ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. — A hidden gem will likely be exposed when the 2025 Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series at Pasquotank River/Albemarle Sound event kicks off in eastern North Carolina. While a cooldown is forecast for the area, local guide and tournament angler Matt Greschak expects plenty of big bass to be caught.
“It is going to be really cool to watch,” Greschak, who runs Avery’s Guide Service, said. “Think of the Sabine River with Florida weight. We have big ones here. If you don’t have one over 8 pounds, you aren’t winning big bass. I think it is going to take some serious weight to win.
“You could see somebody hitting the right stretch and landing 25 to 28 pounds and follow it up with a couple 20-pound bags to hang on to it. Someone is going to catch some giants, though. I think we’ll see one over 10 pounds.”
Tournament days are scheduled for April 10-13. The Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series field will launch from Waterfront Park each day at 7 a.m. ET and return for weigh-in starting at 3 p.m. The field will be cut to the Top 50 on Day 3 before the Top 10 duke it out on Championship Sunday for the first-place prize of $100,000 and a coveted blue trophy.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail has only visited the northeastern area of North Carolina three times — once for the 1975 Bassmaster Classic at the Currituck Sound won by Jack Hains and twice for North Carolina Invitationals in 1980 and 1981 in the Albemarle Sound.
Very few of the same patterns and areas from those events are still relevant.
“The Currituck Sound was full of milfoil brought in for duck hunting,” Greschak said. “It was a waterfowl destination, and all the grass turned it into a premier bass-fishing destination. Guys would work full-time duck hunting, and in the summer, they would be bass guides. Since then, a lot of things have happened, but in summary, the salinity has risen in that particular area where the Classic takeoff was. All of that is now premier flounder, trout and redfish waters.”
The prominent milfoil beds from that era may be gone, but the fishing along the North Carolina coast has only gotten better. Greschak competes in the Carolina Anglers Team Tournament Trail (CATT), and their tournament bags in the Tidewater rival what the Santee Cooper Lakes division produces.
Greschak won one of those CATT tournaments the last week of March with nearly 26 pounds.
“We had an 8-3 and a 7 3/4, and we didn’t win big fish (of the tournament),” he said.
The playing field for this tournament is massive. Anglers can go as far north as Norfork, Va., as far south as Morehead City, N.C., and as far west down any of the rivers as they want without locking. Greschak anticipates much of the field will focus their attention on the Chowan and Roanoke rivers to the west of takeoff, but there are big bass closer to takeoff as well.
Despite being close to the Atlantic Ocean, the fishery does not experience tidal influences.
“We don’t have a tide,” Greschak explained. “We have some water fluctuation depending on which way the wind is blowing, and that is about it. Guys will be disappointed if they try to run a tide.”
Ahead of official practice, temperatures are expected to be around and over 80 degrees before a front moves in and sends temperatures back into the mid- to high 60s. Greschak is expecting largemouth to still be in a largely prespawn pattern, but with the full moon arriving halfway through the tournament, there is a chance some will be caught off the bed.
Each river sets up differently from the next. The Roanoke is thinner with stronger current, while the Chowan is quite a bit wider. The Pasquotank River and the other rivers on the east side of the Albemarle Sound proper also present unique opportunities.
Cypress trees and wooded cover will be the most prominent cover. Some of the backwater ponds along the Sound will have some vegetation, and isolated shellbars could hold a population of bass. Bluegill and crawfish are prominent on the east side, while a strong shad population exists in the western rivers.
“It is mostly wood here,” he said. “There’s not a lot of riprap and no rock unless you go way up the Roanoke. Hard spots and shellbars are hard to find. I feel like the majority of the guys will be fishing the bank or fishing drains (and) marsh ditches with grass in them as well.”
The wind will be the biggest X factor in this tournament, Greschak said. With how wide and shallow the Sound is, navigation becomes difficult with higher wind speeds, particularly when they come from the southwest. In that scenario, those who can navigate well or find productive areas close to takeoff will have the upper hand.
“If people can break down the Chowan and Roanoke, they will be big players,” he said. “The issue is getting there all four days. The Albemarle Sound gets really, really rough. There’s no place to get gas and you can’t make it when it is that rough without stopping to get fuel. You’ll have to be very strategic.”
Even though there will be some places where forward-facing sonar will shine, power-fishing techniques will likely be on full display in this event. Spinnerbaits and ChatterBaits are popular baits, as well as squarebill crankbaits. Flipping baits like a beaver or a Strike King Rage Bug will also come into play.
Given the right conditions, a productive topwater bite could present itself, too. While some bass could be spawning, the water clarity doesn’t always make sight fishing easy.
Union City, Tenn., pro John Garrett leads the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings after two events with 204 points. DeBary, Fla.’s John Cox is second with 191 points, followed by Sylacauga, Ala.’s David Gaston in third with 183 points. Brookville, Ind., pro Bill Lowen is fourth with 182 points, while Alabama pros Will Davis Jr. and Wes Logan are tied for fifth with 182 points. Jay Przekurat, Jake Whitaker, Lee Livesay and Brandon Palaniuk round out the Top 10.
Canadian pro Evan Kung leads the Dakota Lithium Bassmaster Rookie of the Year standings with 143 points followed by Arkansas’s Beau Browning in second with 140 points. Georgia’s Paul Marks is third with 131 points, Alabama’s Tucker Smith is fourth with 122 points and Georgia’s Emil Wagner is fifth with 108 points.
Bassmaster LIVE coverage of the 2025 Bassmaster Elite at Pasquotank River will be available on Bassmaster.com on Days 1 and 2 starting at 8 a.m. ET and ending at 3 p.m. FS1 will carry the morning action on Day 3 from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. before moving to Bassmaster.com in the afternoon. Championship Sunday coverage will be broadcast on FS1 from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Visit Elizabeth City is hosting the tournament.