TW_Staff
04-22-2009, 11:01 AM
The Bassmaster Opens tend to visit the same types of venues year in and out, so it was somewhat of a surprise to see the Upper Chesapeake Bay on this year's Northern division schedule. The last time BASS visited the venue was almost 20 years ago for the Bassmaster Classic.
Mansue is well-versed in the fishery, as are most Mid-Atlantic tournament anglers. Most of his Chesapeake experience came via the Federation Nation and various buddy tournaments. In general, he's strong on tidal fisheries. He lives near the Delaware, and fishes the Hudson quite a bit too.
During his pre-practice visit to the Chesapeake, he noted water temperatures of 45 and 46 degrees. He couldn't find much grass, and observed that the fish were still very much in their winter patterns. He also fished a buddy tournament there and finished 2nd. His hope was that such a winter pattern would hold up for the Northern Open.
Mansue started day 1 on his deep rocks up the Susquehanna and by 9:00 had 14 pounds for three fish.
"That convinced me I was doing the right thing," he said. "I knew I wouldn't get a lot of bites, but I knew they'd all be quality bites. In fact, on day 1, I only got five bites. I was fortunate to get them all in the boat. I came in with 19-09 and I was feeling pretty good about it."
"I knew if I could get enough current running through the river I'd be okay," Mansue said. "They were dumping water from the dam upriver because of all the heavy rains. That current was crucial for what I was doing because it positioned the fish. By that time, I knew exactly where to present the bait – I knew the fish would be in this one position on these particular rocks – but it was all dependent on the current."
Winning Pattern:
Although a major portion of the Chesapeake is brackish water, Mansue said the portion of the Susquehanna he fished was freshwater. It did have some tidal movement. "But there are places not far from where I was fishing where you can catch a striper, a bluefish and a largemouth on three casts," he added.
The water temperature during competition ranged from 47 to 51 degrees.
His rocks were deep during high tide, but he could generally see the tops during low tide. He wasn't fishing the piles, though. He said he fished the deep drops around them and typically caught his fish in 6 to 14 feet.
He threw a 3/4-ounce jig and dragged it along the bottom. About his presentation, he said: "With the current moving so strongly around the rocks, if you used anything less than a 3/4-ounce, you just didn't get down to where the fish were. You had to be crawling the jig across those rocks. They were relating directly to bottom. I found if I wasn't losing jigs, I wasn't getting bit.
"And one thing I learned during the tournament was several of my good fish actually came from in front of the rocks. Typically you think a fish is behind, where there's little current – waiting for things to come to them. But on several occasions I was able to catch some of my better fish on the face of the rock. If a fish was on the face it would hammer that jig."
Winning Gear:
Jig gear: 7' medium-action Shimano Crucial (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SCRCR) rod, Shimano Chronarch (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SCHD) casting reel, 15-pound Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BTFCC), assorted 3/4-ounce football jigs (brown/purple-flake), Zoom Ultra Vibe Speed Craw (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=ZSDC) (green-pumpkin).
He lost so many jigs he ran out of his own supply and bummed some from various others.
He said his electronics were a huge factor. Humminbird Side Imaging (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=HB1100) technology allowed him to quickly map and explore rockpiles that final day of practice. "And the Navionics chip allowed me to run freely around the upper bay and river. A lot of guys were getting stuck in places they shouldn't be running. That Navionics chip makes a big difference. It's the premium chip for the East Coast. It really allows you to minimize the time it takes to look for deeper structure."
TW Staff
Mansue is well-versed in the fishery, as are most Mid-Atlantic tournament anglers. Most of his Chesapeake experience came via the Federation Nation and various buddy tournaments. In general, he's strong on tidal fisheries. He lives near the Delaware, and fishes the Hudson quite a bit too.
During his pre-practice visit to the Chesapeake, he noted water temperatures of 45 and 46 degrees. He couldn't find much grass, and observed that the fish were still very much in their winter patterns. He also fished a buddy tournament there and finished 2nd. His hope was that such a winter pattern would hold up for the Northern Open.
Mansue started day 1 on his deep rocks up the Susquehanna and by 9:00 had 14 pounds for three fish.
"That convinced me I was doing the right thing," he said. "I knew I wouldn't get a lot of bites, but I knew they'd all be quality bites. In fact, on day 1, I only got five bites. I was fortunate to get them all in the boat. I came in with 19-09 and I was feeling pretty good about it."
"I knew if I could get enough current running through the river I'd be okay," Mansue said. "They were dumping water from the dam upriver because of all the heavy rains. That current was crucial for what I was doing because it positioned the fish. By that time, I knew exactly where to present the bait – I knew the fish would be in this one position on these particular rocks – but it was all dependent on the current."
Winning Pattern:
Although a major portion of the Chesapeake is brackish water, Mansue said the portion of the Susquehanna he fished was freshwater. It did have some tidal movement. "But there are places not far from where I was fishing where you can catch a striper, a bluefish and a largemouth on three casts," he added.
The water temperature during competition ranged from 47 to 51 degrees.
His rocks were deep during high tide, but he could generally see the tops during low tide. He wasn't fishing the piles, though. He said he fished the deep drops around them and typically caught his fish in 6 to 14 feet.
He threw a 3/4-ounce jig and dragged it along the bottom. About his presentation, he said: "With the current moving so strongly around the rocks, if you used anything less than a 3/4-ounce, you just didn't get down to where the fish were. You had to be crawling the jig across those rocks. They were relating directly to bottom. I found if I wasn't losing jigs, I wasn't getting bit.
"And one thing I learned during the tournament was several of my good fish actually came from in front of the rocks. Typically you think a fish is behind, where there's little current – waiting for things to come to them. But on several occasions I was able to catch some of my better fish on the face of the rock. If a fish was on the face it would hammer that jig."
Winning Gear:
Jig gear: 7' medium-action Shimano Crucial (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SCRCR) rod, Shimano Chronarch (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SCHD) casting reel, 15-pound Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BTFCC), assorted 3/4-ounce football jigs (brown/purple-flake), Zoom Ultra Vibe Speed Craw (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=ZSDC) (green-pumpkin).
He lost so many jigs he ran out of his own supply and bummed some from various others.
He said his electronics were a huge factor. Humminbird Side Imaging (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=HB1100) technology allowed him to quickly map and explore rockpiles that final day of practice. "And the Navionics chip allowed me to run freely around the upper bay and river. A lot of guys were getting stuck in places they shouldn't be running. That Navionics chip makes a big difference. It's the premium chip for the East Coast. It really allows you to minimize the time it takes to look for deeper structure."
TW Staff