MARBURY, Md. – One of the most historically significant and widely recognizable rivers in the eastern United States, the history of the Potomac River is as extensive as the river is long – as is MLF’s tournament history on the famous tidal fishery. And for the first time ever, the Bass Pro Tour will be competing on its waters at Zenni Stage 6 Presented by Athletic Brewing Company June 26-29.
The Potomac River as a tournament destination isn’t exactly a well-kept secret – with 141 prior MLF events on the Potomac, not to mention literally countless tournaments from the tour level down to local derbies, there isn’t much mystery on the sprawling fishery. But that doesn’t mean it’s an easy nut to crack, especially for those unfamiliar or uncomfortable with tidal fisheries.
With a bunch of MLF tournament history to dig through, this notebook is going to be as sprawling as the 14,670 square miles of the Potomac River Watershed. Let’s dig in.
The Playing Field
Spanning more than 400 miles, the whole of the Potomac River would be much too large a playing field for a Bass Pro Tour event. As such, competition waters are limited to the area between the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge (in Alexandria, Virginia) to the north and the 301 Bridge to the south, near Popes Creek by Newburg, Maryland, and Dahlgren, Virginia. That’s still an expansive stretch of water, but it certainly narrows the focus a bit.
Marbury, Maryland, will play host to Stage 6, situated about a third of the way down the competition waters from the northern boundary on Mattawoman Creek – a massive creek arm that’s always popular (and productive) for bass fishing tournaments. Other popular tournament areas within the tournament boundaries include Quantico Creek, Chicamuxen Creek and Aquia Creek – essentially, all the major creek arms, and, more specifically, the mouths of those creeks. It’s likely that we will see a lot of pros stay close to Mattawoman or venture south to some of the aforementioned areas.
Grass and hard cover are generally the biggest players on the Potomac, with milfoil having made a big comeback in recent years as the predominant fishable vegetation. During the summer months, large grass patches tend to be community holes on the Potomac, a la Florida. “Sneaky” areas are scarce and unpredictable, especially this time of year.
While the main river has some areas where schools of fish can be had, the Potomac as a whole is a shallow fishery with ample cover for fish to hide and feed. Factor in the semi-diurnal tides of the Potomac (two low and two high tides per day) and you have a living, breathing, changing fishery that keeps bass anglers on their toes day to day, hour to hour.
Hard cover of both the natural and man-made varieties can certainly come into play as well, with docks being the primary targets. But, in general, everything is going to be tide-related to some degree. Smart money is on shallow-grass power fishing being the winning tactic.
The Potomac, by the numbers
As far as huge, historic fisheries go, the Potomac stands on its own. Here are some facts and figures about the river itself:
2: Number of high and low tides the Potomac experiences per day in the Mattawoman Creek area (near Marbury, Maryland, host of Stage 6), making it a semi-diurnal tide.
2.03: Maximum difference in tide (in feet) in the Mattawoman Creek area projected for Day 1 of Stage 6, from .02 feet to 2.05 feet.
4: Number of states the Potomac River basin spans, not including Washington, D.C. (West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania).
275: Gallons per day (in billions) of water flow recorded at Washington, D.C. in 1936 – the highest flow ever recorded at that location. The lowest flow ever recorded at the same location was 388 million gallons per day in 1966.
405: Length (in miles) of the Potomac River, starting at Fairfax Stone (the headspring marker of the North Potomac) to the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland.
460: Gallons (in millions) of water withdrawn per day, on average, for use in the Washington, D.C. area.
14,670: Total drainage area, in square miles, of the Potomac River basin.
The players
Being a fishery that has hosted so many MLF events, there aren’t many BPT pros who don’t have at least some experience on the Potomac. Since 1994, MLF/FLW has hosted 141 tournaments there to this point in the 2025 season, with Stage 6 this week and then three more events (one BFL, one Toyota Series and one Abu Garcia College Fishing event) still on the schedule for this fall.
As you’ll see below, a handful of BPT pros have more experience at the Potomac than others, with a few notable names having won there in the past:
4: Number of BPT pros with at least one prior MLF win at the Potomac (Bobby Lane x2, Luke Clausen, Nick Hatfield, Dave Lefebre).
7-9: Weight of the heaviest bass Marty Robinson has weighed in MLF competition at the Potomac, tied for third heaviest of all-time at that fishery. He caught that tank in a Toyota Series Northern Division event in 2022.
8-3: Heaviest individual bass weighed in MLF competition at the Potomac. Phillip Vanderveer set the record in a Shenandoah Division BFL in 2013, which was very nearly tied by John Lorenzo in 2022 with an 8-2.
12: Number of current BPT pros who have caught a five-fish limit of at least 18 pounds in prior MLF competition at the Potomac.
13: Number of events Virginia pro Martin Villa has fished at the Potomac between BFL, Toyota Series and Tackle Warehouse Invitationals competition, posting a Top 10 in two of those events. ALSO, the number of BPT pros who have fished at least seven MLF events at the Potomac.
14: Number of BPT pros who have never fished an MLF event at the Potomac.
18: Number of MLF events Lefebre has fished on the Potomac – far and away the most of anyone in the BPT field.
25-3: Heaviest five-fish limit weighed in MLF competition at the Potomac, weighed in by Kevin Waterman in a 2009 BFL.
69-14: Heaviest four-day cumulative weight caught in a MLF event at the Potomac (Clausen, 2011 FLW Tour).
141: MLF tournaments fished at the Potomac prior to Stage 6
The Lane Train chugs north
Without looking it up, who do you think the BPT pro is who has more MLF wins at the Potomac than any other? Hint: He’s not from any of the states that border the banks of the river, and the answer is probably pretty obvious if you’re looking at the photo or subhead above.
If you guessed Bobby Lane… well, you’re either a bass fishing scholar or you’ve been paying attention. Lane won Toyota Series events at the Potomac in both 2007 and 2009. It’s not crazy to believe Lane won two events there – after all, he’s one of the most successful pros in BPT history – but considering he hails from Florida and not Virginia or Maryland, it’s certainly surprising that no one else on the BPT roster has more.
Still, there’s something to be said for Lane’s success at the Potomac. Given the abundance of grass in the fishery and the fact that the best bite is almost always the shallow bite, Lane probably feels right at home there.
OK, without looking it up: Are we about to hit you with more “by the numbers” facts? You bet!
2: Number of MLF wins Lane has at the Potomac (2007 and 2009 Toyota Series Northern Division) AND number of third-place finishes at the Potomac.
4: Number of Top 10s Lane has on his Potomac résumé. He’s running a 66.66% Top 10 percentage there.
5: Number of 18-plus-pound limits Lane has caught in MLF competition at the Potomac dating back to 2007.
6: Number of MLF events Lane has fished at the Potomac.
57-6: Heaviest three-day cumulative weight caught in an MLF event at the Potomac (Lane, 2009 Toyota Series).
Also of note
• Adrian Avena has been a consistent, steady force on the Bass Pro Tour over the last four seasons. From 2022 to 2024, these are Avena’s AOY points race finishes: 12th, 23rd, 19th. This year, entering Stage 6, he’s 15th in points, and this is an event in which he has a chance to potentially jump into the Top 10 in the points race. Avena, hailing from New Jersey, cut his teeth on the Chesapeake Bay, has a bunch of experience on eastern tidal fisheries (including the Potomac) and typically fishes really well in grass-dominated events. Food for thought if you need a sleeper for your Phoenix Fantasy Fishing picks.
• Jacob Wheeler this year in the BPT regular season: fifth, sixth, second, second, win. He has a massive points lead. He’s won AOY three of the last four years and missed making it four in a row with a four-point loss to Matt Becker in 2023. All that to say: It’s going to take a massive stumble at Stage 6 or Stage 7 for Wheeler to not continue his AOY dominance. He’s only fished two MLF events at the Potomac (2012 FLW Tour, 54th; 2015 FLW Tour, 65th), but there’s basically zero reason to expect Wheeler not to have another great showing this week. STILL… If Wheeler stubs his toe this week, he’ll have some added pressure to turn in another stellar northern performance on Saginaw Bay at Stage 7 to finish the job.
• If you’re not into watching guys fish with forward-facing sonar, you’re probably going to want to have your eyes glued to MLFNOW! this week. Apart from the BPT’s rules about only allowing anglers one period of FFS use per day, it’s just extremely likely that FFS is going to have a minimal impact on SCORETRACKER®. Sure, some pros will absolutely make good use of their electronics on the Potomac when the time comes, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see FFS account for south of 30% of the total scorable bass in this event. In other words: Buckle up for some flipping, punching, frogs, ChatterBaits – all the good stuff.
• I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that David Dudley is going to go through bags and bags of Perfection Lures Dudley’s Wacky Worms this week. Dudley is a master with the weightless stick worm, and I can’t think of an event that lines up better for how he likes to fish. He’s from Virginia, has nine prior MLF events on the Potomac and most recently finished 12th in a Pro Circuit event there in 2017. Shallow grass is going to be a huge player, and with the impending heat wave that’s going to crush the Potomac during Stage 6, my mind’s eye sees Dudley back in the grass, methodically picking off scorable after scorable on a stick worm. Is a Championship Round appearance in the cards for Dudley this week? I kind of think so.
• Wednesday – the final day before the start of the tournament – the high in Marbury, Maryland is projected to be 98 degrees. It’s been exceptionally hot all across the country, and the Potomac region hasn’t been spared from the heat. The silver lining: Highs for the next four days are forecasted to be 84, 90, 90 and 91. The not-so-silver lining? Rain and thunderstorms throughout the event. It’ll be interesting to see how much (if at all) the weather impacts fish positioning and behavior.
Linking up!
For a LOT more info about Stage 6 and the Potomac River, check out these other stories we’ve published at MajorLeagueFishing.com and bookmark the tournament hub for all the coverage of this week’s action.