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 LAPRBASS
Potomac Series Tournament I
Leesylvania, VA
6/8/08
Mark
Burchick
6/8/08
LAPRBASS Potomac Series
Tournament -
Part 1
Leesylvania,
VA
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I fished
my very first
tournament ever
today. I am
part of a
four-man team,
led by Steve
Kolbe, 13-year
veteran
Voice of the
Washington
Capitals,
play-by-play
announcer. In
his off-season,
he is a FLW, BFL
and LAPRBASS
tournament
fisherman. The
other co-anglers
of the team
include Dave
Knorr, Jeff
Kvech and
myself. |
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Today's
event is
part of a
several week
Potomac
tournament
out of
Leesylvania
State Park,
south of
Potomac
Mills and
near
Quantico,
Virginia,
and across
the river
from the
mouth of the
Mattawoman
and Fort
Smallwood
Park, in
Charles
County, MD.
Your
boat is
assigned a
number and
today's
event had
around 65
boats. When
your boat is
called, you
pass by the
judges with
open,
empty live
wells, and
then off you
go, fishing
from 6:00 AM
till 2:00
PM. |
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To
make an
eventful day
short, I
caught 12
fish and
Steve caught
6. I had
two keepers
and Steve
had one.
The minimum
acceptable
size that we
were allowed
to keep was
15-inches
from lip to
tail.
Needless to
say, we had
several
14-inch
fish!
It
reminded me
of fishing
for flounder
last year
and only
catching
one-keeper
to eat, but
having
caught well
over a
dozen,
one-inch
short for a
dinner
filet. I
threw the
one keeper
back and
took the
family out
to dinner.
Mind
you, all
bass
tournaments
are
"Catch &
Release."
As you can
see from the
photo, our
first fish
on the day
was a
Mattawoman
catfish. |
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The
first few
hours
involved
using
topwater
lures over
aquatic
grass and
figuring out
patterns and
strategies
(proprietary
information). |
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We
were fishing
docks and
pier slip
structure
and watched
this
gentleman
catch a
handsome
bass on a
live worm
from a pier. |
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We motored
to the
Arkendale
Flats near
Brent Point
and Aquia
Creek and
did some
damage,
jacking up
our fish
numbers. I
was
surprised at
the number
of other
tournament
fishermen
using swim
baits in
their
repertoire,
interesting. |
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Gamakatsu
weedless
wacky worm
hooks and
Senko's
yielded some
fish. |
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Did I
mention that
it was
scorching
hot, with
temperatures
in the upper
90's and
with high
humidity?
Steve had a
great supply
of ice cold
drinks on
board, and
we stayed
well
hydrated. |
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Captain's
log . . . we
made lots of
mental notes
to help our
future
performance
and were
always aware
of the tides
and time of
day. |
<
SEE PART II
>
Submitted By
Mark Burchick
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