The Potomac River FLW Tour event was an eventful one to say the least.  This place is full of fish and we got a lot of bites in practice.  The only problem was, we didn’t get too many big bites, just nice 2 to 3 pounders.  Also, when I was here several years ago, there was grass everywhere.  This year, there is good grass in certain areas, but not as much as I expected.  For the event, my plan was to run about 15 miles to Mattawomen Creek and start on a couple of pockets I found there, then head further down to fish some main lake stuff I found.  Before the start of the event on day #1, I was asked to lead the field in prayer.  That is always a huge honor.  I blasted off in the first flight and headed to my starting spot.  The tide was dead high, which made it tough from the start.  I fished 2 pockets in Mattawomen without any keeper bites.  The wind was severe and heading out of the creek, I hit a huge wave.  Somehow that wave wiped out all of my electronics.  I had no graph, no livewell, no bilge pump, no power poles….a total blackout.  Luckily, my E-Tec and my trolling motor was working so I decided to head back up near the landing to salvage the day.  I caught 5 fish on isolated cover on flats and they weight around 11 pounds.  Unfortunately, I was about 3 pounds off of the top 50 cut and would need a big day on day 2 to catch up.  I was excited about day 2 because I drew Brian New, a good friend as my co-angler.  At our first spot, we each caught some nice and wound up having a really fun day.  We caught fish all day long and I ended up with 5 that weighed over 13 pounds.  Much better, but not enough to move me up. 2012 FLW events have been a challenge so far for me.  You need 2 strong days to make a check and I haven’t been able to do that very often.  Luckily, I’ve had tremedous support from the folks at Sportsman’s Warehouse and a good season on the BFL trail.  We’ll move on to the next one and see what happens.  Take care,  Dearal

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