Our featured Angler for August is Touring Pro, Terry Baksay

by Bill Roberts
(Who is Bill Roberts & what else has he written?)

How often have you fished the tidal Potomac River?
I believe this is about the 10^th or 11^th multiple-day tournament that I’ve fished on the Potomac. Most of those tournaments have been in the late summer or early fall.

Some pro fisherman fish the same spots each time they visit the Potomac. For example, when Carl Maxfield won the B.A.S.S. Top 150 on the River two years ago, he fished the same spots in Mattawoman Creek that he had fished in previous years. What is you approach?
I don’t necessarily confine myself to "spots," but I do have a preference as to a section of the River. I like the Washington DC area because it has a wide variety of cover. There are good grass beds there, plus there is a lot of hard cover such as wood and rocks. There’s also a good amount of deep water to fish.

What do expect will be your key lures for the upcoming tournament?
I would say a topwater bait, a small spinnerbait, and a tube or brush hog-type bait, in that order. I’ve caught some good River fish on a Zara Spook, but I also like chugger baits like the Pop R. For the spinnerbait, I feel pretty strongly about a one-quarter ounce War Eagle with double willow leaf blades. Some type of shad colored skirt is best. For the tube or brush hog, junebug has produced the best results for me in the Potomac’s slightly stained water. I’ll throw all these baits on 15lb line.

How does the Potomac River’s tides affect your game plan?
I’m a big believer that the proper tide is critical to your success. I’ve just seen too many times where you fish a spot and catch nothing, and then come by it several hours later at the right tide and catch a good sack of fish. I use most of my practice time trying to figure out what are the best tides for the places I want to fish, and then duplicate that timing during the tournament.

For the B.A.S.S. tournament, will you focus your attention on emergent grass, wood or rock?
I would imagine that, at that time of year, grass will be the key. I like areas where there is a mixture of different kinds of grass. For example, milfoil that’s mixed with hydrilla, as opposed to a grass bed that is all hydrilla. I know that a lot of guys have had success on the Potomac in the lily pads, but I’ve never done well there fishing pads.

This year’s B.A.S.S. Federation Eastern Divisional is on the Connecticut River, which is also tidal. How would you compare the Connecticut River to the Potomac?
Both rivers are actually quite different. The Connecticut River does have milfoil and eel grass in it (no hydrilla), but I catch most of my fish there year-round fishing hard cover. Spots with good rocky bottoms mixed with some scattered wood are the most productive. I do catch some fish in the milfoil on the Connecticut, but there’s not the volume of it to fish like there is on the Potomac. In the fall, there will be a fair number of bass in the eel grass, but there will also be a lot of northern pike in there with them. The pike can really eat you up on the Connecticut River.

What advice can you offer to the Virginia state team competing this fall on the Connecticut River?
Be very patient and pay close attention to the River’s tides. If you catch fish in practice off a downed tree or a rock pile in practice on a certain tide, make sure that you fish that spot at the same tide during the tournament. Also, do not be afraid to fish behind people. The Connecticut River is not that big and you are likely to have competitors fishing around you. But I’ve done rally well fishing right behind someone else just by using a different bait or fishing a little deeper. Again, patience is the key.

Copyright 2002 Bill Roberts All Rights Reserved