Anglers have faced several different weather scenarios throughout the St. Croix Bassmaster Northern Open at James River presented by Mossy Oak Fishing, from an early week warm-up to overcast conditions on Day 1 that were accompanied by high winds and the threat of thunderstorms.
Day 2 threw a new variable into the equation, fog set in right before the scheduled 6:30 a.m. takeoff and launch was delayed nearly an hour. The fog eventually gave way to sunny, calmer conditions, but the delay set the first couple of flights behind in particular and hurt some anglers’ timing with the tide cycle.
That coupled with the pressure from a 225 boat field on a system that is fishing particularly small right now caused a decrease in production from the field overall, with about 200 fewer pounds of fish caught on Day 2 than the previous day.
The fog delay particularly hurt Day 1 leader Alex Wetherell, who dropped to 3rd-place with a two-day total of 39-7 after only landing 13-14 on Day 2.
“On tidal water, timing is everything, so having that delay definitely hurt me,” he said. “I’m definitely still around the fish, so I feel good about tomorrow.”
Meanwhile, the big bites that Brad Leuthner found on Day 1 to land in second place evaporated on Day 2, but Leuthner landed in 5th-place to earn his spot on Championship Saturday with 37-6.
“I caught a ton of 2-pound bucks,” the Minnesota pro said. “I think I just ran the rides wrong. It was probably 100 percent my fault. I made a wrong decision right away this morning.”
Leuthner continued to fish his prespawn program but did spend some time searching for spawners and did land one off a bed late in the day.
John Soukup also made a change on Day 2, maintaining his 4th-place position with a 17-8 bag and a 39-1 total.
“I did something completely different today,” he said. “I went back to that (Day 1) area again today, had a little company and they just weren’t there. Around noon I had to make a decision to change. I went to a limit spot and we caught them. I caught 20 to 30 fish. The special thing was, I came across one stump and caught a 6 and came back and caught a 3 ½ male.”
Elites in the Top 10: Three Elite Series anglers fished their way into the final day cut, starting with Kenta Kimura, who caught 23-5 on Day 2 for a two-day total of 40-5. The Japanese angler has made the most of his first trip to the James, finding a pattern that fits his strengths.
“I have a pretty good deal figured out. I didn’t realize there were this many big fish in this river,” he said.
Catching all of his bass on a buzzbait and a big, hard-bodied swimbait, Kimura is catching bass in all stages of the spawn. Yesterday he focused on the backs of creeks while today he spent more in current related spots. Two areas close to takeoff have allowed him to maximize his time as well.
“I’m doing my favorite way of fishing. The bigger ones bite a topwater,” he said. “ I am just trying to understand the way the tide is. I made the right decision today. I pretty much caught them all day but the best tide was incoming. It looks like we are going to have that all day tomorrow.”
Kimura wasn’t the only one who improved on their Day 1 catch. After landing just over 17 pounds on the previous day, Florida pro Koby Kreiger landed nearly 19 pounds on the second day to leap into the cut from 17th-place. Kreiger has targeted spawning fish in his areas, but post spawners have been mixed in as well.
“Today I didn’t catch nearly as many fish as I caught yesterday, but the ones I caught were better,” Kreiger said. “I don’t know if I’m learning more of what they are doing or if I was just fortunate. I didn’t run around as much as I did yesterday so that probably had a little bit to do with it.”
Bryan Schmitt snuck into the Top 10 with a total of 36-1, with catches of 17-5 on Day 1 and then 15-13 on the second day. With his extensive history on tidal fisheries, Schmitt will have a great chance to make another jump up the leaderboard on Championship Saturday.
Prespawners Lift Anglers to Solid Finishes
With the whole tournament revolving around the spawning stages, several anglers benefitted from targeting only prespawners. One of those anglers was Keith Tuma, who jumped from 35th to 14th on Day with a 17-3 bag and a two-day total of 32-13. He rounded out his Day 2 limit with a 7-8 largemouth.
This was the Minnesota pro’s first trip to a tidal fishery and he targeted prespawners. While he did move shallow some to look for spawners, the quality did not show up.
“I kept telling myself that the big ones aren’t up yet,” Tuma said. “Every time I moved a little bit off and slowed down my retrieve, that is when the better fish would hit,” Tuma said. “I had to fish the tide like it didn’t make a difference just to stay focused enough to stick in the areas and when the bite window would come, I was in the area.”
After landing in 151st after Day 1, Tennessee pro John Garrett made a huge move up the leaderboard with a 20-pound bag on Day 2. With a total of 30-4, Garrett salvaged valuable points with a 26th-place finish.
After starting the event fishing for bedding bass, he utilized his forward-facing sonar to find wood next to creek channel drops on Day 2 in the Chickahominy River area of the James River system.
“There are a lot of fish spawning and the problem for me this week was the males were everywhere and a lot of people ran into some good females yesterday,” Garrett said. “Today I backed out a little deeper and fished for prespawn fish. I really wish I could go (on Saturday) because I figured a lot out. Those fish today were (caught) at high tide and eased up into the 5-6 foot range.
“There are a lot of females that haven’t spawned yet that I didn’t realize were still out there.”
