Beatin’ The Bank: 2025 St. Johns River B.A.S.S. Elite
Posted by Bernie Schultz on Mar 13th 2025
Lying less than an hour from my home in North-Central Florida is the St. Johns River — Stop 1 of the 2025 Bassmaster Elite Series. Although close geographically, I rarely fish there. When I do, it’s for solely for tournaments.
Closer to me is Rodman Reservoir, which connects to the St. Johns via the Buckman Lock and Canal. Normally, the reservoir is part of tournament waters for any St. Johns event. But due to a miscommunication by Florida Wildlife & Conservation (FWC) officials over a proposed drawdown, B.A.S.S. decided to declare it off limits. For me, that was a crushing blow, as most of my success on the river was realized by accessing the reservoir.
Dealt with the reduced playing field, I turned my attention to the lower (northern) sections of the St. Johns … more specifically, its canals and creeks.
Practice Begins
The first morning of practice, I launched at the Palatka City Docks — official take-off site for the event. From there, I ventured north hoping to find some spawning bass.
Unfortunately, the conditions were terrible. It was raining sideways with temperatures dipping into the low forties … definitely not the best for sight fishing. Nonetheless, I spent most of the day dissecting protected waters using a 1/2-ounce Chatterbait with Yamamoto Zako fish-tail trailer — both in white. I also rigged a watermelon-green pumpkin 4-inch Senko wacky style and a 5-inch Senko, Texas-rigged in black with blue tail.
Even though I caught very few fish by day’s end, I saw potential in two specific areas and planned to revisit them during the competition.
On day 2, I left the City Docks at daybreak and headed to Dunns Creek — a connecting waterway to Crescent Lake, located just east of the St. Johns. Dunns features countless canals, most of which are shallow and heavily developed with docks and seawalls. Checking one of my favorites first, I found several fish on bed and got a few random strikes by swimming a Yamamoto Speed Senko through scattered lily pads.
Leaving there, I ventured to another familiar canal, hoping to find more of the same. Unfortunately, it was void of fish.
After probing a few more canals, I then spent several hours in Dunns Creek proper, flipping and pitching to some of the better lily pad stretches. By day’s end, the only productive water I found was that at my first stop.
On day 3, I trailered to the Town of Astor, some 50 miles south of Palatka. There too, is an abundance of canals ideal for attracting spawning fish. But after hours of scouting, I saw very little. By midafternoon, I decided to load the boat and trailer to the head of Salt Springs Run.
Minutes after launching the boat, I found a number of spawning fish locked on beds … some paired together. Although encouraging, there were other competitors present, looking at the same obvious beds. As practice concluded, I decided my best chance was to commit to the canals and creeks I scouted well north of Palatka.
Competition Time
The next morning, the skies were clear and the winds were slight. It looked like a promising day ahead
After a prayer and the National Anthem was played, take-off began. When my number was called, I exited take-off and raced directly to my first stop. Upon arrival, I could see there were no other boats within sight.
Things started off slow, but by 10 o’clock I had scored several keepers including two close to four pounds. All of them fell for the Chatterbait-Zako combo.
A few hours later, I finished my limit by catching two solid males on bed. Both fell for the wacky-rig, 4-inch Senko. When it was time for weigh-in, I put 17 pounds of St. Johns River largemouth on the scales, which was good enough for 14th place.
Apparently, it was a tough day for most of the field. You either had a good sack of fish or were left with next to nothing.
On day 2, the take-off order reversed and I was in the third flight.
Wanting to check a spot I overlooked the day before, I decided to alter my route. It proved to be a good decision. That one stop yielded three fish, including a solid 5-pounder. From there, I returned to my day 1 starting spot and filled out a limit. Nearly everything came on the white Chatterbait with Zako trailer and Texas-rig, 5-inch black and blue Senko.
Just before check-in time, I made a quick stop at a short, stubby canal. A dozen or so casts later, I hooked into a 6-pounder. After battling her all the way to the boat, she made one last jump and threw my Chatterbait. Letting out a few expletives, I fired another cast to the same area and, to my surprise, a 4-pounder loaded the rod. Once it was in the boat, I made a quick cull, then raced to check-in.
At the scales, I registered a weight of 14 pounds, 10 ounces and moved up to 12th place in the standings. Although I was disappointed with the loss of that 6-pounder, the pressure was off. I knew I had made the cut.
Fishing on the Weekend
On day 3, with the field reduced to 50 anglers, I decided to start where I lost the big fish. But after dissecting the area for more than an hour without a bite, I left for my day-2 starting spot.
Once there, I picked up the Chatterbait-Zako combo and went to work. Minutes later, I hooked into a behemoth. The fish struck the lure as soon as it hit the water and swam sideways toward a set of pilings. After managing to pull her free from the first pole, she then raced to open water.
Line stripped from my reel, yet the fish never jumped. Instead, she made several drag-burning runs below the boat. Finally, nearly two minutes later, I pulled her to the surface and grabbed her by the lower jaw. She was huge, and my first thought was that she weighed 10 pounds. After closer inspection, however, my marshal and I decided she was right at 9 pounds
With her in the box so early, I was confident of making the top-10 cut. I just needed a few more bites.
Unfortunately, as the day wore on, those bites never came … not until minutes before check-in, when I finally caught a second and final keeper.
Dejected, I carried my two fish across the stage and registered a weight of less than 10 pounds. Unable to fill out a limit dropped me to 26th place in the standings. Even more frustrating was the fact that my big fish got beat by a single ounce
For me, the tournament was over. Although it was a solid finish, I couldn’t help but think of what might have been … had I boated the 6-pounder on day 2, or even managed a few more small keepers on day 3.
Next up is Lake Okeechobee — Stop 2 of the Bassmaster Elite Series. Stay tuned…