Poche Keeps It Rolling At Potomac

By MLF Communications Staff

CHARLES COUNTY, Md. – They say that momentum is real in bass fishing, and Pike Road, Ala. pro Keith Poche proved that point on the Potomac River Thursday.

Less than a week after winning the Invitationals stop just two hours south on the James River, Poche was the only angler to surpass 80 pounds on the Potomac and leads after Day 1 with 36 bass for 80 pounds, 2 ounces. Going into the second day, Poche will enjoy a 10-1 advantage over Ott DeFoe of Blaine, Tenn., in second place as he looks to win for the second time in as many weeks on a tidal fishery in the Mid-Atlantic.

It wasn't just Poche giving ScoreTracker a workout as the 66-angler field caught 1,217 bass weighing 2,572 pounds, 9 ounces, both easily the highest totals of the season. With so many bass biting, things are shaping up for an excellent finish this weekend.

Coming off his victory on the James, Poche certainly felt confident about coming into the event. On the James, he fished in the style he's known for, accessing a shallow water backwater with his 18-foot aluminum boat to go places that heavier fiberglass boats couldn't. That's the same approach he took Thursday on the Potomac, but the results were even better than expected.

"I knew the place I found had some fish and knew the potential was there, but I had no idea it would be this good," Poche said. "I'm just trying to keep this rolling, whatever it is, because it's working."

Poche shared that his best area had all the ingredients to harbor a big population of bass.

"I'm going way back into the creek and fishing shallow, but the water back there is moving and it's a lot cooler," he said. "It's a sandy creek with some shallow flats and deeper swings; when the tide's out, they pull to those little deeper spots. When the water is up, they get up in the pads and grass along the banks. It's been best with the falling tide, but I feel like I can get bit any time of day in there."

While the falling tide has been his best bite, Poche was able to catch bass throughout the day and caught vastly more than the 36 that exceeded the 1-8 minimum for the event. His area is full of bass of all sizes, and he discovered it during practice by visually seeing them swimming around at low tide.

" I found a few similar areas but didn't hit them at the right tide, so I don't know if they will be as good as this one, but they have potential if I need to try somewhere else."

As for whether he plans to vie for the automatic bid to the Championship Round or to use some of his time to practice, Poche was emphatic with his response.

"One hundred percent I'm going to catch everything I can to try to advance. I'm not going to let up one bit," he said. "You never know what's going to happen during the Knockout Round. I know I have a 10-pound lead, but I'm going to have to do my part again, and I think I'll need to catch at least 60 pounds tomorrow to have a chance to advance to the final day."

Poche is employing a variety of lures to catch his fish, including the same Berkley PowerBait MaxScent The General on a shaky-head rig that accounted for his winning bass on the James River; a Berkley Pit Boss on a Texas Rig; and a Bama bream-colored 3/8-ounce Berkley Swim Jig with a green pumpkin Berkley Power Swimmer on the back.

"It's just shallow-water junk-fishing," Poche said. "The best bait for me today was that swim jig, that was my bread and butter, throwing it on 30-pound Berkley X5 braid, a 10.1:1 (Abu Garcia) Revo Rocket Reel, and a 7'¡" heavy Fenwick World Class rod. That faster reel was a big deal because I'm burning that thing and pulling it through the current. I need to pick up the slack and hit them when it's coming at me."

As time expired on MLFNOW!, Poche remarked on the sweltering conditions. The high was 93 degrees with a "feels like" temperature of 106 degrees, and there was hardly a puff of wind.

"The hottest tournament I had ever fished was here on the Potomac back in 2015, and this one blows it out of the water; it was brutal out there," he added.

Justin Lucas earned the Day 1 Berkley Big Bass Award Thursday with a chunky 4-12 largemouth that he caught in Period 3 on a Berkley Slobberknocker. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day.

The full field of anglers compete in the two-day Qualifying Round on Thursday and Friday. From there, the pro with the heaviest two-day total will advance directly to Sunday’s Championship Round. Anglers who finish 2nd through 20th will advance to Saturday’s Knockout Round.

In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed, and the remaining anglers compete to finish in the Top 9 to advance to Sunday’s Championship Round. Weights are again zeroed for the final round and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $150,000.

Anglers launch at 7:15 a.m. ET each day from Smallwood State Park, located at 2750 Sweden Point Road in Marbury. Takeouts held at the same location beginning at 3:45 p.m.

The MLFNOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney break down the extended action live on all four days of competition from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET. MLFNOW! is livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble.

Qualifying Round – Day 1

(Figure at far right indicates weight of angler's heaviest fish for the day)

1. Keith Poche -- 80-02 (36) -- 3-11

2. Ott DeFoe -- 70-02 (32) -- 3-10

3. David Dudley -- 68-06 (29) -- 3-13

4. John Hunter -- 68-04 (30) -- 4-03

5. Zack Birge -- 67-01 (34) -- 3-01

6. Keith Carson -- 64-07 (27) -- 3-13

7. Mark Daniels Jr. -- 62-07 (30) -- 3-09

8. Alton Jones Jr. -- 61-07 (28) -- 3-03

9. Adrian Avena -- 55-15 (27) -- 3-00

10. Michael Neal -- 55-10 (25) -- 4-04

11. Takahiro Omori -- 52-07 (26) -- 3-05

12. Mark Davis -- 52-04 (23) -- 3-10

13. Nick LeBrun -- 50-04 (26) -- 3-03

14. Drew Gill -- 50-02 (25) -- 2-11

15. Jake Lawrence -- 50-01 (24) -- 3-15

16. Marshall Robinson -- 49-07 (22) -- 3-08

17. Casey Ashley -- 49-06 (23) -- 3-07

18. Dustin Connell -- 49-06 (24) -- 2-14

19. Jacob Wheeler -- 46-12 (22) -- 3-11

20. Justin Cooper -- 46-05 (23) -- 3-11

21. Luke Clausen -- 45-04 (23) -- 2-14

22. Dean Rojas -- 42-11 (19) -- 3-04

23. Todd Faircloth -- 42-10 (22) -- 2-15

24. Wesley Strader -- 42-09 (21) -- 3-00

25. Marty Robinson -- 42-00 (22) -- 2-14

26. Bradley Roy -- 41-15 (19) -- 3-07

27. James Elam -- 41-11 (20) -- 3-04

28. Jeremy Lawyer -- 40-06 (19) -- 4-03

29. Colby Miller -- 40-03 (20) -- 4-00

30. Marshall Hughes -- 40-00 (20) -- 2-15

31. Jesse Wiggins -- 37-15 (19) -- 2-09

32. Bobby Lane -- 36-10 (17) -- 3-05

33. Martin Villa -- 35-15 (15) -- 4-05

34. Cole Floyd -- 35-14 (18) -- 2-09

35. Brent Chapman -- 34-15 (17) -- 3-01

36. Justin Lucas -- 34-14 (16) -- 4-12

37. Andy Morgan -- 34-05 (17) -- 2-13

38. Ron Nelson -- 33-11 (16) -- 3-01

39. Spencer Shuffield -- 33-05 (15) -- 3-09

40. Jacob Wall -- 33-04 (17) -- 2-07

41. Anthony Gagliardi -- 32-15 (17) -- 2-12

42. Dylan Hays -- 32-00 (16) -- 3-00

43. Shin Fukae -- 31-11 (13) -- 4-06

44. Andy Montgomery -- 31-10 (16) -- 3-08

45. Chris Lane -- 31-08 (15) -- 3-00

46. Jeff Sprague -- 31-04 (15) -- 3-07

47. Gary Klein -- 30-04 (14) -- 2-15

48. Fletcher Shryock -- 29-15 (15) -- 3-09

49. Skeet Reese -- 29-14 (14) -- 3-03

50. Jared Lintner -- 29-14 (15) -- 2-12

51. Matt Becker -- 28-10 (11) -- 4-03

52. David Walker -- 26-04 (13) -- 3-04

53. Josh Bertrand -- 25-12 (13) -- 3-04

54. Edwin Evers -- 25-03 (12) -- 3-02

55. Britt Myers -- 24-15 (12) -- 3-03

56. Bryan Thrift -- 24-14 (9) -- 3-11

57. Fred Roumbanis -- 24-13 (13) -- 2-12

58. Terry Scroggins -- 24-06 (11) -- 4-04

59. Mark Rose -- 21-10 (9) -- 3-02

60. Alton Jones -- 21-00 (11) -- 2-03

61. Brandon Coulter -- 20-15 (10) -- 3-15

62. Greg Vinson -- 20-08 (10) -- 2-11

63. Brent Ehrler -- 14-07 (7) -- 2-07

64. Gerald Spohrer -- 14-03 (6) -- 3-14

65. Dave Lefebre -- 13-11 (6) -- 2-11

66. Nick Hatfield -- 10-03 (6) -- 1-13

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