Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 30, 1994 TAG: 9408190014
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: GREENSBORO LENGTH: Medium
Bryan Kerchal, who flips burgers and steaks for a living at the restaurant, has a new vocation in mind: World champion bass fisherman.
The 23-year old amateur angler lured five fat bass from High Rock Lake on Friday, a catch that gave him the lead as the BASS Masters Classic heads into its final round today.
It will be a youth vs. experience finish. In second spot is fishing's father figure, Guido Hibdon, 48, who won the 1988 Classic on the James River in Richmond.
Kerchal, one of five fishermen who earned a berth in the Classic through the B.A.S.S. Federation, a grass-roots organization for weekend anglers, has a two-day total of 25 pounds, 3 ounces. Hibdon, from Gravois Mills, Mo., is a scant 1-pound, 4-ounces behind.
Heavy rains have turned High Rock into clay, making the Classic competition as much a mud wrestling match as a fishing tournament, but that hasn't hampered Kerchal.
``I feel real confident of the area I am fishing,'' he told a crowd of about 12,000 at the weigh-in, all but promising another limit catch today.
But leaders can fall from the spotlight rapidly. Just ask Claude Fishburne. He had an opening day catch of 14 pounds, 10 ounces Thursday, which vaulted him into first place. Friday he failed to catch a single keeper.
``It was great to be king for a day,'' said Fishburne, who dropped to 22nd.
Virginia's Woo Daves also had a bad day, landing just one bass Friday, claiming 19th place in a field of 40 fishermen.
Pre-tournament favorite David Fritts of Lexington, N.C., dropped to 34th place.
For Kerchal, who earns $9.50 an hour as a line cook, the chance to win the Classic's $50,000 first-place prize is more like a Hollywood story than one you'd expect to read in Bassmaster Magazine.
``We've never had a federation man to win,'' said Ray Scott, founder of B.A.S.S.
This is the second season Kerchal has gotten to the Classic through the working man's route. He qualified last year, but landed only three bass.
Asked what the difference is this time, Kerchal said, ``confidence.''
``My job allows me to fish during the day. I work from 5 to 10-11-12 at night. The key is to be out on the water all the time.''
While Kerchal is reeling in limits of bass, many of the pros, including his hero, four-time Classic winner Rick Clunn, are having a tough time figuring out the High Rock fish. Some are fishing shallow; others are sending their lures deep. Kerchal described his pattern as being something in between.
``It is not real deep water, but it is real close to deep water,'' he said.
The technique has put Kerchal real close to winning the Classic. If he does, he said he would resign his cook's job from the weigh-in platform.
by CNB