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

DATE: SUNDAY, August 15, 1993                   TAG: 9308160307
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BIRMINGHAM, ALA.                                LENGTH: Medium

N.C. BASS ANGLER WINS CLASSIC IN HIS FIRST YEAR IN FIELD

A few years ago, David Fritts only dreamed of fishing in the BASS Masters Classic. On Saturday, he won bass angling's top event on his first try.

The Lexington, N.C., resident caught seven fish weighing 16 pounds, 3 ounces to finish with a three-day total of 48 pounds, 6 ounces. That was 7 pounds, 12 ounces better than second-place finisher Shaw Grigsby of Gainesville, Fla.

Fritts, the second-day leader, took home $50,000 for the victory. But he said he "really struggled" in the final round.

"I only caught seven today," said Fritts, who had never before qualified for the Classic's 41-man field. "What really threw everybody off was the fish were a lot shallower than we thought."

Grigsby grabbed second place with a final-day catch of six fish weighing 14 pounds, 2 ounces, which gave him a tournament total of 40 pounds, 10 ounces. Grigsby used a plastic worm on a Carolina rig to catch the day's largest fish, a 5-pound, 2-ounce largemouth.

"It was my first fish of the day," said Grigsby, who earned $13,000, plus a $1,000 big-fish bonus.

Jay Yelas of Jasper, Texas, finished third with a total catch of 38 pounds, 15 ounces. First-day leader Tom Biffle of Wagoner, Okla., was fourth.

Fritts' specialty is fishing with crankbaits in the summer, and that was exactly what he did to win. But there were some tense moments on Lake Logan Martin, 25 miles east of Birmingham.

"I really was concerned," he said. "I wasn't getting many bites in practice. It made me sort of nervous. Every day the fish moved. They'd be one depth one day and another depth the next."

Fritts might have an easier time in the 1994 Classic. The tournament will be held on High Rock Lake near Greensboro, N.C.

"It's the lake I grew up on," he said.

\ BASS MASTERS CLASSIC TOP FINISHERS

1. David Fritts, Lexington, N.C., 48-6 pounds

2. Shaw Grigsby Jr., Gainesville, Fla., 40-10

3. Jay Yelas, Jasper, Texas 38-15

4. Tom Biffle, Wagoner, Okla. 38-7

5. Kevin VanDam, Kalamazoo, Mich. 38-3

6. George Cochran, Hot Springs, Ark. 36-1

7. Paul Elias, Laurel, Miss., 34-15

8. Guido Hibdon, Gravois Mills, Mo. 33-7

by CNB