This was the first time MLF Bass Pro Tour visited the Chowan River in North Carolina. It is located in the Northeastern part of the state and connects to the Albemarle Sound which feeds the ocean. Being this close to the ocean there was a small tide daily, but water levels were more dependant on wind direction. I chose to spend the majority of my practice on the upper reaches of the river. In this portion of the river there were lots of lilly pads and creeks off the main river. I spent some time in the creeks, but wasn’t able to locate many fish there. One of my better patterns was fishing lilly pads just outside the creek mouths. I would target the fish here with Texas rigged worms or wacky rig and the fish would be positioned on the pads due to the current.

Additionally, I had some stretches of pads that I was able to get some frog bites out of. When these fish bit they were of better quality than the worm fish. All the bass were post spawn by this point and transitioning to where they would spend their summers. The main river clarity was around 1.5 feet and in the upper 80’s. Day one of the event I was able to catch eight scoreable bass over the 1-8 pound minimum weight. Most of these fish came from the Texas rigged worm. This positioned me in 20th place in my group after day one. The second day of the event I caught seven scoreable bass including a 3-8 on a frog. Other than the frog fish they were a mixture of the wacky rig and Texas rig. This gave me a two day total of 27-11 and completed the event in 23rd place. By tournament’s end most of the top competitors were using their electronics and finding fish on more isolated cover just outside the Cypress trees.