Hicks also picked up a bunch of weight in pads border-
ing the channel in the back of Potomac Creek on day one.
On days two and three, he finished his limit up north with a
split-shot rig and the TD Pencil by focusing on shallow
depressions with a clean bottom and current in the flats in
the backs of creeks.
The Virginia angler didn’t make a special effort to fish
places that he had to himself, and he didn’t commit to ham-
mering one or two grass beds as others in the field did
either. In the end, his decision to move around left him on
top when his competitors ran out of fish on their primary
spots.
keys to victory
Hicks didn’t focus exclusively on running the tide, but as
usual the Potomac’s tidal fluctuations did factor into his deci-
sions, more so in the afternoons than in the mornings. On
day one he fished the back of Potomac Creek as the tide was
dropping, staying so long that his motor overheated five
times from idling through mud as he worked back out. He
also ran to areas with falling water to finish out days two and
three. On the final day, the first depression he hit in the after-
noon had no water movement, and rather than staying, he
left it in search of a falling tide.
Another critical component of Hicks’ success was being
adaptable. He picked up a swim jig on the final day after
chugging his Rico along for an hour or so with no results. Two
casts later he put a 4-pounder in the boat. Later in the day,
Hicks dropped the Rico in favor of the super-subtle TD Pencil
to finish his limit with three more quality fish. Both bait
changes had history – swim jigs are killer on the Potomac,
and Hicks enjoyed success with the TD Pencil in previous
years. Even so, with the water being calmer and clearer on
the final day, he needed to adjust. He made the right call. On
day three, Hicks was the only angler to break the 12-pound
mark. With 16-14, he got the win in style.
WHAT mESSED UP THE FISHING?
After a summer of truly excellent
fishing on the Potomac, most anglers
figured the fishing would be really good
for the Northern Division finale. That
was definitely not the case, as only win-
ner mike Hicks brought more than 12
pounds in on the final day and several
of the Potomac’s heavy hitters, includ-
ing Chris and Cory Johnston and Bryan
Schmitt, failed to muster a limit on the
second day of competition.
The theories about why the fishing
was so tough varied considerably. For
most anglers, the blame landed on the
dirtier water up near Washington, D.C.
and the seldom-heard complaint of
“too much grass.” Particularly, the
Johnston brothers would have pre-
ferred canopies of milfoil rather than
the huge and impenetrable hydrilla
mats that covered swaths of some of
the bays.
OctOber 2017 I fLWfIshIng.cOm
CO-ANGLER CHAmPION
Name: Richard Perez
Hometown: Naples, Fla.
Winning Weight: 28-03 (12 fish)
Winning Program: Perez won his title
with a pair of time-tested Potomac sta-
ples: a Yamamoto Senko on a Texas rig
with a 1/8- or 1/16-ounce weight and a black
Lobina Rio Rico popper, which produced his bigger bass.
“If it was bright and sunny out I couldn’t get bit on the
topwater, but as soon as it got cloudy or there was a lit-
tle bit of wind I’d pick it up and wouldn’t put it down,”
says Perez. “That’s when the better bites came, and
that’s what did it for me.”
Hicks believes a summer of pres-
sure simply got to the bass.
“All of the tidal rivers do this when
you start getting toward August,” he
says. “Those fish stay in their summer
places from the end of may until the
middle of September. So they have a
lot of chances to get beat on, and they
get educated. I just think the fish are a
lot smarter than what we give them
credit for.”
Schmitt believes the issue was the
tides, excess grass growth and a slight
high-pressure system.
“It was bad because something with
the solar eclipse had the tides running
extra hard, and then there was a slight
high-pressure change,” says Schmitt. “It
was pretty good in practice, and even
the day before the tournament it was
really phenomenal, but anytime you
get a full moon or a new moon [the
new moon was a coupl