Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 21, 1991 TAG: 9104220023
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
His trusty Zebco rod and reel was tangled, so he picked up another outfit, made a single cast and caught the "Zebco Kid." The tagged fish was worth $10,000. Had he caught it on a Zebco, its value would have soared to $25,000.
So beginning next Saturday and continuing for 45 days (June 10), fishermen on Smith Mountain Lake likely will have a death grip on their Zebco outfits. The "Zebco Kid" will be finning about in the 20,000-acre lake, and, once again, it will be worth $25,000 if caught on a Zebco; $10,000 otherwise.
Following two major bass tournaments the past week, the unpretentious crappie, a champion of the dock, the bank, the tin-boat fisherman, will grab some of the spotlight on Smith Mountain.
The U.S. Crappie tournament, sponsored by Zebco/MotorGuide, will be the first major crappie competition for Smith Mountain, and will be as different as . . . well, as crappie are to bass.
"Our format is for the average weekend fishermen and fisherwoman," said Doug Poe, of U.S. Crappie, headquartered in Oklahoma. "We get everybody involved. We have a lot of children and a lot of women who win at our tournaments."
The U.S. Crappie tournament is a twofold event, Poe explained:
First, next Saturday, there will be a one-day heavyweight tournament on Smith Mountain. It is scheduled to award $11,000 in cash and prizes for contestants catching the heaviest crappie during 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. competition. The top prize is a 16-foot Fisher Hawk CS with a 25-horsepower Mercury outboard, MotorGuide trolling motor and EZ trailer. It is a new breed of boat designed for serious crappie fishing. The entry fee is $25.
Also starting Saturday and continuing for 45 days is a tagged fish contest, with 593 crappie scattered across the lake and bearing tags valued at $65,875. Included is the $25,000 "Zebco Kid," along with other crappie worth up to $2,500. A tagged fish ticket costs $6 and may be purchased anytime during the 45 day tournament, as long as it is prior to when a contest fish is caught.
"The glamour fish, of course, is the bass," said Poe. "But the average person who goes fishing can't compete in a bass tournament. They don't have the right equipment; they don't have the money and the time. These people can easily fish our tournaments. You don't even have to have a boat."
In fact, the two "Zebco Kid" winners in tournaments last year were dock and bank fishermen, but that doesn't mean some crappie anglers aren't becoming sophisticated, using specialized boats and techniques. A few are even following the 20-tournament Zebco/MotorGuide crappie circuit, and will be lured to Smith Mountain from other states, Poe said.
"The people who follow our circuit and fish regularly in our crappie tournaments have very sophisticated equipment. They definitely rely on electronics."
The crappie for tagging are collected from fishermen at marinas and tackle shops around the lake, Poe said. Once tagged, they are scattered, with the greatest number going to popular crappie fishing spots.
"We will put them out along the shoreline. If we have a sponsor who has a business on the water, a lot of times that sponsor will ask us to put a fish right around his area. We want everybody to know they are out there. As a matter of fact, if we see a boat load of fishermen, we will go right up to them, show them the fish, and release them right there."
A major exception, the release of the "Zebco Kid" is more secretive, Poe said.
by CNB