Schwager Clinches Victory on Upper Bay while Hoover Weighs in Big Bag from Stern
By Brent Nelson

Schwager ended the day with the biggest bag of the tournament that weighed in at 14 pounds, 8 ounces and secured his win on the Tournament Trail #2 event.	Darin Hoover put together an impressive bag of bass weighing 14 pounds 1 ounce to secure the number one spot in the non-boater division.

Bryan Schwager had his mind on docks as his Mercury powered Champion Boat jumped up on plane.  “Let’s go to the Middle River ,” he told his non-boater, Richard Exline. “I know we can get our limit by lunchtime if we pound the pilings.”

   One thing that worried Bryan was the overcast skies and relentless north wind. Normally when fishing docks, you want sunny skies which keeps the fish tight to wood and in the shade.  Today was different and the Liberty Bassmasters member realized after not having a bite by 7:30, that a change needed to be made.

   Tying on a 3/8 ounce white double willow leaf spinnerbait with a gold and nickel blades, Schwager began looking for a reaction bite from roaming fish.

   At 8 am a four pounder nailed his blade and Bryan knew then and there what he was going to do the rest of the day.

   “The fish I picked up were all good ones and there was  no specific cover that these fish were keying on.  You just had to “pitch and reel”. I caught them in one foot of water out to four feet on rocks, grass and wood. They definitely were moving around a lot,” said Bryan .

   By noon he had a solid limit and invited Richard up to the bow to run the trolling motor and possibly catch a few  fish.  That’s when a sixth fish hit Schwagers spinnerbait and culled out a previous fish.

   Schwager ended the day with the biggest bag of the tournament that weighed in at 14 pounds, 8 ounces and secured his win on the Tournament Trail #2 event.

   Joe Devoe had his sights set on the Middle River also, but decided to stay in and around the creeks near Dundee because of the wind. Devoe noted how high the tide was and reasoned that many of the fish wound be up against the reeds and grass that lined the coves in Dundee , Saltpeter and Super Cove. 

   The Baltimore Bass Chasers club member opted for a black unweighted Texas rigged 6 inch Senko. “I pitched the Senko up into the little pockets and indentations in the reeds and that’s where most of my fish came from.”  His first fish came to the well at 9 AM and he had his limit by 11:30.  Joe culled four more times that afternoon and came to the scales with 14 pounds even.

   Bill Bennett Jr. placed third with 13 pounds, 8 ounces.  Bennett went to the water he’s favored ever since a boy, the Bush River .  Bill pitched  a black and blue jig to docks and pilings in the marinas and private piers.  He had his limit by 9 AM.

   On the non-boaters side, Darin Hoover put together an impressive bag of bass weighing 14 pounds 1 ounce to secure the number one spot.  After  3 tournaments fished, Hoover has full command of first place in the non-boaters division.

Second place non-boater  went to David  Hankins with 12 pounds 15 ounces and Bent Rod Bassmasters member Greg Lemoine nailed down a third place finish from the back of the boat with 5 pounds, 2 ounces.