By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor


There was nothing complicated about the techniques and presentations employed at last week's Chesapeake Bay Bassmaster Elite Series – on a shallow, tidal fishery, there never is.

Largemouths weighing 3 pounds or more would bite quite a few different offerings, so long as the fish were in the mood to inhale anything. When the tide stage wasn't right in a given area, the chances of enticing them to take even the slightest nibble were almost nil.

It was all about timing and location. Hitting those variables right could result in a mid- to high-teens sack, but being just a little off could mean a zero for the day. And the two anglers in the field with the most experience at the Chesapeake, Mike Iaconelli and Jacob Powroznik, were among the 23 competitors who posted a goose egg on one day or another. Edwin Evers, winner of the two previous Elite events, was among that group, too.

Winner Aaron Martens threw a mix of reaction baits (spinner, Chatter) and slower-moving stuff (a jig and a dropshot). Two of the four who finished closest to him in the standings also went with a combo approach, whereas the other two stuck primarily with a bottom-hugging program.

2nd: Bill Lowen

> Day 1: 5, 12-06
> Day 2: 5, 15-13
> Day 3: 5, 15-11
> Day 4: 5, 18-05
> Total = 20, 62-03

Lowen's runner-up finish was his third on the Elite Series as he remains in pursuit of his first victory. It looked as if that initial victory might be forthcoming when Martens failed to boat a keeper for the first half of day 4, but it wasn't to be as the eventual winner ended up weighing a tournament-best bag.

Lowen spent the event throwing a spinnerbait and flipping in Swan Creek, located about a dozen miles from the launch in North East, Md.

"Practice wasn't bad," he said. "I had about eight bites the first day, nine or 10 the second and 12 or 13 the third. My primary area where I ended up catching them I found on the first day."

A smaller tributary within the creek fed out into a flat and featured some shoreline wood. It had a ditch running through it to provide additional depth. He said there were "tons" of baitfish and other finned creatures swimming around.

He could catch fish as long as the tide was flowing one direction or the other. The period between cycles, which lasted an hour or so, was always non-productive.

"I caught the fish from 3 feet or less and most of them were relating to the wood or the grass," he said. "I was getting 10 or 12 bites a day and I'd just keep fishing around until I got another bite.

"I didn't fish there the first day, but everything I caught on the second, third and fourth days came from there."

> Flipping gear: 7'6" heavy-action Castaway rod, Team Lew's Lite casting reel (6.8:1 ratio), 15-pound Hi-Seas fluorocarbon line, 1/4-ounce Reins Tungsten weight, 3/0 Mustad offset-shank hook, unnamed creature-style bait (green-pumpkin).

> Spinnerbait gear: 7' heavy-action Castaway rod, same reel and line, 1/4-ounce Tim Poe spinnerbait (white with double Colorado blades).

Main factor in his success – I was able to keep my head down and fish through the tides. That area was just so unique."

Performance edge – "I'd have to say the rod, reel and line combo. The Team Lew's Lite would throw little baits wherever I needed them to go and I had the confidence in the line that I was going to get the fish out of that stuff."



B.A.S.S./Seigo Saito
Photo: B.A.S.S./Seigo Saito

Chad Pipkens didn't get a lot of bites, but the ones he did get were high-quality.

3rd: Chad Pipkens

> Day 1: 5, 16-14
> Day 2: 5, 14-15
> Day 3: 3, 7-11
> Day 4: 5, 18-07
> Total = 18, 57-15

Chad Pipkens spent the vast majority of his time in the North East River, but would make a run up to the Susquehana each day to capitalize in the optimum tide. The Susquehana gave him at least one key fish each day, including a pair of 4-pounders on day 4.

"I felt pretty good because I was getting five to eight bites a day in practice," he said. "Granted, that was in 14-hour days, but I wasn't hitting anything twice and I wasn't catching multiple fish anywhere – if I got a bite, I'd leave.

"Every place I got a bite I'd add to my milk run, and the bites were all over 3 pounds. I knew if I could get four to six of the a day I'd end up with 12 to 17 pounds."

He fished a lot of dock pilings and other hard spots that contained brush or wood. All of his weigh-in fish were enticed by a shaky-head.

"I knew I'd run into bites if I just kept casting and putting my bait in high-percentage areas. I was trying to be in the right place at the right time."

> Shaky-head gear: 7'11" medium-action Powell 712 rod, Abu Garcia Revo Premier spinning reel, 12-pound Sunline SX1 braid (main line), 10-pound Sunline Super FC Sniper fluorocarbon (leader), various 1/8-ounce shaky-head jigs with Gamakatsu hooks, Damiki Cutter worm or unnamed finesse worm (junebug or green-pumpkin).

Main factor in his success – "Not staying in one area for very long and continually looking for active fish."

Performance edge – "The 360 Imaging on my Humminbird unit allowed me to find every key piece of structure where I was fishing. It just made me so much more efficient."

B.A.S.S./Seigo Saito
Photo: B.A.S.S./Seigo Saito

Gerald Swindle spent the entire tournament in extremely close proximity to the launch ramp.

4th: Gerald Swindle

> Day 1: 5, 13-12
> Day 2: 5, 11-07
> Day 3: 5, 14-12
> Day 4: 5, 14-11
> Total = 20, 54-10

Swindle logged a Top-5 finish despite staying within a half-mile of the ramp on all 4 days. He caught some of his weigh-in fish from rocky areas with a crankbait and flipped for some that were holding tight to woody cover.

With less than 2 hours remaining in the 2 1/2-day official practice session, he still hadn't gotten a single bite. Just before he had to pull out and head for the registration meeting, the tide in the North East River got lower than he'd seen it to that point, exposing numerous logs.

He flipped two of them and got a bite from each, then had to hustle to make the meeting.

"The more I stayed in those areas, just idling around, I'd find additional logs. Each day I gained more and more targets.

"I'd struggled so bad in practice, running all over, that I just didn't know where else to fish. Sometimes a fisherman without options can be dangerous because he just fishes what's right in front of him."

> Cranking gear: 7' medium-light Quantum Smoke PT rod, Quantam Smoke PT casting reel (6:1 ratio), 10-pound Sunline Super FC Sniper fluorocarbon line, Zoom Ed Chambers Mutt crankbait (chartreuse/brown back).

> Flipping gear: 7'4" heavy-action Quantum EXO Tour PT casting rod, Quantum Tour MG casting reel, 20-pound Sunline Shooter fluorocarbon line, unnamed 5/16-ounce weight, 3/0 Gamakatsu straight-shank worm hook, Zoom Z-Craw (black/blue).

Main factor in his success – "Staying out late before the meeting and seeing the tide that low. I had no idea there were that many logs in that area.

Performance edge – "The SideImaging on my Humminbird was a key tool. I was idling in 3 or 4 feet of water and looking 40 to 50 feet out to the side, so I could find those logs without having to get on top of them and disturb the fish."

B.A.S.S./Seigo Saito
Photo: B.A.S.S./Seigo Saito

Davy Hite used a Senko to catch 14 of his 15 weigh-in fish.

5th: Davy Hite

> Day 1: 5, 10-12
> Day 2: 5, 16-00
> Day 3: 5, 13-01
> Day 4: 5, 12-07
> Total = 20, 52-04

Davy Hite fished a single area in the Gun Powder River throughout the event, throwing a 5-inch Yamamoto Senko and any type of cover he came across. He fished the Senko both weightless and on a shaky-head.

"I stayed mentally into this tournament a whole lot better than I did at the St. Lawrence (where he logged a triple-digit placement)," he said. "At that one I just ran around and almost fished too hard. I tried to make things happen instead of settling in.

"I didn't do that here; I settled in pretty good. I hate to say I'm happy with a 5th-place finish, but I don't think I was on the fish to do any better. That's what I found."

His best action came toward the end of the outgoing tide, and that period arrived later each day.

> Weightless Senko gear: 7' medium-heavy Bass Pro Shops CarbonLite rod, Bass Pro Shops Johnny Morris Signature Series casting reel (7:1 ratio), 14-pound Bass Pro Shops XPS fluorocarbon line, 4/0 VMC worm hook, 5" Yamamoto Senko (purple laminate or green-pumpkin).

> For his shaky-head rig, he used a 6'6" medium-action rod, 8-pound fluorocarbon and a 1/8-ounce VMC jighead.

> He caught one weigh-in fish on a 1/2-ounce VMC Swinging Rugby Head jig with with an unnamed creature-type bait.

Main factor in his success – "I figured out in practice that it was going to be a really tough tournament, and I found a pretty decent area and just put my head down."

Performance edge – "It'd have to be that 5-inch Senko. I only weighed one fish on another bait."

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