by more than 4 pounds. While the almost 6-pound kicker he caught on day 2 was certainly his most important fish of the tournament, Wendlandt believes the outcome would’ve been different had it not been for the incredible show of generosity and sportsmanship by Shinichi Fukae on day 3.

After Wendlandt experienced motor trouble on Saturday morning, Fukae, who was fishing nearby, insisted that Wendlandt finish the day out of his boat. Meanwhile, Fukae stayed with Wendlandt’s disabled boat while it was towed back to the launch ramp, essentially forfeiting his chance to improve his place in the standings.

“Without Shin, this win wouldn’t have been possible,” Wendlandt said. “I can’t say enough about him. What he did (Saturday), giving me his boat… I cannot thank him enough.”

While many were fixated on fishing stretches of grass either on the main river or in the many creeks that empty into the Potomac, Wendlandt caught the majority of his fish off of hard cover flipping a jig and throwing a bladed jig with a shad-imitator trailer.

“Even on good days, I was only catching eight or nine fish a day,” he said.

He said he fished clean all week and that mistake-free execution allowed him to prevail.

Here’s how he did it.

Practice

Wendlandt has only ever fished tournaments at the Potomac but the number of days he’s spent there, either practicing or competing, have added up to give him a pretty good understanding of how the tides impact where the fish position throughout the day.

“I’ve had a lot of opportunities to fish there,” he said.

A violent storm, the first of three storms that impacted the river, came through on the eve of the start of practice and gave the field a taste of the changing conditions they’d see throughout the week.

“There was a lot of blown-out water on day 1,” he said. “It was muddy, especially in the backs of some of the creeks. Some main-river stuff was messed up, too.”

He still managed a half-dozen bites, including a couple good ones, to get an idea of where some better fish were.

“It’s the way you have to fish the Potomac,” he said. “You have to go get bites and find little areas or ways to catch them, whether it’s in the grass or on hard cover. It helped me get a feel for things.”

He came out of practice with confidence in five or six areas.

Competition

> Day 1: 5, 14-13
> Day 2: 5, 17-13
> Day 3: 5, 14-08
> Day 4: 5, 12-14
> Total = 20, 60-00

Wendlandt fished some stretches on the main river over the first 2 days and also spent considerable time in Potomac Creek.

“I had five or six areas, but only caught them in two areas,” he said. “I fished a variety of stuff. Right now, there is probably more grass in the Potomac than I’ve ever seen. It’s not the best milfoil, but sometimes it’s hydrilla or coontail and it was super clean in some areas which wasn’t always the best.”

While grass did produce a few bites for him, he caught the vast majority of his weigh-in fish off docks and shallow wood and laydowns.

“I caught some off the same dock several days in a row,” he said. “There were small areas within the area – little stretches where it was predicated by something that caused them to start biting.”

He was in 6th after day 1 and rocketed to the lead after day 2, thanks to the 5-14 brute that anchored his 17-13 bag.

“I caught that one off a trough under a boat,” he said. “I was working my bait really slow and it was a place where you don’t expect to catch a big one. It was kind of a freak fish.”

He followed that up with 14-08 on day 3 to become the only competitor to crack 13 pounds each of the first 3 days.

He said being able to manage his best area early on was key to his prolonged success.

“I had my main area mostly to myself,” he said. “I really didn’t get many bites there in practice, maybe three or four, but they were nice ones. I had a sense that it could work.”

He’d start his day there before choosing to check out other areas.

“I already had fish when I’d go into other areas and they’d be crowded,” he added. “Going from a place with no boats to being around lot of people, I didn’t see how smart that could be.”

He spent most of the final day in Potomac Creek, catching four in there as the effects of a massive rainstorm the previous night started to take hold. He ran back toward the ramp and stopped on a stretch of laydowns in Mattawoman Creek and caught his last keeper on a jig to finish his limit and seal the win.

Winning Pattern Notes

While Wendlandt didn’t necessarily run the tides like some pros did, he said timing was an important aspect of his strategy.

“There were little windows that come up and you needed to be in the right place when those windows appeared,” he said. “I pretty much threw at anything that looked fishy. That’s how I like to fish the Potomac. I like to get in areas with fish and move around and find where they’re at and fish by feel.”

Winning Gear Notes

> Flipping gear: 7’6” heavy-action Cabela’s Tournament ZX flipping rod, Cabela’s Verano casting reel (7.3:1 gear ratio), 20-pound Gamma Edge fluorocarbon line, 1/2-oz. 4x4 Jigs Randall Tharp Signature Series jig (pro green-pumpkin), Strike King Rage Tail chunk (green-pumpkin) trailer.

> Vibrating jig gear: 7’1” medium-heavy Cabela’s Tournament ZX casting rod, same reel, 16-pound Gamma Edge fluorocarbon line, 3/8-oz. homemade vibrating jig (white), 3.5” Lake Fork Live Magic Shad (white) trailer.

> Some of his dock fish came on the vibrating jig and he also caught a few fish flipping a tube.

The Bottom Line

> Main factor in his success – “The first thing was the sportsmanship of Shin Fukae. I thought that was a pretty incredible act on his part and a big part of my win. I can’t diminish that at all. Also, I have a good understanding of that tidal fishery. When I get bites in a certain way, that tells me how to fish. I’ve also spent a lot of time there over the years so that helped.”

> Performance edge – “The castability of that Cabela’s rod was crucial when skipping my baits up under docks and flipping around wood.”

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