Clark Wendlandt Wins FLW Tour Potomac River
Clark Wendlandt Wins FLW Tour Potomac River
Wendlandt has only ever fished tournaments at the Potomac but the number of days he's spent there, either practicing or competing, have added up to give him a pretty good understanding of how the tides impact where the fish position throughout the day. "I've had a lot of opportunities to fish there," he said. A violent storm, the first of three storms that impacted the river, came through on the eve of the start of practice and gave the field a taste of the changing conditions they'd see throughout the week. "There was a lot of blown-out water on day 1," he said. "It was muddy, especially in the backs of some of the creeks. Some main-river stuff was messed up, too." He still managed a half dozen bites, including a couple good ones, to get an idea of where some better fish were. "It's the way you have to fish the Potomac," he said. "You have to go get bites and find little areas or ways to catch them, whether it's in the grass or on hard cover. It helped me get a feel for things." He came out of practice with confidence in five or six areas.
Competition:
Wendlandt fished some stretches on the main river over the first 2 days and also spent considerable time in Potomac Creek. "I had five or six areas, but only caught them in two areas," he said. "I fished a variety of stuff. Right now, there is probably has more grass in the Potomac than I've ever seen. It's not the best milfoil, but sometimes it's hydrilla or coontail and it was super clean in some areas which wasn't always the best." While grass did produce a few bites for him, he caught the vast majority of his weigh-in fish off docks and shallow wood and laydowns. "I caught some off the same dock several days in a row," he said. "There were small areas within the area Ð little stretches where it was predicated by something that caused them to start biting." He was in 6th after day 1 and rocketed to the lead after day 2, thanks to the 5-14 brute that anchored his 17-13 bag. "I caught that one off a trough under a boat," he said. "I was working my bait really slow and it was a place where you don't expect to catch a big one. It was kind of a freak fish." He followed that up with 14-08 on day 3 to become the only competitor to crack 13 pounds each of the first 3 days. He said being able to manage his best area early on was key to his prolonged success. "I had my main area mostly to myself," he said. "I really didn't get many bites there in practice, maybe three or four, but they were nice ones. I had a sense that it could work." He'd start his day there before choosing to check out other areas. "I already had fish when I'd go into other areas and they'd be crowded," he added. "Going from a place with no boats to being around lot of people, I didn't see how smart that could be." He spent most of the final day in Potomac Creek, catching four in there as the effects of a massive rainstorm the previous night started to take hold. He ran back toward the ramp and stopped on a stretch of laydowns in Mattawoman Creek and caught his last keeper on a jig to finish his limit and seal the win.
Winning Pattern:
While Wendlandt didn't necessarily run the tides like some pros did, he said timing was an important aspect of his strategy. "There were little windows that come up and you needed to be in the right place when those windows appeared," he said. "I pretty much threw at anything that looked fishy. That's how I like to fish the Potomac. I like to get in areas with fish and move around and find where they're at and fish by feel."
Winning Gear:
Flipping gear: 7'6" heavy-action Tournament ZX flipping rod, Verano casting reel (7.3:1 gear ratio), 20-pound Gamma Edge fluorocarbon line, 1/2-oz. 4x4 Jigs Randall Tharp Signature Series jig (pro green-pumpkin), Strike King Rage Tail chunk (green-pumpkin) trailer.
Vibrating jig gear: 7'1" medium-heavy Tournament ZX casting rod, same reel, 16-pound Gamma Edge fluorocarbon line, 3/8-oz. homemade vibrating jig (white), 3.5" Lake Fork Live Magic Shad (white) trailer. Some of his dock fish came on the vibrating jig and he also caught a few fish flipping a tube.
Main factor: "The first thing was the sportsmanship of Shin Fukae. I thought that was a pretty incredible act on his part and a big part of my win. I can't diminish that at all. Also, I have a good understanding of that tidal fishery. When I get bites in a certain way, that tells me how to fish. I've also spent a lot of time there over the years so that helped."
Performance edge: "The castability of that Cabela's rod was crucial when skipping my baits up under docks and flipping around wood."
Andy Morgan's Pattern, Baits & Gear
ChatterBait gear: 7"3" medium-heavy iRod Genesis 2 casting rod, Lew's Team Lew's Lite Speed Spool LFS Series casting reel (6.8:1 gear ratio), 14-pound Gamma Edge fluorocarbon line, 3/8-oz. Z-Man Original ChatterBait (black), Zoom Speed Craw trailer (green-pumpkin).
Flipping gear: 7"6" medium-heavy iRod casting rod, Lew's BB1 Pro Speed Spool casting reel (8:1 gear ratio), 16-pound Gamma Edge fluorocarbon line, 1/4-oz. unnamed tungsten worm weight, unnamed 5/0 flipping hook, Zoom Z-Craw (green-pumpkin). He also caught a couple weigh-in fish on a Livingston Lures Walk N Pop 77 popper bait.
Main factor: "Having enough sense to not run all around and fishing what I had and being cognizant that the tide would reposition those fish every once in a while."
Performance edge: "My Bullet 21 XRS was great all season. My ride was real clean and my Garmin electronics were key. I had no trouble getting there and back."
Adrian Avena Pattern, Baits & Gear
Drop shot gear: 7' medium-heavy Halo Fishing Twilite Series casting rod, Daiwa Tatula Type R casting reel (8:1 gear ratio), 12-pound Hi-Seas fluorocarbon line, 2/0 Roboworm Rebarb hook, Roboworm Fat straight tail worm, 1/4- and 3/8-oz. drop shot weight. Avena declined to disclose the color of the Roboworm, but did say it was a good numbers set up.
Jig gear: 7'3" medium-heavy Halo Fishing Twilite Series casting rod, same reel, 15-pound Hi-Seas fluorocarbon line, 3/8-oz. Zorro Bait Co. Booza Bug (black blue), unnamed craw chunk trailer (black blue).
Swim jig gear: Same as jig rod, same reel, same as jig line, 3/8-oz. homemade swim jig (shad and perch), Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper trailer (white trash and Houdini). He also fished the Reaction Innovations Pocket Rocket on spinning and casting tackle. He threw the hematoma color around dirty water and green-pumpkin watermelon laminate in clear water. He fished it wacky-rigged, Texas-rigged with a 1/8- or 1/16-oz worm weight and weightless. "The bait has more bulk to it," he said. "These fish have seen so many Senkos. This is a little bit different with the ribs."
Main factor: "The firs two days and understanding how the tides work on the river and knowing how fish position on low water. Some don't realize how far they'll swim in the tide. Those fish in the creeks, they'll swim sometimes half a mile. When they get their tail in the current it doesn't take long to go far. Being able to run that from one of end of the river to the other was key."
Performance edge: "Two things were crucial. One was a new SeaStar Solutions jack plate, which allowed me to be able to get into some of these areas in backs of creeks. The other thing was the Tides and Currents feature on my Lowrance units. It gives you update information on what the tide is doing and allowed me to keep on top of it."
Darrel Robertson's Pattern, Baits & Gear
Senko gear: 7' medium-heavy Lew's spinning rod, Lew's Tournament Pro HP spinning reel, 12 pound Sunline SX-1 braided line, 10-pound unnamed fluorocarbon line (5-foot leader), 3/0 unnamed EWG worm hook, Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits Senko (green-pumpkin), nail weight. He caught a few fish on the Mann's Baby 1-Minus crankbait in stained water.
Main factor: "I think I had to create some patience. Sometimes it's good to not know too much. I had confidence in that Senko and figured out I had to sit down and fish it slow. If I'd had fished a clean tournament, I'm not sure I'd have beaten Clark, but I would've been within ounces of him. It's hard to fish a perfect tournament."
Performance edge: "That Lew's rod and reel and that Sunline braid. I won almost $30,000 in the last two tournaments with that set up. I spooled that reel up before Chickamauga and fished a wacky worm under docks there and came here and fished the same reel all week."
John Voyle's Pattern, Baits & Gear
Jig gear: 7' heavy-action Denali Rods Noirwood Series casting rod, Lew's Team Lew's Lite Speed Spool LFS Series casting reel (7.5:1 gear ratio), 50-pound unnamed braided line, 1/2-oz. Secret Lures MVP swim jig (homemade green-pupkin sapphire blue skirt), Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper trailer (California 420).
Vibrating jig gear: Same rod, same reel, 20-pound unnamed fluorocarbon line, 3/8-oz. homemade vibrating jig (black blue), Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper trailer (black blue).
Worm gear: Same rod, same reel, 16-pound Sunline Super FC Sniper fluorocarbon line, unnamed 1/16-oz. worm weight, 4/0 unnamed EWG worm hook, 5" Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits Senko (junebug).
Main factor: "Being patient and knowing that I was around some good fish. Having a good first day and catching many quality fish gave me confidence to say in that area."
Performance edge: "My MinnKota Talons. The first couple days weren't too bad. Even if it was not windy, you can drift around a little bit there so those Talons were definitely a key to keep me in one spot."