Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 14, 1991 TAG: 9104150342
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
To qualify, he had to catch one of the winning weights during the Eastern Division Championship on the Connecticut River near Hartford.
A 40-year-old chemical engineer from Bristol, W.Va., McAvey admitted he had scant knowledge about bass fishing in Connecticut, which is a long way from the cypress trees and bull allegators that many people associate with the sport.
He did know that the New England states are small, and that meant the contenders who lived in the region had the distinct advantage of frequent practice simply by hooking up their boat and trailering it a few miles.
"I don't think I am a better fisherman than anybody else in the tournament, but I had to find better water," he said. "So I ended up finding some water and fishing where the local fellows had never tried."
That happened to be on the far side of a low-slung interstate bridge. With only 18 inches of clearance, McAvey removed the trolling motor and other equipment from his Ranger boat, then used a 5-gallon bucket to fill the craft with water until it was running over the stern and bow. Even that wasn't enough to lower the profile to the point that the outboard would clear the bridge, so McAvey had to shove against the bridge to get sink the boat even deeper.
It took 40 minutes to squeeze through, but on the other side McAver made up for lost time by chunking lures to bass that acted as if they'd never seen an angler.
"I had five keepers within 30 minutes. Anybody who would have done that would have won the tournament. There were just that many virgin fish."
McAvey won the Eastern Division, and his first-day partner, Charles "Les" Milburn finished second. Milburn was gentleman enough not to give away the secret, especially after getting the chance to fill his livewell with a wiggling cargo of fish, said McAvey.
As for the other Connecticut contestants, "They all wanted to know what the bucket was for," said McAvey. "They thought it was for personal use."
As far as anyone can tell, there will be no vaults of bass locked behind low bridges at Smith Mountain Lake. So McAver and the tournament's 41 other qualifiers, including Milburn, will be developing something besides a "sink your boat" pattern.
Even so, there should be plenty of bass to rattle the scales during the tournament's weigh-ins, Thursday through Saturday at the Roanoke Civic Center. Local anglers say the bass are in a pre-spawning mode, which means they are easy to find and eager to hit. It may take 40 pounds or more to win.
That would be twice as much as last June when hot weather sent the post-spawning bass deep and Lee Byrd of Stone Mountain, Ga. won with 19 pounds, 13 ounces.
"I talked to a guy yesterday who caught five fish that weighed 18 to 20 pounds," said Danny Garrett, a lake guide. "These are the kind of fish we have in here now, and they are biting."
"I think there are going to be a lot of fish caught and I think there are going to be some good quality fish caught, because they haven't spawned," said guide Dale Wilson.
The 42 contestants, who will practice Tuesday and Wednesday, come to the amateur world championship from across the United States and, for the first time, Japan and the Republic of South Africa. No one from Virginia qualified.
The winner in the $75,000 event will take home $15,000, more than twice last year's purse. But that's not the big prize. Five fishermen, one from each of the federation's geographic divisions, will earn a slot in the BASS Masters Classic, Aug. 22-24 at Baltimore, Md.
The federation championship won't be the only major prize in the offing Saturday. Up to 100 fishermen will be competing in the Smith Mountain Mega Bucks Tournament. Sponsored by Oak Ridge Toyota and Blue Ridge Mitsubishi in Lynchburg, it is advertising a $12,000 first prize to the winning two-person team.
The federation contenders:
EASTERN DIVISION
Edward Cowan, age 32, Pearl River, N.Y., grocery store employee; Terry Fleming, 48, Greenwich, N.Y., insurance agent; Dennis McAver, 40, Bristol, W.Va., chemical engineer; Randy MaCaluso, 41, Long Branch, N.J., met department manager; Charles "Les" Milburn, 53, Hagerstown, Md., general contractor; Randy Peters, 39, Winfield, W.Va., maintenance supervisor; Herb Reed, 36, Southington, Conn., illustrator; Ray Walker, 42, Elkview, W.Va., computer system manager.
SOUTHERN DIVISION
Bob Billman, 54, Columbus, Ga., draftsman; Terry Goggans, 40, Fort Payne, Ala., insurance agent; Ronnie Jones, 41, Hixson, Tenn., steam fitter; Mike Lanier, 23, Winnabow, N.C., asphalt paving; Scott Myers, 28, Sebastian, Fla., maintenance supervisor; Nick Short, 43, Madisonville, Ky., operations manager; Denny Stacey, 32, Marion, S.C., taxidermist.
NORTHERN DIVISION
Gary Brown, 49, Little Hocking, Ohio, pipe fitter, welder; Todd Duncan, 26, Toman, Wisc., lineman; Ray Fredrickson, 45, Chaseburg, Wis., factory worker; Eddie Frye, , 38, Addison, Ohio, lumberjack; Vance Gordon, 40, Marion, Iowa, sales; Karl Guegold, 27, Columbus, Ohio, contractor-carpenter; Mark Hickenbottom, 35, Bethesda, Ohio, coal miner; Jerry Mundt, 39, Oelwein, Iowa, auto body work.
CENTRAL DIVISION
Carey Backward, 23, Salina, Okla., equipment operator; Jim Berry, 37, Collerville, Tenn., printing company manager; Bimmy Boyle, 36, Grand Saline, Texas, fireman; Brent Duhon, 31, Norco, La., welder; William Hohm, 54, Lake St. Louis, Mo., project engineer; Kevin Sherfey, 27, Shawnee, Kan., U.S. Sprint; Dick Sporlender, 40, Norfolk, Neb., truck driver; Jerry Wagner, 55, Fort Smith, Ark., pediatric dentist.i
WESTERN DIVISION
Tim Baggett, 28, Phoenix, Ariz., air conditioning company forman; Frank Bottoms, 49, Idaho Falls, Idaho, salesman; John Buller, 51, Eugene, Oregon, CPA; Chris Camilli, 27, Missoula, Mont., United Parcel Service; Dean Hendricks, 50, Stockton, Calif., sheriffs department investigator; Randy Moore, 38, Littleton, Col., sales; Gene Schmitz, 43, Wenatchee, Wash., Mickey Trousdale, 45, Tucumcari, N.M., car salesman; Red Zielke, 56, Sandy, Utah, control branch manager.
SOUTH AFRICA
John Bulpitt, 34, Tzaneen, sales manager (will compete in Southern Division).
JAPAN
Nobuyuki Terjama, 23; Tokyo, fishing tackle wholesaler (will compete in Western Division).
\ WHAT WEIGHT WILL WIN IT? \
DENNIS MCAVEY, a chemical engineer from Bristol, W.Va., is the B.A.S.S. Federation Eastern Division champion, which makes him the nearest thing the tournament has to a home-lake favorite since there are no Virginia entries. "I think everyone is going to weigh in fish, and a lot of fish. I think the key will be finding a pattern that is producing larger fish. Prediction: 37 1/2 pounds." \
DALE WILSON has been a guide on Smith Mountain for more than 20 years: "It is going to take a lot of fish to win it; a limit every day. The fish will have to average somewhere around 2 to 3 1/2 pounds. I'd say it will take 42 pounds." \
JERRY ELDER, from Lynchburg, placed fourth in last year's Wrangler/B.A.S.S. Federation Championship. He didn't qualify for this year's event, but last week he made the Virginia B.A.S.S. Federation team for a record fourth time: "Thirty pounds. I am basing that on a 2-pound average." \
JIM HIX of Vinton had an exceptional season at Smith Mountain this spring, a winner in the Roanoke Valley Bassmasters event and third in the Smith Mountain Lake Ruritan contest. "I am going to say you are going to average 1 3/4-to 2 1/2-pound bass. I don't believe a guy is going to limit out all three days. I'd say 27 pounds." \
DANNY GARRETT is a Smith Mountain guide and frequent tournament fisherman. "I'd say 40 pounds. The fellows shouldn't be satisfied just to catch keepers, they should keep looking for 3-pound fish. This is a 3-pound average lake. There are plenty of big fish for everybody to catch in this lake right now. I am right proud of it." \
LYN WHEATLEY, based in Montgomery, Ala., is the director of the B.A.S.S. Federation. "I saw the lake at its unproductive time last June [when the winning federation championship catch was 19 pounds, 13 ounces]. All I can say, I hope it takes more to win this time than it did then. This year I will say it will take 35 pounds." \
JOHN R. JONES of Vinton is a Smith Mountain guide. "The bass are just before the spawn. They are full of eggs. All the females are going to be fat. I may be guessing low, but it will be 32 1/2 pounds. It could be more, but these fishermen aren't that familiar with the lake."
by CNB