March 26^th was the Mariners Buddy Tournament held at Cross Creek Lake in Avella PA.  Team members Brad Bressler and Derek Severns teamed up to fish this event.  40 degree water temps greeted the guys in the morning with the air temperature only being 28 degrees.  Slow, slow fishing was the name of the game.  Around 1 pm Brad got the team’s only bite and only fish a 3.40 largemouth came off a deep lake point.  This fish gave the guys a 4^th place finish, the tournament was won, with one fish that weighed in just over 7 pounds…a true Cross Creek trophy.

April 10^th was the first of three TBF District six events that the team would fish.  This event was held at Lake Erie, but this was a bay only tournament, held inside of Presque Isle Bay.  Team members Rich Wolota, Brad Bressler and Derek Severns, fished this event.  Again, cold water temps greeted the anglers and the fishing was slow.  Only a few boats caught fish.  The boys only caught a few fish, none of them made the 15” minimum.  The short fish that they caught came off of jerk baits and spinner baits.   Throughout the day the anglers tried many different techniques, none of which would produce any keepers. The next two events will be held at Pymatuning Lake in June and then Conneaut Lake in August, the boys will be looking for a little redemption.

As soon as the event at Erie ended, the team packed up and headed to Washington DC for the week.  The TBF Mr. Bass East event was being held on the Potomac River April 15^th and 16^th.  The team would pre-fish for four days prior to the tournament in hopes of locating some big fish.  The 4 practice days prior to the event did not help the team too much, as the fish were pre-spawn and still hadn’t moved up onto the spawning flats.  Most fish were still out in the main river and this made them hard to find and catch.  The further north that you went from the launch, the water seemed to clear up and the fishing was better, so both days, Rich and Brad went north in hopes of finding some better fish.  The tide is very important at the Potomac River; you have to fish the falling and rising tides and know where that puts the fish, and at what times of the day this all happens.  It adds a new element to fishing that we don’t have at home; the guys that master the tides and the river always seem to come out on top.  Rattle traps, senkos, chatter baits, spinner baits and jigs seemed to be the weapons of choice for the week.  At the end of the week the guys didn’t get the results that they had hoped for Brad finished 35^th and Rich was 37^th on the boater side, while Derek was 37^th and Bob was 44^th.  Though the results were not what they had hoped, each trip to Washington DC and the Potomac River is a learning experience and teaches you a lot of new things.  The Bass Hounds would like to thank all of their 2011 Sponsors, Valvoline Oil, Nervous Waters, Metal Menders, Strauss Automotive, Poor Boy Baits and FishPittsburgh.com, Bowser Collision Center, without the help of these companies this would not be possible.