Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 4, 1995 TAG: 9508040059
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: GREENSBORO, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
The 41-year-old Buford, Ga., angler snatched the lead in the BASS Masters Classic with a five-fish limit that weighed 17 pounds, 14 ounces. The catch included triplet largemouths that weighed 4 pounds, 6 ounces; 4 pounds, 7 ounces and 4 pounds, 9 ounces.
What's more, Bruce believes there are enough fish in his sweet spot to hold up the next two days of the tournament.
``I caught six fish in 10 minutes,'' he said. ``The last one was a 4-pounder, and I never made another throw there. Hopefully, some of the 30 people who were watching me didn't go over there after I left and clean them out.
Virginia's only Classic contender, 19-year-old David Dudley of Lynchburg, had a disappointing day that netted him a single 1-pound, 14-ounce bass. That ranked him 34th in a field of 40.
``I really don't know what I did wrong today,'' said Dudley, the youngest angler ever to qualify for a Classic. ``I don't reckon I pulled on the right spot.''
Nor did some of the top names in tournament fishing. The list of anglers who failed to catch a keeper reads like a who's who of bass fishing: Jimmy Houston, Ken Cook and Denny Brauer.
In contrast, Bruce said he knew before the starting gun that he was going to catch fish - big ones!
``I had a tremendous practice,'' he said.
He was so confident of success that he told Bob Cobb, director of the BASS Master TV show, that B.A.S.S. would do well to put a camera crew on him.
``I had covered Mickey in the past and that was the first time I'd ever seen him so up,'' said Cobb. ``He usually is conservative.''
So Cobb had one of his five camera crews to follow Bruce; in fact, Cobb was at the helm of the boat that got the assignment.
``He just put on a seminar for us,'' Cobb said. ``It was fantastic. It was [as] if we had written a script and went out and said, `Fill in the blanks.'''
As for the technique that was pulling in bass for Bruce, all he would say was, ``I'm doing something different.''
Mark Hardin of Canton, Ga., reeled in the biggest bass on the first day of competition, a 6-pound, 11-ounce trophy that helped vault him into second place with a limit that weighed 17 pounds, 6 ounces.
Although a dozen fishermen in addition to Bruce and Hardin nailed limit catches Thursday, Kevin VanDam managed to claim third place with a four-fish take that weighed 17 pounds, 1 ounce.
``I would have given anything for 15 more minutes of time,'' he said. ``I could have caught another one, I'm sure. I caught one of my biggest bass the last 15 minutes or so.''
The 27-year-old Kalamazoo, Mich., fisherman said his game plan was to catch big fish or none at all. It was that kind of gamble that got him his biggest fish, a 5-pound, 6-ounce beauty.
``I flipped over the back side of a boat dock and that thing hit,'' he said. ``I just jerked him right over the top of the dock and he fell into the boat.''
The home-town favorite, David Fritts of nearby Lexington, N.C., had 71 boatloads of fishing fans following him at one point Thursday but still managed to catch a limit of bass hefty enough to rank him sixth.
``I made up my mind this year I wasn't going to pay any attention to it and just go out there and fish,'' he said, after being rattled by sightseers last year at High Rock.
During the weigh-in, Roland Martin chastised the Fritts followers, telling them they were putting their hero at a disadvantage.
``For all those people who are following him, shame on yourself,'' said Martin, a popular TV fishing show host and Classic contender. ``That's not right. That's not quality bass fishing.''
by CNB