Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 31, 1994 TAG: 9403310062
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Well, 50 pounds and 7 ounces didn't even put Virginia's Woo Daves in the top 20 during the Bassmaster BP Top 100 tournament on Lake Seminole in Georgia. He finished 23rd.
The winner was - who else - David Fritts, who landed 91 pounds, 3 ounces. That was a record for a four-day, five-fish-limit B.A.S.S. tournament.
The next record for Fritts? The Lexington, N.C., angler could become the first fishermen to win both the B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year title and the BASS Masters Classic.
In the angler-of-the-year race, which is won by the angler who weighs the greatest number of pounds of bass during the course of the tournament year, Fritts is 39 pounds, 3 ounces ahead of his nearest competitor, Shaw Grigsby of Gainesville, Fla.
Since winning the 1993 BASS Masters Classic, Fritts has these accomplishments: First in the Virginia Invitational at Kerr Lake; third in the Top 100 on the Potomac River; 182nd (yes, he is human) in the Oklahoma Invitational at Lake Texoma; second in the Top 100 on Lake Martin, Ala.; 24th in the Texas Invitational on Sam Rayburn; third in the Alabama Invitational on Eufaula; first in the Top 100 at Lake Seminole.
That amounts to 329 pounds, 12 ounces and $157,900.
It also adds up to real drama for the 1994 Bass Masters Classic in Greensboro on July 28-30. The lake will be North Carolina's High Rock, which happens to be about 15 miles from Fritts' home.
With only three qualifying events left before the Classic, about the only way Fritts could lose the angler-of-the-year title is not to show up. As for the Classic, at this point it appears everyone else is fishing for second place.
\ BRAGGING SIZE: Steve Wimmer of Grottoes caught a 33-pound muskie at Smith Mountain Lake while casting a Cordell Red Fin plug. His fishing buddy, Jerry Andes of Grottoes, used a Red Fin to catch a 22-pound, 7-ounce striped bass.
James Gacek of Dublin caught a 23-pound, 11-ounce muskie from Claytor Lake. The lake also produced a 5-pound, 7-ounce smallmouth bass for Roger Lyons of Dublin.
Trophy largemouth are showing up at several impoundments and include a 9-pound, 12-ounce catch at Briery Creek Lake for Randy Jones of Farmville; a 9-pound, 8-ounce bass at Lake Anna for Ron Poffenbarger of Spotsylvania; and an 8-pound, 2-ounce catch at Smith Mountain for Barry Turman of Moneta.
Kenny Keyser of Covington caught a couple of brown trout in Lake Moomaw that were in the 3- and 4-pound class.
\ MUDDY WATER: Easter holiday fishermen are going to be challenged with water that is too high and temperatures that are too low. Recent rains have filled many streams - even trout streams - with muddy water and sent lakes swelling above full pool.
At Kerr Lake, where fishermen were beginning to hook bass in the shoreline willows, the lake level is on the rise and is expected to crest Sunday at elevation 311. That is about 11 feet above full pool.
Much of Smith Mountain Lake is discolored; however, anglers are catching striped bass and black bass.
Philpott Lake is high but fishable. John Donaldson of Fieldale and Ken Lackey of Collinsville docked with a stringer of 50 crappie estimated to weigh 40 to 45 pounds.
Lake Moomaw is about 6 feet above full pool. Downstream releases into the Jackson River had reached 5,500 cubic feet per second by Wednesday afternoon, which is way too much for trout fishing. Experienced fishermen probing deep in the upper reaches of Moomaw have been landing slab-size crappie that weigh up to 2 pound.
Just as citation-size white bass catches were showing up at Claytor Lake, the water turned muddy.
by CNB