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Sassafras River Bass Fishing Tournament Report: May 2013

Posted by melvin on May 17, 2013

Sassafras River bass fishing tournament report May 2013. Smitson settles into 35th place on Sassafras River while 30 pounds wins it. Catch the details here...

Story By: www.melvinsmitson.com

Date: 05/17/13

Sassafras River Bass Fishing Tournament Report:

Practice mirrors tournament day on the upper Chesapeake bay! During the week I put in Harve de grace ramp to pre - fish for the Sassafras river bass fishing tournament being held by Delaware Bass Federation May 5th, 2013.

I focused my practice time on western shore areas known to hold big largemouth bass during the pre - spawn and spawning stages of early spring bass fishing here on the Upper Chesapeake Bay.

Pre - Fishing Picture: Swans Creek, May 2013.

Well known spawning and pre - spawn staging areas like Swan creek, the back channel, grass beds on the flat's and various marinas. I caught a few bass on these popular early season bass fishing spots but not enough to convince me to return to any of them on tournament day.

Instead, on tournament day I focused on the Sassafras River and Turners Creek. Both places are well known for spring time spawning activities of the ever elusive largemouth bass.

No matter the spot, the results were similar. A bunch of small bass but nothing big. Nothing of the class of fish that I would need to cash a paycheck in this event. 30 lbs won this Sassafras River bass fishing tournament and I did not come close. I saw a lot of BIG fish on my graph hanging around points and drop offs just could not get them to bite.

My total weight for this tournament was 3.59 lbs good for 35th place on the day. I managed 1 keeper on a soft plastic stick bait. I landed several additional largemouth bass on a War Eagle spinner bait.

Unfortunately, none of them measured the required 15 inches. Looking to upgrade my catch quality, I tried slowing things back down by throwing a few different jigs from Buckeye Lures. Many times, once you get the little bucks out of the way you can slow down your presentation in the same spot and entice BIG MAMMA to bite.

A very sound, time tested tactic but it just was not meant to be on this trip. The water temp in the Sassafras River went from 58 to 69 in the afternoon and was muddy brown. It was fairly windy and the water was rough.

My hunch is that some of the lighter bites from the bigger female bedding bass may have gone undetected. To my dismay, site fishing was not an option for me on this Sassafras River bass fishing trip.

Overall, It was a tough day on the water. I fell off pace slightly in the "Classic Standings" from 16th place to 19th place in points for the year. Looking forward to the next Delaware Bass Federation tournament.

I would like to send a special thank you to The Crab Place for being my primary sponsor for this event. If your looking for a great place to get your crabs and seafood online, give them a try!

Until Next Time,

Melvin Smitson

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Sassafras River Bass Fishing Tournament Report: May 2013