NORTH EAST, Md. — The local expert factor weighs heavily when the fishing is extremely tough, and especially so on fickle tidal fisheries. That’s not at all the case after Thursday at the St. Croix Bassmaster Northern Open at Upper Chesapeake Bay presented by Mossy Oak Fishing.
Ohio angler Jody Gardner led with 18 pounds, 3 ounces, on a day when the pros weighed just 44 limits. Kentuckian Chris Beaudrie was second with 17-8, and Alabamian Jacob Walker was third with 15-14.
However, not to discount the highly skilled tidal anglers from Maryland, Virginia and elsewhere, the tide could indeed be the reason why the outsiders made a good showing. Tidal bass fishing success all hinges on how the ebb and flow affects an angler’s specific fishing area. And with 18 flights and a final check-in time of 5:20 p.m. ET (with a 6:30 a.m. takeoff) there is a wide gap between longer and shorter fishing days, and how those line up with strategies. Here’s more on that and other observations from my notebook.
The other Swindle
Alabamian Trey Swindle is fifth with 15-12, and yes, he is related to legendary Bassmaster Elite Series pro Gerald. Trey, 22, is his nephew and received guidance early on from the veteran. It paid off yesterday on foreign waters to the younger Swindle in his first time on the massive, unforgiving Chesapeake Bay.
And it should be of no surprise that Swindle leaned on a tactic frequently used by his uncle. Instead of running and gunning long distances on the expansive Bay, he stayed near the takeoff and let the fish come to him.
“I went junk fishing, just sat up outside a transition area between where the bass go in on the high tide, and come back out on the low tide,” Swindle said.
Inexperienced tidal anglers take note. Swindle’s decision to maximize fishing time over running long distances makes sense. He tried the latter that for three days, running around without ever having a bite.
Clear water priorities
Pete Gluszek is a respected tidal water expert from New Jersey, and those skills put him in sixth place with 15-9. Gluszek capitalized on finding clearer water, following locally heavy rainfall during practice.
“There are two things going on here with the water clarity,” Gluszek said. “There was locally heavy rainfall that impacts the tributaries, and a regionally heavy rainfall farther north, up the Susquehanna, that will soon impact the entire area.”
Based on that, Gluszek knows where to find the clearer water attractive to largemouth in the Upper Bay, and also which types of habitats (wood or vegetation) the bass relate.
Classic bubble boy
The Bassmaster Elite Series season concluded last month, but there are still four more long shot chances for anglers outside the cutline to qualify for the 2023 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic. Specifically, the first man out is Hunter Shryock. He will be fingers crossed that one of the winners from this tournament, at the Red River, Lake Hartwell or Sam Rayburn will not have fished all three required qualifying events in each respective division. Or, should the winner be an Elite pro who is already qualified for the Classic through the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year points, the Classic spot would go to Shryock. That’s already happened three times. Brandon Lester (second in AOY) won at Lake Kissimmee (Southern); Lee Livesay (35th in AOY) won at Ross Barnett (Central); and Kenta Kimura (16th in AOY) won at the James River. Caleb Sumrall is second out of the Classic behind Shryock.
Elite three and more
With this being the final Northern Open of the season, the invitations to the 2023 Elite Series will be offered to the top three pros from the Northern divisional angler of the year standings, when those points are validated and all criteria made official by B.A.S.S. The other final events are in October, at Lake Hartwell (Southern) and Sam Rayburn (Central). Here is a breakdown of how the invitations will work.
- The top three pros in final points from each of the three divisions that are not already Elite qualified through the Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series AOY average.
- The top three pros in final overall AOY points from all nine Opens that are not already Elite Series qualified through the Elite Series AOY average, or an individual Opens Series final points standings.
- Any Opens angler who qualifies in multiple Opens divisions. The 2023 Elite Series berth will come from the Opens division of highest finish and they will be removed from the other Opens division. In the event of a tie for points position, the weight from full field days will be used. The vacated spots will result in additional Opens division anglers being invited from the vacated Opens division spots.
- If an angler qualifies in the top three pros in the overall AOY and a division, the berth will come from the division, and an additional spot awarded to the overall AOY.
- If a 2022 Opens angler invited to the Elite Series declines the invitation, that spot goes back to the 2022 Elite AOY average.
AOY watch
All that said, Canadian Cooper Gallant leads the overall Bassmaster Opens Angler of the Year standings with 970 points. Gallant won the Southern Open at Cherokee Lake, in his first American tournament season. Jacob Walker leads the Northern Opens standings with 563 points. Alex Wetherell is second with 557, followed by Kyoya Fujita with 554, John Garrett with 529 and Michael Iaconelli with 518 points.
FOX Sports 1
This tournament begins a series of live broadcasts on FOX Sports 1 during the final Championship Saturday of each Opens division, and on the Fox Sports digital platforms. Lake Hartwell (Southern) and Sam Rayburn (Central) are the other final divisional events with live broadcasts on FS1. Coverage tomorrow is 8-11 a.m. ET.
Scorecard
Throughout the Friday weigh-in, there was no waiting at the tanks behind the stage. The fishing was tough, so much so that only 44 limits got weighed by the pros. Overall, the pros brought 476 bass to the scales, collectively weighing 1,060 pounds, 14 ounces.
