This is one of the most complete and comprehensive articles ever published on the strategies necessary to catch more and bigger bass on the Upper Chesapeake Bay rivers. These strategies will not only help you catch more and bigger bass by identifying new locations, but will also help you locate and catch more bass during a tournament, from within the known community areas by defining the "Sweet Spots", within these community holes. These strategies and techniques will work on any rivers on the Upper Chesapeake Bay, but are designed to enhance your success on the Sassafras River in particular.

  Best Of The Bay - The Sassafras River

 The Upper Chesapeake Bay has been receiving a lot of notoriety over the last few years due to the improved catch rates and overall weight increases reported in the tournaments. While the "true" river rats have known of this bass fishing hotbed for some time now, the recent success is attracting clubs from all over Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and even as far away as New York. Most of this pressure has converged on the Elk River, and the Tyding's Park area in Havre de Grace, MD, since these areas provide more than adequate launching and parking facilities that are necessary to hold the tournaments. Many of the smaller club tournaments also start from the Northeast and Elk River areas. With this influx of angling pressure, many of the traditional "hot spots" have become increasingly crowded during the weekends, and have forced anglers to make longer and longer runs in search of untapped bass waters. Many of these anglers have now discovered that the twenty to thirty minute drive through sometimes rough and unsafe water, to the Sassafras River, has been well worth the effort.

 Upon arriving they realize that not only is this river not as pressured, but the fishing rivals or surpasses any that they previously encountered on any of the other Upper Bay rivers.

 Over the past five years, we have spent an average of four days a week on the Sassafras River, and over this course of time have learned many of the subtle intricacies of this scenic and fertile river.

 Ramp and Launching Locations

 The following locations and patterns, have not only produced tournament winning limits, but have produced over one hundred bass in the five to six pound range, over the last five years, from this river. These are true "Trophy" bass for a Northeastern River system.

 The first thing to do is to decide where you will launch from to access the Sassafras, so as to take full advantage of your time. The Elk River, via Elk Neck State Park, is probably the most popular, due to it's more than adequate parking facilities, and close proximity to the Sassafras. This is only a ten to fifteen minute drive from the Sassafras.

 Tyding's Park and Marina, located In Havre De Grace, MD, is the farthest, and most difficult drive to access the Sassafras River. We launch from this area only when we have located good numbers of bass on the Susquehanna Flats or in the nearby coves or docks of the Northeast. The drive from here can be dangerous in the early morning fog and heavy boat wakes in the Spring and Summer. At fifty mph, it takes about twenty five minutes to reach the first starting point on the Sassafras. The best area to launch in the Sassafras is in Duffy Creek, located right behind the Granary Restaurant, on Sassafras Street, in the town of Galena. This is a private marina, with average parking facilities, and a good ramp. It is a pay per use facility, and charges a daily fee of $5.00.

 The second area to launch is the public boat ramp on Sassafras Street, right before the restaurant. This is a small boat only ramp, but it is adequate for launching most any bass boat at the proper tide. In low tide situations, this can be a tricky ramp, so great care should be taken during these times, as it is extremely shallow, and has ruined many a boat prop and hull.

  The next spot you can launch is a "permit only" ramp located in Turner's Creek. This area has the most parking, and offers a middle of the river launch site. The only drawback is that the number of permits are limited, and can be difficult to obtain for out-of-state anglers.

 When and Where To Go - Turner's Creek

 Although the Sassafras offers excellent fishing all times of the year except the winter, the Early Spring is the best time to start. Spring on the Sassafras is similar to any other body of water, in the respect that the bass's life revolves entirely around the spawning process, and the locating of spawning areas. The Sassafras normally holds bass in almost every area of the river, but at this time of year, it suddenly shrinks to a few, and eventually, two major creeks.

 In the early pre-spawn, largemouth can be found in the emerging grasses and the wood cover, in locations such as Hall's Creek, Freeman, McGill, Turner, DuPont, and Lloyd's. As the spawn gets even closer, they make their way to Turner's and Lloyd's almost exclusively.

 Turner's Creek offers a huge amount of diverse cover for bass. There is a narrow entrance to this creek where the main river channel runs right along a wood laden bank with a steep drop-off. Pre-spawn bass lay along this drop at depths from two to eighteen feet, all of which is loaded with lay-downs and emerging vegetation. Directly next to the entrance is a small bay loaded with lily pads and several varieties of emerging grasses, on a slow tapering bank, that eventually levels off into the main river channel. This area at the entrance to Turner's Creek, is one of the two major staging areas for largemouth in the Sassafras.

 The Western shoreline of this creek is totally covered with what are emerging lily pad root systems, that are mixed in with several varieties of vegetation, including Milfoil and Hydrilla. Many bass choose these root systems to spawn.

  The Eastern shoreline offers a hard sand and rock bottom, along with vegetation, that mixes in with a number of large boat docks. The bass use the docks and standing and decaying pilings to hold on, and eventually make their beds on, to escape the current and predators which are prevalent in the river.

  Lure Selections and Strategy

 When targeting pre-spawn bass at the entrance of the creek, spinnerbaits are our weapon of choice. Terminator spinner baits in the 3/8 and 1/2 ounce sizes, with tandem blades are top producers in these areas. "ZAP" Custom spinnerbaits, along with Hart's "Hart Throb" series, and B&D lures, "Evilution V" spinnerbait also take their fair share of bass in this area in the spring. Color is not that important this time of year in the stained to muddy water, but we have had the best success with baits that imitate the shad, in white/chartreuse, and in "Golden Shiner" patterns. If the water is truly "muddy", then we will use a darker skirt many times. We burn these baits across the emerging grasses and around the lily pad root systems, causing aggressive strikes with an erratic retrieve.

 When we are looking for that one particular big bite, to upgrade our limit, the baits we use are "Senko's" and "Bearpaws Handpoured Baits". These are similar to Senko's in size and appearance, but have a different manufacturing process which bakes in scents, and are a little tougher, so they last longer when the bass are aggressive. These baits also produce all sizes of bass better when a cold front moves through, and causes the action to slow down. When a severe cold front blows through over a few days, it will cause the bass to drop down to deeper water in the ten foot range, and hold on the tops of trees. When this happens, we target them with mid range crankbaits, using a stop and go retrieve, with great success. Once the bass move to the backs of the creek to spawn, "Senko's", "Bearpaws", "IKA" tubes, "Zoom" flukes, lizards, and Terminator jigs, flipped into the docks, grass, and pads, produce a good limit in short order.

 On the weekends in the spring, this area can be crowded with many other anglers, and small to midsize crank baits, such as a "Mann's" Mid-Minus, and a "Strike King" series, can be a great tool in addition to the spinner baits and plastics. Don't hesitate to throw a buzz bait around the same cover, once the water temperature warms to fifty-five degrees or above. This can produce some real hawgs at this time of the year. We like to use a custom type clacker buzz bait made for us by "ZAP" Custom Lures. We also have great success with the "Terminator" Ball-Buster. One year in April, with water temperatures only in the fifty's, these buzz baits produced a seventeen pound limit by 10:00 am, in a team tournament, with the biggest bass weighing 5.6 pounds. The old standby, the black and blue Terminator jig, with pork or plastic for a trailer, placed in and around pilings, ladders on docks, and floating piers, will always produce good sized bass. Most anglers use the jig when fishing docks, but switch to other baits many times in the lay-downs. This can be a mistake, as many times in the spring, we caught several bass in the five and six pound class, flipping the wood in Turner's Creek with this jig.

 Turner's Creek is a hot spot at all times of the year, but it is especially productive in the spring. An experienced angler can expect ten to fifteen bass on a good day from this creek alone. Although at times, other creeks can produce more bass, this creek gives up the better quality bass on a consistent basis. Our largest bass from this creek was 6.4 pounds, but we have heard of seven pound bass being caught on occasion.

 This is part one of one of the most revealing bass fishing articles we have ever seen. We could have made this entire issue of The Bullet this one article! That's how in depth and revealing it is! But we decided to break it into multiple parts. Look for part two next month, but in the meantime visit Steve vonBrandt on his web sites at http://AllBass.com/SKGuides or http://skguides.proboards20.com.

  Kids sharing a love for the country’s woodlands, lakes and rivers will meet at Hickory Knob State Resort Park in rural McCormick, South Carolina. The small town that quietly marks the first British property forcefully taken at the onset of the American Revolution will host this year’s 9th Annual Porter Wagoner Conservation Field Days National JAKES event. With three state parks and miles of Thurmond Lake shoreline, the area is brimming with an abundance of natural resources.

  Nearly 100 kids will spend four days engaging in outdoor activities including setting up camp, kayaking, rock climbing, fishing, sporting clays and hands-on demonstrations on turkey calling, wildlife and hunter safety and ethics, June 10-13. Expert instructors will be on hand throughout the weekend ensuring that JAKES members have fun learning in a controlled, safe environment.

  "Archery was my favorite thing from last year," said 11 year-old Richard Larry Evans III, who goes by the initials R.L. 'My dad and I came to the national event last year and this year my dad, granddad and seven year-old brother are coming. We do tons of stuff together, mostly we hunt a lot and we like to fish."

  For Xtreme JAKES, teen members ages 13-17, the weekend will offer a selection of activities organized especially for this age group; a nature night hike using night vision goggles, five stand sporting clays shoot, kayaking lessons, advanced rock climbing, mountain biking and a bikathlon. This competition is modeled after the Olympic Biathlon and requires participants to bike to a shooting station where they’ll use an air gun to shoot five times at a target. It’s a timed event and point deductions will be based on the accuracy of the participants shooting.

  "The National JAKES Event allows kids and teenagers to try new things by engaging them in all kinds of outdoor activities, sports and seminars," said Mandy Harling, JAKES program manager. "This event brings together active kids with "get up and go" attitudes who share an interest in something bigger than themselves – wildlife and conservation."

  JAKES members will also tour the only museum of its kind in nearby Edgefield, SC where kids are scheduled to tour the Winchester Wild Turkey Museum on Friday, June 11. They’ll learn about the remarkable restoration story of the wild bird along with the management and hunting of the wild turkey.

  "Our Winchester Wild Turkey Museum and the JAKES program are focused on reaching out to kids because we want them to understand the importance of conservation, not just of the wild turkey, but of all wildlife and wildlife habitat," said Christine Rolka, NWTF education coordinator. "That’s one of the reasons we’re putting our efforts behind Xtreme JAKES, which is geared toward our teen members. It’s our way of reaching out and appealing to this age group and maintaining their interest in the outdoors as they become young adults."

  The Wild Turkey Center, which is flanked by 100 acres of lush wildlife habitat, offers a number of nature trails, a wetland habitat site, pavilion and the headquarter offices of more than 140 NWTF employees.

  JAKES stands for Juniors Acquiring Knowledge, Ethics and Sportsmanship and is the NWTF’s outreach program for children 17 years old and younger. With more than 213,000 JAKES members throughout North America, the NWTF is making a difference for the future of our natural resources. Through local JAKES events held across the country, which are similar to the national event, children learn how their actions affect the balance of our natural resources and the skills they need to enjoy the outdoors.

  To Register:

  To pre-register your children for the annual National JAKES Event, contact JAKES program manager Mandy Harling at 1-800-THE-NWTF or mharling@nwtf.net for more information.

  Attention Media:

  The media is invited to join in the fun on Friday, June 11 at the Wild Turkey Center and on Saturday, June 12 at Hickory Knob, where there are sure to be tons of photo, video and interview opportunities. Call Amy Forrest or Jonathan Harling at (803) 637-3106 to attend or for more information.

  JAKES Sponsors:

  Bass Pro Shops, Browning-USRAC, Brunton Co., Cabela's Promotions, Inc., Camp-Younts Foundation, Crosman Corporation, Daisy Outdoor Products, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Georgia Pacific, International Paper, Knight & Hale Game Calls, Knight Rifles, LaCrosse Footwear, Inc. Leupold & Stevens, Inc, Martin Brothers Wild Game Calls, Marlin Firearms Co. and H&R 1871, LLC, Martin Brother Game Calls, Mead/Westvaco, Mossy Oak Apparel, Mossy Oak Brand Camo, O. F. Mossberg and Sons, Inc., Outdoor Cap Company, Inc., Pine Ridge Game Calls, Primos Hunting Calls & Accessories, Quaker Boy, Inc., Realtree Outdoor Products, Remington Arms Co., Inc., Sportsman’s Warehouse, The Outdoor Connection, Inc., USDA-Forest Service, Winchester Div./ Olin Corporation.

Answer To Bonus Question: The Arch was completed and dedicated in 1968.