ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, April 15, 1996 TAG: 9604150133
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
RONALD HALE of Cleveland wins the Mr. Bass tournament on Smith Mountain Lake.
Ronald Hale tied on a Rattlin' Rogue lure and spent two days casting it point to point, a technique that won him the Mr. Bass tournament at Smith Mountain Lake on Sunday.
From Cleveland (Russell County), Hale did something many of his 243 competitors couldn't. He put together two hefty back-to-back catches, - 12.85 pounds Saturday and 12.42 pounds Sunday - for a 25.27-pound total. He caught his bass on the Roanoke River side of the lake.
Johnny Loving of Mechanicsville led the tournament Saturday with 14.80 pounds, but he could add only 2.19 pounds Sunday for a 16.99 total, good for 15th place.
``It is tough on this lake to put two good days together,'' said Mike Huffman, the tournament director.
Tough or not, the tournament will return to Smith Mountain next April, he said.
``I didn't throw anything but the Rattlin' Rogue for two days,'' said Hale, a 35-year old who has been a competitive fisherman for five years. ``The fish were deep, but they would pull up and feed and then go back deep. That's why I was running points so much.''
Hale was fishing his first Mr. Bass tournament. The win, worth $2,250, advances him to Eastern Division B.A.S.S. competition in Pennsylvania this fall, a major step toward the BASS Masters Classic.
The second-place finisher, Randy Arthur of Burnt Chimney, also earned a berth in the Eastern Division tournament. He weighed a 23.03-pound total.
Arthur caught his fish while casting a Shad Rap to spots where the wind was dashing water into shoreline rocks.
``They only hit where the wind was blowing,'' he said.
Roanoker Mark Fields used a Zoom Fluke to reel in 22.84 pounds of bass, which placed him third. The Fluke also produced the tournament's largest smallmouth - 4.78 pounds - for Sam King of Martinsville.
The biggest bass of the tournament was a 7.02-pound largemouth, landed on a white and chartreuse spinnerbait on the Blackwater River arm of the lake, by Bernie Elmore of Stuarts Draft .
``He was back in a cut in about 2 feet of water,'' said Elmore.
The winning total fell short of the 30- to 35-pounds that had been predicted by the Virginia BASS Federation, sponsor of the event.
``The bass really haven't gone into a feeding frenzy yet,'' said Huffman. ``They are about a week late.''
LENGTH: Medium: 53 linesby CNB