Competitive fishing is a game of decisions. Do you zig or zag? Do you target limit spots or swing big for the top-enders?
It’s nice when you have plenty of time to contemplate each scenario and make a well-considered choice, but sometimes you have to make that call on the fly.
Wednesday night, Louisiana pro Darold Gleason had just about talked himself into the latter.
“I’ve been here for six days practicing and, traditionally, staying close is what everyone says to do here,” Gleason said. “That hasn’t worked that well for me, so one day I drove way off and looked at some stuff, and it was just a little bit easier.”
Gleason’s tournament plan: Run about 90 miles south of the takeoff site at the top end of Chesapeake Bay and fish one of the tidal rivers below the Bay Bridge (Hwy. 50). The farther south you run, the closer you get to the Atlantic Ocean.
That means more saltwater pushing into creeks and rivers, but anglers venturing far enough into these tributaries eventually find the freshwater reaches that often hold unpressured fish. Gleason said he found such an area, and even though it probably didn’t hold the winning fish, the river could very well deliver a strong finish.
“For whatever reason, it just seemed like there was more life,” Gleason said. “It wasn’t like I caught a whole bunch, but I got around a lot of activity. There was a lot of baitfish activity, and there was more life. It seemed like it had more life than what I’ve seen close.
“I think the fish in those places are maybe a little more willing to bite.”
Of course, nothing’s assumed here, and Gleason noted the potential pitfall.
“It’s a big gamble anytime you run that far because you limit your fishing time, so you have to make decisions a lot faster,” Gleason said Wednesday evening. “In a tournament like this where it’s a grind, it’s gonna be tough to make the run.
“We’re gonna see how the weather is in the morning. It can get really rough in the bay, and if I can’t run top speed, I won’t go. It’s a long ride — about an hour and a half, one way — and we’ll have to stop and get fuel. It can be very stressful.”
Gleason spent some time Wednesday night tightening all of his hardware connections and removing excess gear to lighten his load for optimal running.
The light breeze greeting anglers at takeoff likely convinced Gleason and others to roll the dice for a Day 1 journey. We’ll have to wait until weigh-ins to see if the commitments paid off.
It’s a good bet that some — maybe Gleason — will return with tales of distant glory. There will almost certainly be those who report a total bust, but someone will make the right decision and sack up a good bag.
That’ll make the long ride back a lot more enjoyable.
