DeFoe Demonstrates Heart of a Lion in BPT Potomac Win
On the sixth anniversary of his unexpected heart surgery, Ott DeFoe launched his Nitro Boat on the Potomac River on a stifling hot day. A few days later, on the anniversary of the day he got out of the hospital, he put on a dominant Championship Round performance and headed home with his fifth BPT trophy.
“It’s almost like a second birthday,” he said of the anniversary. “That made it particularly special.”
He probably didn’t want to blow out any candles, but he nevertheless took home not just a giant trophy, but also a check for $150,000. Not bad for someone who said he has plenty of experience on the Nation’s River, but had yet to crack its code. Now the past Bassmaster Classic champion has added another notch to his ever expanding list of accomplishments – and he’s still a few months away from turning 40.
Mastering the Ups and Down
DeFoe headed into the Potomac River event with substantial experience on the Potomac, albeit not in the last eight or nine years, as well as on other tidal fisheries, and while he’d yet to win on one, he’d learned valuable lessons about how to best bend them to his strengths.
“I’m not good at running the tides,” he admitted. “I need to find a home. It doesn’t have to be in one creek like it was this time, but I have to find a good area with a lot of fish and then make adjustments as the water goes up and down.”
Indeed, the creek in which he did most of his damage isn’t much bigger than a trout stream, and DeFoe shared it much of the time with fellow competitor Keith Carson. On the final day, Ott caught 32 scorable bass for 78 pounds 11 ounces, to beat the second place angler by almost 27 pounds.
“It was mind-blowing that there were that many fish in there,” he said. “It honestly seemed like we couldn’t catch them all. On my second day there, the Knockout Round, I was catching fat, healthy fish with no hook holes in them. Tidal fish are always moving one direction or the other, and in this case there were new fish constantly coming in. They were literally replenishing as we fished.”
Beat the Heat
Prior to the tournament, conventional wisdom held that the best way to win under the Bass Pro Tour’s all-you-can-catch format would be to camp on one of the Potomac’s lush grass beds and pluck away at the largest populations of bass on an expansive playing field. But that was not to be.
“It was definitely heat-related,” he said. “There was a heat wave the few days before we got there, and during practice and the off day. The main river, in places with decent current, were 82 to 84 degrees in the morning. By the second day of practice they were up to 88 or so. The bays and bigger creeks without current were 93 to 97 degrees. I one-hundred percent think that sent those fish looking.
“The first time I went to the Potomac, we were there in August,” he recalled. “It was incredible how many fish I found in one place. But the next year went in June and there was not a bass in there. They’re very sensitive to the temperature.”
After catching 40 pounds in his hidden creek by noon on Day One – and watching Carson catch 50 in that same time – DeFoe didn’t make it back in there on the second day. When the opportunity presented itself the next day he couldn’t resist. It paid off, but he still had plans B, C and D ready to go.
“There were other similar creeks that had a bunch of fish in them,” he said. “If I needed them, I had other places.”
Redlining Another Victory
Throughout the first few days of competition, DeFoe found the Potomac’s bass to be aggressive, so he relied on power technique including a flipping jig, a bladed jig and a buzzbait. During the Championship Round, however, when he made his statement catch, a wacky rigged soft stickbait did the most damage.
“I could have caught fish on it the first day, but I didn’t need to,” he said. “But that last day I was further back. The water was really clear and to get them to bite I had to float it in the current weightless.”
While he figured the fish out, he credited not just his soft plastic but also his choice of hook for sealing the deal.
“I exclusively used a #1 VMC® Redline Series® Weedless Wacky Neko Hook,” he said. “It’s the right shape and the perfect size wire so when they eat it you hook them and you’ve got to use pliers. That weed guard is critical, too. The arms are shaped just right so you rarely get hung. I can skip it deep into stuff and get bites where others won’t go. I can literally put it wherever I want to. If it wasn’t so weedless, you’d ruin the cast.”
Indeed, he said that there are still a number of key VMC “legacy” hooks in his arsenal, but the RedLine Series has a whole has improved his efficiency.
“They hold up better than any hook I’ve every used before,” he explained. “You don’t go through nearly as many as you would with any other comparable hook. That means you come out ahead on money and have more time with your bait in the water.”
When DeFoe wins, historically he’s gone on streaks where he’s been nearly unbeatable, and this could very well be the beginning of one of those runs.
“It hadn’t been the kind of season I like,” he said. “This is only my third top 20 and first top 10, but I know I’ve consistently been a decision or two away. It’s nice when it all comes together.”