Stren Series #1
Potomac River
Water Temp: 74
Post Spawn


I want to start by saying thanks to Tom Reynolds who put on a great tournament this Saturday on the CT River; there needs to be more like it. Dusty and I fished that tournament and did terrible. We were only able to catch 4 fish for 5.5 lbs. I wasn't able to practice for it at all, and I think the last time I was there was 6 years ago. We stayed to see if we had won the boat they were giving away; we didn't win. We left Haddam Meadows and headed for Indian Head, Maryland. We arrived at the hotel at a little after 11pm. As tired as we were, we were both excited and found it difficult to fall asleep. When we arrived at the launch in the first morning, Dusty and I were both a little disappointed by what we saw. The water was very high, dirty, and the grass wasn't nearly as high as it is later in the year. The conditions threw me for a loop for most of the morning, but it didn't take long for us to dial in on the fish. By the end of the day I had boated about 16lbs, and Dusty had about 14. I was able to locate 2 areas that we got multiple big bites in. One area was on a grass flat and the other was at the edge of a lily pad patch. Most of the fish we're catching are coming flipping a crazy legs chigger craw and a paca craw with a 1oz weight, or on a 4" Berkley hollow belly (I can't stop throwing it). Today was our second day of practice and we did allot of the same, but in different areas. We launched further up the river today and fished up to Piscataway Creek. Unfortunately, my trolling motor batteries didn't get a full charge last night and my batteries were completely dead by 4. On the positive side, we found 2 more areas that had good fish in them, including this one that was all of 7lbs that I caught on a swimbait; its eyes were as big as quarters!

By the end of the day I had about 18lbs and Dusty had about 16. If this had been the first 2 days of the tournament, I think Dusty and I would both have made the cut. Here's a pic of Dusty with a good one from today.

I caught the big one on a swimbait. Dusty's was the only big fish we caught today on a spinnerbait. I caught a few small keepers on a blade earlier in the day, but that came to an abrupt end when I set the hook on one and broke my rod in half.

Nice seeing you guys at the Reynolds tourney. Dusty, great job with the ctfisherman.com name prominently on your tourney shirt. Looks great! I should have gotten a pic.

I have to say, you guys are animals. I think some people probably don't understand the physical demands of tournament fishing and life on the road, especially with families back home. It's not all glamor. Thanks for taking the time to post on top of everything else.

Although I'm far from feeling "old," I'll be 40 next year. I don't think I could do what you guys do. A start would have to be improving my tournament fishing.

Good luck this year!

So, where to begin about today…… The first morning we were here, the batteries didn’t quite have a full charge. We arrived late the night before and the batteries only had a chance to charge for 6 hours, so I wasn't too concerned. With multiple boats plugged into the same outlet, that’s definitely not enough time. The batteries ran out about 4 that afternoon. Yesterday the batteries were not fully charged even after being plugged in for almost 12 hours. I thought maybe it was because I was sharing an outlet with another boat, so I ran the cord into my room and plugged it in there. When we got up this morning the cranking battery was fully charged, 2 of the trolling motor batteries were mostly charged, and one had not charged at all. We get out on the river and fished until 1:30 before the trolling motor was completely dead. I didn’t know what the problem was. The batteries are brand new, the trolling motor is brand new, and the onboard charger is brand new. Luckily, Spanky was there with the Ranger Support trailer. He tested the batteries and found that the one optima battery was completely dead. I don’t know what we would do without the service trailers. Ranger Boats and Evinrude motors send a trailer and technicians to every Stren event.
I called optima to see where the closest dealer was so I could exchange the battery. She said there was one fairly close and gave me the number so I could call and make sure they had them in stock. I called the store and they told me they had the batteries in stock and I could come in and trade it. The store was an hours drive away, but I needed the battery so I was willing to drive there. We arrive at the store and they proceed to tell us that they don’t carry that one. There went two hours of my life I can never get back. I drive 25 miles away to Wal-Mart in hopes of getting a temporary battery that I can use until I get home. No dice! They’re all out. They call 2 other Wal-Mart’s and they’re all out too. I go across the street to advanced auto, and they have 3. I go up to the counter and ask about the warranty on the batteries. I go back to get the battery and another guy has just taken all three. What are the chances of that? I’m running out of options here. We go down the street to auto zone. First they bring out an optima battery to try and sell me that’s already been used and returned. I tell them that if I’m going to pay $250 for a battery I don’t want a used one. They find one 27 and I snatch it up before anyone else wearing a fishing shirt can get there hands on it. Apparently 6 boats at this hotel had to get new batteries today, and one more had to get a new charger. I’ve never seen anything like this happen before. Hopefully it was just a fluke thing and it doesn’t continue to happen. As for the fishing, we pretty much ruled out allot of unproductive water. We didn’t do that great today, but now that the battery problem is fixed I can concentrate better on our last day of practice.

Jess I had him on my boat and my side imanging chit the bed. The new trolling motor caught on fire. Leave him at the room and go alone its not to late save yourself