When Bob Pettey and his long time fishing partner Dave Estes are fishing a tournament, the word starts to spread ominously that "the cops are fishing this one." Bob and Dave are both members of the Alexandria, Virginia police force, and when they are fishing the Potomac, they tend to bring in a big sack.

You don’t want to see "The Cops" pulling up behind your truck with their lights flashing, and you don’t want to see them tied up and sitting in their boat at the dock before the weigh-in. In both cases, the cops are likely to have the upper hand.

But seriously, if you mention Bob Pettey’s name around anyone familiar with local fishing, they immediately refer to him as "Mr. Potomac River," according to Russ Shetley, Region 9 Director.

"Please don’t make me sound like kingpin of the Potomac River. I’m just another bass fisherman," Bob said recently with genuine humility. The way Bob sees it, his competition can be "anyone on any given day." But let’s face it; Bob Pettey and Dave Estes are the team to beat on the Potomac. How do they do it?

"My fishing partner, Dave Estes, and I don’t have a secret formula for catching fish. Success is usually the result of hard work. We don’t quit. That is probably the biggest thing you can do when you’re out fishing a tournament, just don’t quit."

Bob Pettey is a Virginia native who grew up in Fairfax. He now lives in Woodbridge and has been a member of the Alexandria police force for more than 26 years. He joined Region 1’s Ebbtide Hawgs Club about 20 years ago, which recently became part of Region 9. He currently serves as club president. "Bob is one of my go-to guys when I need something done at the Region level," Russ Shetley said. "Bob is an easy going individual who gets along with everyone he comes in contact with. He is devoted to his job, his fishing and most of all to his family."

Bob credits his fishing partner and fellow police officer Dave Estes with getting him started in bass fishing in the late 1970’s. Then in 1981, Bob bought his own first bass boat. When Bob and Dave got different assignments and schedules in the mid-80’s —Bob on patrol and Dave in the motorcycle unit—they weren’t able to fish together much for a few years. Dave also devoted much of his time and energies to family when his wife became seriously ill. But about 15 years ago, Bob and Dave resumed their fishing partnership and are a well-known and widely respected team.

Bob has won two region tournaments. Three times, he and his partner Dave Estes were Pro Am Team winners. He has placed fourth in the old Red Man circuit on the Potomac. A few years ago he placed third in the Region overall, which he said is his best overall ranking.

"Dave and I do have a lot of knowledge gained from many years of fishing. We’re not stuck on fishing one grass bed or piling or area. We practice, and look for fish. It’s important to find a variety of locations. We have a lot of different spots, and we fish most kinds of lures well, so when the fish aren’t biting in one place we move around and try throwing something new. It’s good to develop a pattern, because conditions can change every day or a few times a day during a tournament."

"The main advice I give is, don’t be afraid to make a change. We all know guys who always fish the same places and the same lures, mainly because they’re stubborn. There was a guy once known as ‘June Bug’ because he would only throw a June Bug colored worm no matter what. Well sure your favorite lure will catch fish now and again. But when the fish are biting everywhere and guys are coming in with just one fish, I have to wonder, ‘What are they doing wrong?’ I think the answer is they’re stuck and need to be willing to try new ideas."

"Region tournaments are fun because of all the guys we’ve known for all these years. It’s fun to go out and fish against your buddies and once in a while, you may take home a check," Bob said. "But we limit the number of tournaments we fish now."

"Mainly we found a while back that the time and expense involved for so many out of town trips got ridiculous. Especially when the fishing on the Potomac is so good, it’s hard to make yourself drive 200 miles away just to catch one or two fish. There’s a feeling out there that you’re not a well-rounded fisherman if you can’t catch fish in Kerr, Anna, Gaston and the James. But I guess I don’t agree.

"The way the schedules work, the tournament season gets started in March and that’s a tough time to catch fish anywhere. We still have winter weather in March. When the weather is bad, the fish don’t bite." Bob also found fault in how the Region tournaments were managed with weigh-ins taking as much as three hours at the end of a long day of fishing. "I’m tired after all that and I still have a two or four-hour drive to get home." He acknowledges that long weigh-ins has been largely resolved.

"Probably my biggest complaint about Region fishing these days is angler courtesy, or lack of it," Bob said. "I’ve been complaining about lack of courtesy for years but it is just getting so bad lately."

"Maybe it’s because I’m older now because there was a time I fished all the tournaments and drove all over, down to North Carolina, to fish the Pro Am teams. But I don’t have time to go out of town and burn up my leave time to fish in all these other places. Now that I’m 52, to drive 200 miles in the morning, fish all day then drive home and go to work the next day—that’s just not fun. I could never have that Ate-Up Attitude about fishing that you see across the Region these days."

Bob’s advice to new fishermen is take your time and learn from the other more experienced fisherman. "These new guys shouldn’t be afraid to sit in back and watch how other guys fish and run their boats. Good or bad, you’ll learn something."

"With the amount of money floating around these days, too many guys are getting out on the water for their first time in 21 foot bass boats with 225 horsepower engines. They’re roaring around at 80 mph and they have no idea what they’re doing. My advice is slow down and take your time. Getting out first and going 80 mph you maybe gain a minute and a half, and that won’t make a lick of difference. Going 80 mph doesn’t catch fish."

This is the tenth year that Bob Pettey has run the bass fishing flea market first begun by the Bull Run Club more than 20 years ago. The 10^th Annual Indoor Bass Fishing Flea Market takes place February 14, 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., at 13511 Hillendale Drive (corner of Dale Boulevard) in Dale City. Regular admission is $2 for adults, kids under 12 free. There also are still some vendor tables available at $35 each. Each year there are about 50 tables with a whole range of fresh and salt water fishing goods for sale, and as many as 600 people attend. For more information, call Bob Pettey at 703-491-3321.

"It’s a bass fishing flea market with anything from junk to brand new items. Every thing from rods and reels to guide services and even hunting- and fishing-themed quilts are for sale. The flea market is a lot of work for me as the organizer, making all the phone calls and doing all the paperwork. But it’s fun to get everyone out for it and we make a few bucks on it."

Bob has seen the fishing change over time on the Potomac. When he was first fishing the river, there was a lot of structure fishing. Then more grass beds developed. "The grass was a real boon for fishing. It gave the fish somewhere to go and the fisherman had a place to fish. It’s hard to fish when you can’t see what you’re doing. But you can see grass and that put a lot of fisherman out there fishing grass beds." More grass and better fishing spurred a boom time for everybody including many boat dealers and tackle shops that came along in its wake. Bob calls it the "greenway flat era" when it became quite common for fisherman to bring in 10 fish for 30 pounds. But then the grass died off and the fishing got tough again.

Bob fishes mostly north of Lessylvania and he finds lately that the increase in boat traffic is spoiling the area somewhat. He is also concerned that dredging around the Wilson Bridge and in Smoots Bay will hurt some spawning beds in spring. "Right now, the dredging is destroying it. They’re blowing the dirt out and turning it into a deep water marina. I’m afraid the shallow flats will soon be gone."

"It would help if the Corps of Engineers would stop dumping so much crud in the upper Potomac. There’s raw sewage going in the water, which is not a secret. For years Blue Plains had been releasing un-treated sewage into the river, especially after big rains because the drains and sewers are combined and get overwhelmed in big rains."

Bob feels that, "As long as the river stays healthy we will continue to see great bass fishing on the Potomac." The rest of us feel that as long as Bob stays healthy and keeps fishing, we’ll continue to search for a way to beat "The Cops".

If you would like to contact Bob Pettey, he can be reached at rpettey@comcast.net