Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 20, 1991 TAG: 9104200103
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
While most of the 42 contestants have been casting to the discolored water of the upper part of Smith Mountain Lake, Cowan has gambled by speeding down the Roanoke River arm from Hardy to the wide expanses of transparent water near the dam.
"I figured being down in the clear water I wouldn't have the competition some of the other guys would Standings in Scoreboard. B4 have and the fishing would be more stable if we got rain."
So far it has worked for the 32-year-old grocery store clerk. While casting a smorgasbord selection of lures Friday he cranked in a limit of five bass weighing 11 pounds, 8 ounces. That gave him a two-day total of 21 pounds, 14 ounces, good for the lead as the contest heads for a 2:30 p.m. final weigh-in today at the Roanoke Civic Center.
But when Cowan makes his at-dawn dash down the lake today, the competition will be building.
For one thing, the weekend anglers will be out.
For another, a second major contest, the Smith Mountain Mega Bucks Tournament, will lure some of the best regional fishermen into action with its $12,000 first-place prize.
Then there is Charles "Les" Milburn, only 9 ounces behind Cowan.
A 53-year-old general contractor from Hagerstown, Md., Milburn had the biggest single-day catch of the championship Friday, 11 pounds, 11 ounces. That boosted his total to 21 pounds, 5 ounces.
If practice makes perfect, Milburn has an advantage. In March, he spent 25 days learning the lake while living in his recreation vehicle at Campers Paradise. He is catching bass by casting plastic worms to docks and downed trees located in creeks.
Friday, the sky turned putty colored and dropped a cold rain, the kind that seeps through the seams of cheap foul-weather gear. Although uncomfortable, most of the competitors welcomed it. They said it made the bass bolder, and it helped mask their approach.
The day's catch was up 20 keepers over the sun-splashed take of Thursday, and that included two landed by the tournament-crowd favorite, Nobuyuki Terajima of Japan - his first.
But the day didn't treat first-day leader Jerry Wagner kindly. After quickly reeling in a limit Thursday, he weighed only two bass Friday that measured above the 14-inch minimum size.
"I caught 19 that wouldn't measure today," he said at Friday's weigh-in. "So I got all the little ones out of the way and I will catch the big ones tomorrow."
by CNB