Afternoon flurry drives Falardeau to Day 1 lead at Upper Chesapeake

NORTH EAST, MD. — An hour of “pure chaos” that resulted in a limit weighing 22 pounds, 7 ounces carried Dillon Falardeau to the Day 1 lead at the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Upper Chesapeake Bay presented by SEVIIN.
Anchoring his bag with a 5-10 largemouth, the Hixson, Tenn., pro holds a 2-ounce advantage over Steve Dimatteo, who hails from Lancaster, Penn., and a 4-ounce advantage over Georgia’s Josh Bragg heading into Day 2.

Despite a less-than-ideal tide cycle, with high tide occurring around 9 a.m., the Upper Chesapeake Bay produced plenty of quality bass on Day 1. In fact, 24 limits weighed 17-9 or better, which is more than the biggest bag of the tournament (17-8) from the Open held here in 2022.

More limits were caught during Wednesday’s opening round (121) than during all three days of competition combined in 2022 (82) as well.

The day started slow for Falardeau, who fished through his primary area with little success as the high tide moved in. Figuring the outgoing tide would provide better results, he moved to a different area and filled out a 13-pound limit before returning to his primary area a few hours later.

During his hour-long flurry, Falardeau said he caught around 10 quality largemouth on three different baits before heading back to weigh-in.

“When I got back, the tide was about halfway down and it was lights out. An hour of pure chaos,” he said. “The first cast I caught a 5-pounder and a couple casts later I caught (the 5-10). Right away I culled out my entire 13-pound limit.”

Falardeau is targeting largemouth setting up on a mixture of vegetation in 2 to 4 feet of water. Three or four different types of grasses are present in the area, but he believes finding baitfish is more important than targeting a specific type of grass.

In a tournament where plenty of anglers are fishing in close quarters at the Susquehanna Flats, Falardeau had his best spot to himself, that is until about halfway through his midday rally.

“I was all alone until the bass started jumping,” he explained. “A couple boats noticed, and then all of a sudden there were two boats with me, then five and when I left there were around 25 boats.”

Originally from Rhode Island, Falardeau has never bass fished a tidal river before, but his experience fishing and guiding around the Tennessee River in Chattanooga helped him find his early success on the Chesapeake Bay.

“On the Tennessee River, current is key,” he explained. “Everything I have learned on Chickamauga fishing current I have utilized out here.”

Given how well the bass bit in the afternoon, Falardeau said he is excited to be in a later flight on Day 2 and hopes he will be able to capitalize on his longer fishing day.

“I’m very excited,” he said. “The bite turned on an hour before I had to go, so I will have an extra hour to fish tomorrow. Even if I don’t have much at 2 p.m., I’ll still be positive because I know that 2:30 to 3:30 (p.m.) range could be really good.”

A frequent visitor to the Upper Chesapeake Bay, Dimatteo also had to wait for the tide to start falling to catch the majority of his 22-5 limit. After not landing anything over 3 pounds in practice, Dimatteo was surprised to see the quality of bass he did on Day 1.

“I kind of stumbled on something when I was looking down at my forward-facing sonar,” he said. “I caught three big ones really quick and culled twice. I only caught seven fish, and it happened really fast like it always does down here.”

Dimatteo is focusing on vegetation located in deeper water areas. While he couldn’t see the bass on his forward-facing sonar, he could see if there were baitfish present.

“I wasn’t in the really thick stuff,” he said. “I was out a little deeper and picking apart sporadic grass.”

Bragg fished one of the more popular areas of the Upper Chesapeake on Day 1 and caught 22-3 to land in third place after Day 1. Practice was not easy for the Fayetteville, Ga., pro, but he returned to the areas he had several bites around and made the most of the morning bite.

“They were biting when we got there and I got a good limit in the boat quick,” Bragg said. “Then right before I had to come in I caught a 5- and a (4-pounder), which really boosted me.”

Bragg is also targeting vegetation, and he has found a specific type of grass in 5 to 6 feet of water that has been holding the better-quality largemouth. Two baits produced all of his key bites.

Allons, Tenn., pro Christian Nash anchored his 20-1 limit with a 5-13 largemouth, which earned Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day honors.

The full field of pros will launch from North East Community Park starting at 6 a.m. ET Thursday and return for weigh-in at 2 p.m. The Top 10 anglers following the Day 2 weigh-in will advance to Championship Saturday. The winner will earn the first-place trophy and a spot in the 2026 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour, given they have fished all four Division I events.

Discover Cecil County is hosting the tournament.

2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Title Sponsor: St. Croix

2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Presenting Sponsor: SEVIIN

2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Platinum Sponsors: Progressive, Toyota

2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Premier Sponsors: Bass Pro Shops, Dakota Lithium, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha

2025 Bassmaster Opens Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Daiwa, Garmin, Lew’s, Lowrance, Triton Boats, VMC, Yokohama

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