By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor
Davy Hite said he fished there 20 years ago. Mark Davis told Justin Lucas he’d fished there years ago, too. The stretch of water along an elevated parking deck that held the winning fish for Lucas during last week’s Potomac River Elite Series was hardly a well-kept secret.
Locals know it well, for it sits on the east side of the main river just north of Oxon Creek. When zooming in on the Google Maps satellite image of the parking deck, at least three bass boats can be seen around various sections of the deck. It’s a fish magnet and Lucas combed it for 4 days en route to his second Elite Series crown in 2 years.
It was basically a dream scenario for the Guntersville, Ala., who grew up fishing the tidal water of the San Joaquin Delta in California.
“It’s a well-known area and the fact that we showed up on a week the fish were using that area and nobody else was fishing it blew me away,” he said. “It was a 35-minute run for me from take-off and only three other boats came above the (Wilson) bridge all tournament.”
While he caught some single fish throwing other baits, his best producer all week was a 6-inch finesse worm rigged on a dropshot above a 3/16-ounce weight.
Prior to last week, Lucas said the Potomac ranked among his favorite places to fish. It has tidal water, numerous creeks, massive, shallow grass flats and plenty of hard cover to keep most anglers busy for days on end.
“The last time I was here was 4 years ago when it was healthy and I finished 2nd,” he said. “The best bags in that event were 18-plus so I’d say it’s just as healthy as it’s been in a long time. As long as the grass stays, it’ll keep getting healthier.”
Following are details of how Lucas pulled off his wire-to-wire triumph in the nation’s capital.
Practice
This was Lucas’ third major tournament at the Potomac. He finished 91st in an FLW Tour Open in June 2011, then finished 2nd to Scott Martin by 3 ounces the following May in another FLW Tour event.
In the 2012 event, the Woodrow Wilson Bridge served as the north boundary, so the parking deck by the Blue Plains Wastewater Treatment Plant was off limits. He knew that stretch didn’t get overlooked in previous Elite Series events at the Potomac, though.
“Davy Hite told me he fished there 20 years ago,” Lucas said.
He rode around on the river before it went off limits and was encouraged by the amount of grass he saw.
“When I saw the grass growing up north, I figured that section might not get as much pressure so I kept it in mind as an area with grass that could be good,” he said.
When he came back for official practice, it was largely a struggle. Overcast conditions interrupted a stifling heat wave and Lucas figured he had less than a dozen bites in 3 long days on the water. The only thing that had him remotely enthused going into the tournament was a flurry of three bites he had near a water intake not far from the parking deck, in that northern section of the river toward metro Washington, D.C.
“I had bites on three straight casts there and I left,” he said. “I also had another bite on a log that was close to it. So I had three fish within 100 yards of each other and they were all solid. Other than that, I’d rate my practice a 2.5 out of 10. After my practice and in talking to other guys, I figured 15 pounds a day would win.”
Competition
> Day 1: 5, 20-04
> Day 2: 5, 19-14
> Day 3: 5, 12-15
> Day 4: 5, 19-13
> Total = 20, 72-14
Lucas won last week without truly having to lean on his best spot for an entire day, but if not for coming up empty near the water intake early on the first morning, he may have never made a cast near the parking deck.
“I had some confidence to go there day 1 and get maybe three bites,” he said. “Then, my plan was to go back south and throw a wacky-rigged worm around docks.”
He didn’t get bit where his bites came in practice, but before leaving he decided to fish along the parking deck for a short while. He wound up staying the entire day.
“I got two big bites in the first 50 yards and looked up saw I still had 350 yards left to go,” When I got to the end, I had a good limit and thought, ‘Wow, I might’ve just stumbled onto something special here.’”
It didn’t take him long to get dialed in to how he needed to present his bait.
“The first morning, the first two fish came off the cross braces that went between the pilings and they were submerged. I could see them at low tide,” he said. “As I looked ahead, I saw several more and figured they’d be holding fish. That clued me into what they were on. There were not on the pilings – they were on the submerged pieces of cross bar.”
He got dialed in to the point where he would be able to flip his dropshot rig over one of the crossbars under the deck and reel up so his weight would rest on top of the wooden crossbar.
“I’d throw over the beams on purpose and work it back up on top,” he said. “I’d shake it and then let it fall off. That got their attention. Those fish would suspend at high tide and when that bait would come off that beam, they’d follow it down and get it.”
He made a couple more passes and upgraded enough to give himself a 20-04 stringer to kick things off with a 2-plus pound lead. He was largely done fishing by mid-day and picked around the perimeter of the area, but stayed close to see if anyone else was going to fish it.
The tide cycle continued to favor Lucas on Friday as he mauled them again in the morning before backing off. Had the fish not spit up their breakfast, he’d have broken the 20-pound mark again, but his 19-14 bag gave him a lead of 5-14 at the halfway point.
Saturday was the anomaly of the tournament for Lucas, who struggled all day to match the quality he’d caught the first 2 days. He made several passes up and down the parking deck and branched out to the grass bed to the north, but still had to catch a 4-pounder off a dock in Mattawoman Creek near take-off in order to get to 12-15 for the day. He also weighed in a 2 1/4-pound smallmouth, but still was able to maintain his 5-14 lead entering the final day.
“That was the weirdest thing,” he said. “Days 1, 2 and 4 they were all quality largemouth but on day 3, I caught catfish, a smallmouth and little largemouths. I don’t understand why, but something in the atmosphere changed to make the fish that were there change.”
The big largemouths came back on Sunday and by 8:30, Lucas had put about 16 pounds in the boat with a dropshot.
“I think it was my West Coast roots and having a dropshot rod in my hand when I hit that pier that was key,” he said. “If I had a jig tied on, maybe I don’t get those bites and I end up leaving. It could’ve been a rough tournament for me.”
He also mixed in a weightless wacky-rigged stickbait. At 11:30, he caught another 4-plus pounder to give him 19-plus pounds.
“Once I caught that last 4 3/4, knew Bill (Lowen) needed 25 at that point (to beat me),” he said.
He took it easy the rest of the day, opting to head back to Smallwood State Park early to avoid any potential trouble. BassFans will recall during his win last year at the Sacramento River, Lucas ran out of gas on his way in one day and had to be picked up by Ish Monroe.
Winning Gear Notes
> Dropshot gear: 7’ medium-heavy Abu Garcia Veracity spinning rod, Abu Garcia Revo MGX 30 spinning reel, unnamed 10-pound braided line, 10-pound Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon line (leader), unnamed 1/0 straight shank hook, unnamed 6” straight-tail worm (brown/purple), 3/16-oz. Eco Pro Tungsten dropshot weight.
> He upsized his leader to 10-pound fluorocarbon to guard against break-offs around the pilings.
> On day 1, he caught 5-09 kicker punching a Berkley Havoc Pit Boss. He also caught a 5-pounder on day 2 with a swimjig in the same vicinity of the parking deck. He picked up a couple weigh-in fish off the parking deck on a wacky-rigged soft stickbait.
The Bottom Line
> Main factor in his success – “Stumbling onto my pattern on day 1 and not having any company. It was one of those scenarios you dream about happening to you.”
> Performance edge – “I love everything I use. I have so much confidence in everything, from my boat and motor to my electronics. I feel like I’m fishing good now and I’m not missing or in need of anything. That’s an incredible feeling.”
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