Virginia professional bass tournament angler Christie Bradley's Potomac River advice

Last week I called my friend Christie Bradley and the conversation started the way it might with most of my non-fishing friends. We said hello, spoke about how it had been too long since our last get together and then I asked her what she was doing. That’s when it took an unexpected turn. She said she thought her trolling battery might need to be replaced and she was in the boat making sure everything was working properly. She has a Bassmaster Open coming up and didn’t want to be stranded.

That wasn’t at all what I expected her to say but I think that is just awesome. Now that I think about it, I shouldn’t have been surprised at all. Christie is one of the most determined and self-sufficient anglers I know.

Although I fish mostly with Pete on the Potomac River, Christie is probably more experienced (and possibly more successful?) than him out there, and after joining her a couple of times I wanted to hear her take on our home fishery.

HPFC: What is your favorite time of year to fish on the Potomac River?

Christie Bradley: During the spawn, typically it's like the first full moon in April through the last full moon in June. The reason is it's so easy to catch fish that time of year. They are super big, fat, and easy to catch. You are catching them off of beds, somewhat sight fishing but really it's a combination of sight fishing and just knowing where the shell beds are within the grass flat.

You'll be in a flat and you just know from experience and from fishing there that there is going to be a shell bed, as that's where the bass are looking to spawn. They're going to be on a big flat, there's going to be shell beds mixed in and you can either sight fish, looking through big holes in the grass, if there's grass, or you're just fishing around those shell beds that have been there for years. You will be out of the current, off the main river, and you can easily pattern those fish.

HPFC: What's the key bait for catching those bed fish?

Christie Bradley: For me, during the spawn it’s 100% a Yamamoto Senko. I fish it either weightless or with the tiniest little light weight. I like to use a green pumpkin or a watermelon color with a chartreuse tail. The reason is the fish are in those areas where they're spawning are relating to bluegill and shad. They're spawning around the same areas where the bluegill are spawning so with a little chartreuse tail, you kind of know you are really relating to the same bait that are also spawning in those same areas.

HPFC: Do you have to have a Senko that comes with a chartreuse tail, or can you dip them or does it not matter?

Christie Bradley: I'm not gonna throw a Senko out there without a chartreuse or pink tail. Something with a bright tail, whether it be dipped, or it comes that way, it's going to be that thing that's going to draw attention to the bait.

HPFC: What's the best time of year for Potomac River numbers?

Christie Bradley: Numbers is pre-spawn. Definitely before they actually start spawning and for me, it's absolutely pre-spawn between end of March to early May. You can catch fish on moving baits like Rat-L-Traps, Chatterbaits and swim jigs a lot better than any other time of the year. At this time of year, you should not hesitate to use a Dave’s Tournament Tackle swim jig. You cannot beat that lure. They are a regional company and you can get them at Green Top and I pair that with a Strike King craw trailer, this just can’t be beat.

HPFC: When you're throwing these particular baits what parts of the Potomac River do you like?

Christie Bradley: It's not a specific place -- it's the specific types of grass you're looking for. Anywhere you can find milfoil, that's where I'm going and will be throwing the swim jig. Milfoil, period, is better than hydrilla in my mind but if you can't find either one, I'm going to go to isolated wood, on flats, adjacent to deep water, that kind of thing. You can still throw the same kind of baits in those areas and have success.

HPFC: If you are going to go for that one big fish, ALL OUT! What time of year? What kind of water? What bait?

Christie Bradley: For me, on the Potomac River, for a big fish I'm going to be targeting a spot that has got a piece of wood, like an old dock piling that has been there for 20 years that hasn’t been washed away by the current over the years and is still standing. I can picture a few in my mind, very clearly, that are there and the current washes out like a little area behind and around that piling, it's close to deep water. Without hesitation I’m going to throw a jig to catch a big fish on that spot on outgoing water. This will happen, most likely pre-spawn because those fish in tidal water are just really beat to hell throughout the year. So, the time that they're most healthy, from my experience, has been pre-spawn and that's when they're going to be fat and ready to bite.

HPFC: What has been your best tournament performance on the Potomac River?

Christie Bradley: My best finish has been a third place on the Bassmaster Weekend Series. There were about 80 some boats and I weighed in almost 16 pounds.

HPFC: Putting the conditions aside, on the Potomac River, what is your favorite way to fish?

Christie Bradley: One hundred percent frog, by far. I love a hollow body fog where you can work it and pause rather than the Horny Toad where you are constantly reeling but it has to be the right time. It's not always going to work, so that pre-spawn time, and during the spawn, that lure can be just deadly. The thing I love about it is it's not like a Ribbit where you're just reeling and casting and reeling and casting. I'm going to target this really specific spot where I think the fish is, I'm gonna throw that hollow body frog out, I like the SPRO Popping Frog, and I'll work it back and try to treat it like it's a real frog. I'm predicting where the bass is going to bite. That's what I love, that's my deal.

HPFC: What is the best day you've ever had on the Potomac River?

Christie Bradley: My husband Mike and I were out there in July (unfortunately I don’t remember what year it was) we easily had a 25-pound bag with our best five. We had 10 fish over 4-pounds in an eight-hour day. It was insane.

This was when the milfoil was really prevalent in Aquia Creek and there was no hydrilla. So, the milfoil was there and the bass were thriving in that creek. By July, the milfoil is topped out so you could go in and find the where the creek channel was, we targeted our frog or swimbait, and made our casts on these little specific points. We would just throw it and twitch it and we just knew we you're going to get bit. I think our best fish was probably 5 ½, but we had probably 10 fish over 4 pounds that day.

HPFC: What other fish have you caught while fishing for bass on the Potomac River?

Christie Bradley: The coolest thing, about ten years ago or so when we had a drought, and my brother and I were catching bluefish at the mouth of Aquia Creek. The salt water moved in because of the drought and we were catching saltwater bluefish. How crazy is that?

Probably five years later, or so, we had another drought and we saw tons and tons of red drum, like red fish, again in the mouth of Aquia Creek.

But I think the coolest thing for me was when I was at Arkendale Flats. There are big World War One ships sunk around the Arkendale Flats and Mallows Bay area. I was fishing in this area and saw this fish swirling around, I know it was a shark. I tried everything I could to catch that fish but I could not get it to bite. I know it was a shark, like the Bull Shark that was found at the mouth of the Potomac, but this one was a baby one. I also think there might have been more than one as these fish were not acting like any other fish we'd seen. I kept trying different things trying to get them to bite and it just wouldn’t bite.

Besides those three species that you don’t find often and most people don’t ever see or catch, the snakehead is something I catch, especially throwing a frog, when I am targeting bass.

HPFC: What Potomac River tournament would mean more to win than any other tournament on the Potomac and why?

Christie Bradley: The Bassmaster Elite Series comes to the Potomac River occasionally. I fish the Bassmaster Opens, and although I am a realist, and if I was going to qualify for the Elite Series it probably would have happened by now, but that would be the holy grail for me. To qualify for and win a Bassmaster Elite Series tournament on the Potomac River, that'd be the deal.

I had a 26th place on the James River last year in the BASS Opens, and the Opens are the path to the elites but yeah, that would be the deal for me.

HPFC: It's going to happen one day, woman. You are realistic, which turns into positivity. I've always told Pete, I wanted him to do what you are doing. He's pooh poohed me, you at least stepped up and are fishing the Opens.

Christie Bradley: Thank you.

HPFC: I’ll be with you when you win, I promise.

Christie Bradley: Thank you.

HPFC: Where is your favorite place you launch on the Potomac River?

Christie Bradley: My favorite place to launch is Leesylvania State Park because I live in Virginia. The next closest place to where I live is Hope Springs Marina, but that's really expensive, the ramp isn't great, and it's very busy. So, if I'm going to choose where I'm going to launch, even though I have to drive further, it's going to be Leesylvania.

HPFC: What is your favorite gas station you go to when around the Potomac River?

Christie Bradley: The Wawa was the one that comes to mind but not my all-time favorite, but the one with the cheapest gas is probably where you will find me.

HPFC: What is your favorite convenience store and what do you buy?

Christie Bradley: On the Virginia side it's going to have to be the Wawa because there's no Sheetz nearby. If there was a Sheetz nearby, I would choose them as their breakfast sandwiches are so good. But at the Wawa I will get ice, water and I like their wraps, which I will throw in the boat for a day on the water.

Please follow Christie’s fishing path, starting this week with the Bassmaster Open on Cherokee Lake in East Tennessee. Also, stay tuned for future interviews with her. She has a lot more to say about her fishing background, along with some tips that will help you catch more fish on the Potomac or any other place bass swim.