Conditions Not Right For Chesapeake To Shine

By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor

When Bassmaster Elite Series anglers got their first look at the 2015 schedule, it's unlikely that any of them tabbed the Chesapeake Bay as one of the toughest venues they'd be confronted with. By all indications, however, that's what's about to transpire.

Overall, the Chesapeake is an excellent fishery that harbors a lot of bass in the 3- to 6-pound range. It's mid-August, though, and conditions simply aren't right for catching a bunch of them.

The milfoil, introduced to the upper bay in the 1980s and the prime factor in the resurgence of the largemouth population over the last quarter-century, is not in prime condition. The onset of the year's warmest weather has produced the annual explosion of dark-colored algae that renders much of the grass unfishable.

Additionally, the first 2 days of the 3-day official practice period featured strong north winds that prevented the tide from fully receding on its twice-daily cycle, creating extreme high-water conditions throughout much of the upper bay and giving fish the freedom to roam as they pleased. The wind has since switched directions and the flooding issue has been alleviated, but now the anglers must adjust to a scenario that's considerably different than what they experienced during practice.

A lot of quality fish were caught on the practice days – non-keeper largemouths are somewhat of a rarity on the Chesapeake, no matter what the conditions. The big challenge will be catching five of them each day.

Some of the pros will find isolated wads of fish and make that daunting task seem relatively easy, as bags exceeding 20 pounds are almost certain to come to the scale. Others, though, will leave supremely frustrated, knowing they were in the vicinity of a bunch of 4- and 5-pounders that they just couldn't get to cooperate.

Before delving deeper into the bite, here's some of the lowdown on the fishery itself.

BassFan Lake Profile

> Lake name: Chesapeake Bay
> Type of water: Tidal estuary that provides drainage for six Eastern states
> Surface acres: N/A
> Primary structure/cover: Grass, wood, rocks, docks
> Primary forage: Shad (multiple species), herring, crayfish
> Species: Mostly largemouths, some smallmouths
> Length limit: 12 inches
> Reputation: A once-prolific largemouth fishery that experienced a downturn in the latter part of the 20th century, but has bounced back following the introduction of milfoil
> Weather: Bright sunshine is expected throughout the event, with daily peak temperatures in the high 80s
> Water temp: 70s to mid-80s, depending on location
> Water visibility/color: Clear around grass, tinted to stained in other locales
> Water level: Normal
> Fish in: 1 to 25 feet
> Fish phase: Summer
> Primary patterns: Flipping, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, jerkbaits, jigs, swimbaits, topwaters, plastics, finesse tactics
> Winning weight: 70 pounds
> Cut weight (Top 12 after 3 days): 39 pounds
> Check weight (Top 50 after 2 days): 24 pounds
> Fishing quality (1=poor, 5=great): 1 for the Chesapeake
> Biggest factors: Grass – there's not enough of the good stuff to go around and the best areas will see heavy pressure
> Biggest decision: Rub elbows in the milfoil or focus on areas that are more private, but perhaps not as productive
> Wildcard: Deep-dwelling fish – they're basically ignored throughout the system

Here's a look at how the Chesapeake Bay lays out, thanks to Navionics:

What's Happened Before?

B.A.S.S. has not conducted a tour-level event at the Chesapeake since the 1991 Bassmaster Classic, which was won by Ken Cook. The fishery had changed dramatically in the interim, particularly in regard to the grass – there's much more of it now.

A Bassmaster Northern Open was held there in 2010. It was dominated by current Elite pro Nate Wellman, who moved away from the banks and caught big largemouths off isolated cover (one log in particular) en route to winning by more than 15 pounds.

Flats Will be a Magnet

Pete Gluszek, a former tour-level pro who occasionally guides on the Chesapeake, said the Susquehana Flats will likely draw more attention from the 107-angler field this week than any other area. It features several dozen square miles of grass and is only about a 10-minute run from the launch in North East, Md.

The vegetation comes in two varieties – milfoil and eelgrass. The milfoil is much preferred by the bass, but not a lot of it is currently accessible to the anglers because of the algae bloom.

Gluszek calls the algae "black death."

"It shows up in August and just chokes out the milfoil," he said. "It covers it and blocks out the sun and kills it. That creates these massive mats that are impenetrable – they're so think you can't even punch through them – and they're all over the upper bay right now.

"That might've been the biggest surprise for the anglers who came up here before the off-limits. At that time the milfoil was still here and it was strong and looking good, and now it's been replace by this stuff.

"Places where they were catching them a month ago look a lot different now," he added. "They're going to have to adjust."

Other negative factors are ones that are common to most parts of the country in late summer.

"The warm water scatters fish to different depth zones and I think a lot of them start feeding nocturnally. Your number of bites definitely go down at this time of year."

Other Options Exist

If a competitor decides not to scrap for position on the remaining productive milfoil, he'll have a few other options – wood, rocks or docks.

"They can move back and forth between different stuff or just try to isolate one type and stay with it," Gluszek said. "This is generally a shallow-water fishery and one of the big unknowns, even to us locals, is the deep bite. The Susquehana River has some deep water that's rarely explored this time of year.

"The other big factor is smallmouth – the Susquehana and some other rivers have populations that are typically never a factor in winning tournaments except for late in the fall, but they are a factor in the points races. You could potentially see a Top-10 finisher or two catching smallmouths, but the guys are the very top will be on green fish because they're just so much bigger."

He anticipates that the winner will average somewhere around 17 1/2 pounds per day, which would result in a 4-day total of 70 pounds.

"It's going to be a case of the haves and the have-nots. The guy who wins might catch a couple of 20-pound bags and it wouldn't surprise me to see a 25-pound stringer caught. This is a weird fishery in that it has lots of 3- to 6-pounders and every time a guy sets the hook he has a chance at one.

"On the other hand, a lot of guys are really going to struggle to catch five fish a day."

Field Notes

Following are some practice reports from a few of the anglers who'll be competing in this event.

Brent Ehrler
"I think I'd rather be on the Sabine than here. This place has been tough. A lot of the grass is real choked up and a lot of the grass that isn't doesn't have fish. I can't get a rhyme or reason to anything and I can't seem to figure out the tide that the fish want.

"Then there's the pressure – you can't fish without having someone right in front of you or right behind you.

"It's a shallow, tidal fishery so it's just basic patterns: flipping, frogging or winding something. It's a matter of being in the right place at the right time."

Kevin Hawk
"It's been tough to get bites – (Monday and Tuesday) I had six total. It's going to be a grind, but I'm sure somebody's found a place where they're wadded up and they'll catch them.

"It could fish pretty small if a lot of guys find the same productive areas out of the flats. Otherwise it should spread out pretty decent. I practiced one day on the flats and one day on hard cover, and I'm going to have to make a decision about whether I want to change up and try different water or expand on the areas I've been fishing."

Tim Horton
"I wish I could tell you something good, but I've been having a tough time. I had two bites one day and three another day. When the tide was so much higher, the fish had a lot of places to hide and that made it tough.

"I'm probably going to have to keep piecing it together throughout the tournament, but so far it's been brutal. Trying to go and run a pattern seems to be just about impossible right now. It's probably going to come down to somebody finding a certain stretch of grass or something in the back of a creek."

Chris Lane
"I didn't have a largemouth bite the first 2 days. I caught some smallmouth, but they're really small and they're no good. I've heard this place has got a lot of fish and a lot of big fish. I've seen a few swimming around, but I can't get them to react to anything.

"I haven't quite got an answer for this – especially for the grass. I've tried every trick I ever thought of growing up in Florida and I've even tried some things I've never tried before. None of it has worked.

"I just have to keep changing up and trying to figure things out. I might end up just putting a flipping stick in my hand and going with what I know. I've tried everything else, so I might as well go with something that I have confidence in."

Top 10 to Watch

With the above in mind and more, here are BassFan's recommendations for the Top 10 to watch in this event.

1. Mike Iaconelli – His advantage here doesn't rise to the level it was at for last year's triumph at the Delaware River, but it's still more of a "home game" for the New Jerseyite than any other contender in the field. Lots of fans will be disappointed if he doesn't advance to day 4.

2. Aaron Martens – The newly minted Angler of the Year (AOY) leader has finished outside the Top 15 exactly once this year, and tidal fisheries don't exactly confound him. There's simply no reason to believe that his strong roll won't continue.

3. Edwin Evers – He's in a position that no other angler has occupied since the inception of the Elite Series in 2006 – gunning for his third consecutive victory. He possesses a skill set that should play well at the Chesapeake, so there's a chance that more history will be made.

4. Jacob Powroznik – The Chesapeake isn't in the Virginian's figurative "back yard," but he has plenty of experience there and the place suits his style. There aren't many places that he can't figure out these days.

5. Takahiro Omori – Late-season charges up the AOY list have become his trademark, and at No. 69 in the points, he's got some ground to make up this year. He started his upward move with a 27th at the St. Lawrence River and this venue is more in line with his strengths.

6. Justin Lucas – His experience and success on the California Delta have given him a strong working knowledge of tidal fisheries. He needs a good finish to remain a serious AOY contender after his 61st at the St. Lawrence set him back a bit.

7. Bobby Lane – The Floridian is one of the best grass-bed anglers in the game and he usually performs well when he's in proximity to the Atlantic Coast. If not for a serious bomb at the Sabine River to begin the season, he'd be in the AOY mix.

8. Brent Chapman – The 2012 AOY has finished out of the money in four of six events this year and must start a climb up the points list to avoid missing his second straight Classic. He has the shallow-water game to get that ball rolling this week.

9. Greg Hackney – The reigning AOY picked up his second Top-5 finish of the campaign at the St. Lawrence and is as good as anyone at finding and catching shallow-water largemouths. He's a dangerous man when momentum's on his side.

10. Paul Mueller – It's been a rough year for the rookie from Connecticut, but he comes in off his top finish (by far) of the campaign – a 21st at the St. Lawrence. A second straight event in his home region could produce another season-best showing.

Notable

> Like many of his fellow competitors, Brent Chapman had a tough time getting bites over the past 3 days. To read his practice summary, click here to visit Pro View Reports.

Launch/Weigh-In Info

Anglers will launch at 6:15 a.m. ET each day from Anchor Marina and the adjacent North East Community Park in North East, Md. Weigh-ins will be at the park beginning at 3 p.m. each day.

Weather Forecast

> Thurs., Aug. 13 – Sunny - 84°/60°
- Wind: From the NW at 6 mph

> Fri., Aug. 14 – Sunny - 87°/65°
- Wind: From the SW at 5 mph

> Sat., Aug. 15 – Sunny - 89°/67°
- Wind: From the SSW at 6 mph

> Sun., Aug. 16 – Sunny - 90°/68°
- Wind: From the SSW at 6 mph