Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, July 6, 1990                   TAG: 9007070416
SECTION: SMITH MOUNTAIN TIMES                    PAGE: SMT10   EDITION: BEDFORD/FRANKLIN 
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

ATTENDANCE LOW, FISHING SLOW AT B.A.S.S. TOURNEY

It won't be a B.A.S.S. Masters Classic, however, said Lyn Wheatley, the B.A.S.S. Federation director.

Some local fishermen were saying that the June 28-30 federation national championship on the lake was a trial run for the Classic, which is considered the most prestigious bass tournament in the world.

"I don't think so," said Wheatley, who is from the organization's Montgomery, Ala., headquarters.

"You really don't have the facilities here to handle the Classic. You need an arena [for the weigh-in] that will seat 15,000 to 20,000, one that is readily accessible to a lake."

What's more, the 20,000 acres of Smith Mountain Lake really don't provide a large enough playing field for the pros, he added.

"So the only tournament we have that would fit this lake is a federation national championship."

Wheatley said his organization hadn't ruled out returning the Wrangler/B.A.S.S National Championship to Smith Mountain Lake.

"The fishing hasn't been great, but we all know that Smith Mountain Lake is tough in June," Wheatley said at the final weigh-in on Saturday, where a three-day, 19-pound, 13-ounce catch was good enough for a win by Lee Byrd of Stone Mountain, Ga.

"We are negotiating with several different areas in several different states," said Wheatley.

Next year's federation championship will be scheduled in April. Local anglers say spring catches would be significantly better than June results.

Smith Mountain has a reputation of being Scrooge-like when it comes to giving up summertime bass catches during the daylight hours, but it was even tougher for tournament fishermen than many had predicted. In a pre-tournament survey, lake guides, top local tournament fishermen and B.A.S.S. officials had estimated it would take a catch anywhere from 25 to 37 pounds to win.

Pee Wee Powers, the Virginia B.A.S.S. Federation president from Chester, made the 37-pound prediction.

Powers, to a large degree, was responsible for getting the tournament on the lake after going to last year's federation championship on Lake Tuscaloosa in Alabama.

"It was so well received there that within a couple of days I got with Lyn [Wheatley] and said, `Hey! I would like to hold this within my state.' I felt like a tournament of this magnitude and style would really help the community and help people know what bass fishing is all about."

Powers and Wheatley began searching for tournament facilities in the lower end of the lake, but said they failed to find what was needed in the way of lodging and weigh-in facilities. Just before giving up, they arrived at the idea of having the launch site at Bay Roc Marina, in the upper Roanoke River arm of Smith Mountain, the weigh-in at the LancerLot in Vinton, and the lodging at the Airport Marriott in Roanoke.

Powers said B.A.S.S. officials and the tournament anglers were delighted with arrangements, and all that remained was filling the LancerLot at the weigh-in, where a Nashville Network TV program was being filmed.

"If I can get the crowd out Saturday, it is a cinch the tournament will be back next year," he said as the tournament began. "They [B.A.S.S.] want to be received by the public. They want to be back."

The pre-tournament enthusiasm was high.

"If I were going to watch it, I would come early so I would get a good seat," Wheatley had said. "It should be full every day."

As it turned out, there were plenty of seats available in the 3,216-seat LancerLot. The building, which was hot as a hayloft, appeared to be little more than one-third full for the final weigh-in. Powers had expected more support.

The financial benefit of a major B.A.S.S. event is significant to a locality, he said. A tournament brings national television, magazine and newspaper exposure to a lake and generates tourism dollars for the region.

He estimated the value of the federation championship to the Smith Mountain Lake-Roanoke Valley area at $1.5 to $2 million.