Lucas Punctuates Potomac Win With 19-13 Bag

By BassFan Staff

On Friday, after catching a 19-14 stringer that gave him nearly a 6-pound lead over the field after two days at the Potomac River, Justin Lucas remarked that he’d “take every ounce of a lead I can get on these guys and hope to not give any of it back.”

After what could only now be considered a hiccup on Saturday when he caught 12-15, Lucas rebounded today with a 19-13 bag to sew up his second Elite Series victory with a 4-day total of 72-14.

He wound up relinquishing some of his lead, but only because Jason Christie hammered a tournament-best 23-01 today to finish 2nd with 68-07, which was still 4-07 shy of Lucas’ total.

“I still don’t know how this feels for sure,” Lucas said early Sunday evening. “It’s still sinking in. I wouldn’t say it’s as sweet as the first because that’s hard to beat, but this means a lot to me because it came away from home. It’s not Guntersville and it’s not California. Having two Elite Series wins puts me in a different spot with a different group of guys now and winning away from home is a big confidence booster to me that I can get it done away from home.”

Following a generally tough practice, few would’ve predicted the event would be won off a particular spot – not in the dog days of August – and nobody would’ve wagered on three 19 1/2-plus pound bags being caught by the same angler, much less all three bags off the same stretch of hard cover.

That’s exactly what Lucas did, targeting fish holding near the cross braces between the wooden piers that support a parking deck that juts into the main river near Marbury Point, about 20 miles north of Smallwood State Park. The area is a well-known and heavily fished community hole among locals, but for some reason, Lucas was the lone Elite Series pro to devote any time to it.

After catching another stout limit before noon today, Lucas opted to check in early. He figured that with the lead he had and the quality sack he’d caught that he was safe to call it a day and not risk any unforeseen obstacles later in the day. It conjured memories of the 2007 Lake Champlain Elite Series where Timmy Horton returned to the dock 5 hours early on the final day of his runaway victory there.

Lucas is the 22nd angler to win at least two full-field Elite Series tournaments and joins Chris Lane and Aaron Martens as the only other Elite Series competitors with wins at more than one tidal fishery.

Brent Ehrler held onto 3rd with a 17-03 effort that gave him 62-12. Bill Lowen slipped two spots to 4th with 61-00 after catching 13-13 while Andy Montgomery jumped two positions to finish 5th with 59-12 behind today’s 15-05 bag.

Here's a look at how the rest of the Top 12 finished up:

6. Keith Combs: 59-06
7. Randall Tharp: 58-10
8. Brett Hite: 56-13
9. Jordan Lee: 54-01
10. Gerald Swindle: 53-06
11. Fred Roumbanis: 51-03
12. Clifford Pirch: 50-11

Gerald Swindle came into the event with a 41-point lead over Keith Combs in the Angler of the Year points standings. His lead was cut to 37 after Combs finished 6th, four spots ahead of Swindle. Randall Tharp, who finished 7th this week, moved up to 3rd in points, but trails Swindle by 62 points.

This week was all about survival. With so much vegetation now lining the Potomac, the competitors found it challenging to pinpoint where the best concentrations of fish were and the best time to be there in relation to the tide cycle. The early morning period of outgoing and low tide was key for several anglers while others were able to figure out multiple patterns to catch quality fish throughout the day.

The Elite Series is off for three weeks before practice starts on Labor Day for the final full-field event of the season at the Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wis., on Sept. 8-11. The season concludes the following week at Mille Lacs Lake in Minnesota where the Top 50 anglers in the AOY points compete in a three-day event.

Another Glorious Morning for Lucas

> Day 4: 5, 19-13 (20, 72-14)

When Lucas arrived at the area that carried him through the first three days, he noticed the current and water clarity were just right.

“I had a feeling it’d be good,” he said.

Was it ever?

He had a limit by 8:15 a.m. and by 8:40, he’d virtually sealed the win with a 5-pounder followed by a 4-pounder that unofficially gave him 16-00. Little did he know that Christie would go on a tear later in the day to make things interesting.

“I thought I had it locked up once I got to 16,” Lucas said. “I’m glad I sat there and kept catching them.”

He caught a 2 1/2-pounder and a 3-pounder within 10 minutes of each other before capping the day with another 4-pounder around 11:30. At that point, he was in the 19-pound range and he knew Lowen needed at least 25 to beat him. When the camera boat assigned to follow him headed back to the ramp, he decided to go, too.

“They were my chase boat so if anything happened to me after they left, I’d have been in trouble,” he said. “I feel like this whole week was like that – everything was a calculated decision.”

When he got back to the dock, he focused on fish care. He was prohibited from viewing Bassmaster.com to check how the rest of the top 12 was doing.

While a 6-inch worm rigged on a dropshot was his key producer all week, he caught two weigh-in fish today on a weightless wacky-rigged soft plastic stickbait.

“The only thing that gave me the patience to fish that 8 to 10 feet down was I already had a good bag,” he said. “That was the only way to get those deeper fish to bite.”

Additional details about Lucas’ and the other top finishers’ patterns will be published soon.

2nd: Christie Crushed ‘Em

> Day 4: 5, 23-01 (20, 68-07)

Christie didn’t have high hopes coming out of practice this week, but he sure figured out the Potomac River today. After averaging 15 pounds a day over the first three days, he got dialed into how the fish were positioning with the incoming tide later this morning and did all of his damage with a Booyah Pad Crasher frog.

When he got back to the dock this afternoon, he was hoping he may have pulled off yet another incredible final-day comeback, but those hopes were dashed when he saw Lucas’ boat already on its trailer.

“It felt really, really good until I got back and saw I got beat,” Christie said. “You have to go off expectations and I didn’t expect a lot and every day I learned more and more about the area I was fishing.

“This morning, I got keyed in on what kind of stuff they were on. I’m not saying I figured it out, but I got some big bites.”

He caught more fish today than he had over the first three days combined. Looking back, he said he wouldn’t do anything different.

“Today, I needed to find something else so I started moving around,” he said.

He caught a 4-pounder off a dock early on and left that area with a limit. He picked three fish off a tree and then moved back to his grass bed where he picked up the frog again.

“I timed it perfect,” he said. “My first bite there was a 5 1/4 and from 10:30 to 1, it was steady action.”

3rd: Ehrler Satisfied

> Day 4: 5, 17-03 (20, 62-12)

Back when the 2016 schedule was released, Ehrler had a hunch the Potomac in August would be a tough event. It was, but he managed to secure his best Elite Series finish by casting moving baits in and around grass beds.

“It was fun. I’m excited with it,” he said. “It was a grind. It wasn’t easy, but I caught more today than any other day. And actually, the fishing wasn’t that bad. It was a grind, but the weights were strong.”

More importantly, the top-3 finish gave him some momentum and valuable points heading into La Crosse next month when he’ll look to firm up a Classic berth.

“I needed a good finish like this,” he said. “I needed the points and I’m happy to do this here because it’s a place I haven’t ever caught ‘em.

“I was in salvage mode before this. Now I’m in better shape, but I still need a good finish at La Crosse so I can’t fall out of the Classic at the AOY event.”

He said less boat traffic in his key area was one of the contributing factors to catching what he caught today.

“On Saturday, there were a bunch of spectators on me and it’s a shallow flat,” he said. “Not only were there a bunch of spectators, but (Jacob) Powroznik and Tharp were in the same area. With it being a shallow flat and all those boats in there, people were tearing up the grass. There was so much grass floating around that I couldn’t get a clean cast. It was a combination of everything. Those fish are in shallow, clear water and I think they felt that. They hunkered down and didn’t want to bite.

“Today, there was nobody around and there was no grass floating around. I was able to make clean casts and fish better.”

4th: Lowen Will Take It

> Day 4: 5, 13-13 (20, 61-00)

After the practice he had, Lowen never dreamed he was on a top 5-worthy pattern, so he wasn’t at all disappointed by a 4th-place showing, his best finish since taking runner-up honors at the Chesapeake Bay last year.

“I knew going out this morning, I didn’t have many fish left,” he said. “My secondary pattern was losing the right amount of water with the tide and I knew without a miracle I’d be fighting to hold on. That’s pretty much how my day went. My little creek gave me enough to survive and I’m tickled it held up.”

Indeed, Dogue Creek produced a limit for Lowen this morning and he upgraded once later on by punching mats elsewhere.

“I’m very surprised it had that many fish in it,” he said of the small creek. “I was throwing at the same pieces of wood and bends every day. I don’t care if I see it ever again.”

He’d spent so much time in there that at low tide on Saturday, he discovered an underwater pipeline that ran across the creek with some wood pushed up against it. He caught two fish off that wood today, including his biggest one.

5th: Creeks Produced for Montgomery

> Day 4: 5, 15-05 (20, 59-12)

Montgomery has fared well at the Potomac River in the past, but this event played out much differently than he expected. Rather than fishing main-river grass beds, he targeted the backs of creeks and caught fish related to vegetation and hard cover on different tide cycles.

“I wouldn’t have changed anything,” he said. “I’m as happy as happy can be. If you’d have been a fly in my boat after practice, you’d be happy, too.”

He said not having a good practice helped push him to keep exploring.

“I wasn’t locked into one way to catch ‘em,” he said. “I caught them different every day.”

After getting just six bites Saturday, he caught more than a dozen fish today and had a quick limit for roughly 13 1/2 pounds in one creek before moving to his next area, where he caught a 4-pounder.

“I was punching mainly hydrilla mats and caught them better on high tide doing that,” he said. “At low tide, I’d pitch around a Stike King Ocho and I caught a few on a dropshot along the hydrilla edges.”

Notable

> Day 4 stats – 12 anglers, 11 limits, 1 four.

Final Results

1. Justin Lucas -- Guntersville, AL -- 20, 72-14 -- 110 -- $101,500
Day 1: 5, 20-04 -- Day 2: 5, 19-14 -- Day 3: 5, 12-15 -- Day 4: 5, 19-13

2. Jason Christie -- Park Hill, OK -- 20, 68-07 -- 109 -- $25,000
Day 1: 5, 16-01 -- Day 2: 5, 15-06 -- Day 3: 5, 13-15 -- Day 4: 5, 23-01

3. Brent Ehrler -- Newport Beach, CA -- 20, 62-12 -- 108 -- $20,000
Day 1: 5, 17-13 -- Day 2: 5, 16-07 -- Day 3: 5, 11-05 -- Day 4: 5, 17-03

4. Bill Lowen -- Brookville, IN -- 20, 61-00 -- 107 -- $16,000
Day 1: 5, 16-13 -- Day 2: 5, 14-06 -- Day 3: 5, 16-00 -- Day 4: 5, 13-13

5. Andy Montgomery -- Blacksburg, SC -- 20, 59-12 -- 106 -- $14,000
Day 1: 5, 13-08 -- Day 2: 5, 16-10 -- Day 3: 5, 14-05 -- Day 4: 5, 15-05

6. Keith Combs -- Huntington, TX -- 20, 59-06 -- 105 -- $13,500
Day 1: 5, 14-13 -- Day 2: 5, 13-08 -- Day 3: 5, 16-12 -- Day 4: 5, 14-05

7. Randall Tharp -- Port St. Joe, FL -- 20, 58-10 -- 104 -- $13,000
Day 1: 5, 14-12 -- Day 2: 5, 13-01 -- Day 3: 5, 13-09 -- Day 4: 5, 17-04

8. Brett Hite -- Phoenix, AZ -- 20, 56-13 -- 103 -- $12,500
Day 1: 5, 11-04 -- Day 2: 5, 14-13 -- Day 3: 5, 15-12 -- Day 4: 5, 15-00

9. Jordan Lee -- Grant, AL -- 20, 54-01 -- 102 -- $12,000
Day 1: 5, 13-04 -- Day 2: 5, 16-12 -- Day 3: 5, 11-11 -- Day 4: 5, 12-06

10. Gerald Swindle -- Guntersville, AL -- 19, 53-06 -- 101 -- $12,500
Day 1: 5, 16-05 -- Day 2: 5, 14-00 -- Day 3: 5, 12-01 -- Day 4: 4, 11-00

11. Fred Roumbanis -- Bixby, OK -- 20, 51-03 -- 100 -- $11,000
Day 1: 5, 13-08 -- Day 2: 5, 14-00 -- Day 3: 5, 14-00 -- Day 4: 5, 9-11

12. Clifford Pirch -- Payson, AZ -- 20, 50-11 -- 99 -- $12,000
Day 1: 5, 14-05 -- Day 2: 5, 13-03 -- Day 3: 5, 17-02 -- Day 4: 5, 6-01