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Five Amateurs Bound for Bass Fishing's World
Championship KNOXVILLE, Tenn., April 29, 2000 -- A tire builder, fishing guide and outfitter, industrial manager, tackle shop clerk, and floor covering installer have advanced to five coveted spots as amateurs in bass fishing's world championship. The five anglers are headed for the BASS Masters Classic after winning their respective geographical divisions at the B.A.S.S. National Championship held this week on Fort Loudoun and Tellico lakes in east Tennessee. The five amateurs will join the sports top 40 pros to compete for the world title this July in Chicago on Lake Michigan. Classic bound is Rickie Harp, a 52-year-old tire builder for Uniroyal-Goodrich in Cottondale, Ala. Harp won the overall championship title with a three day total of 27 pounds, 4 ounces. He also was the highest placing angler in the Southern Division of the B.A.S.S. Chapter Federation. Joining Harp is overall runner-up Stan Fisher, a 54-year-old fishing guide and outfitter from Trout Creek, Mont. Fisher, who led the tournament for the first two days, ended the competition with 25 pounds, 13 ounces to win the Western Division. The other Classic qualifiers are Dean Matts, 51, of Yukon, Okla., and the general manager of Allied Waste Industries, Inc. Matts caught 23 pounds, 12 ounces to take the Central Division. The Eastern Division was won with the 17 pounds, 8 ounces caught by Russell Smarr, 51, a tackle shop clerk from Charleston, W.Va. Phillip Jones, a 46-year-old floor covering installer from Holland, Mich, earned the final Classic spot with 16 pounds, 15 ounces. All of the fish caught by the top finishers were in a pre-spawn mode. Harp caught his fish on an 8-inch Crème Scoundrel (yellow), a floating worm that he used in Lackey Creek, a tributary of Lake Loudoun. The worm was cast to the bank and worked slowly over the rocky bottom. "This time of year I like to float a worm, and this was a perfect scenario," said the tournament winner. "I was targeting small pockets in the creek where the fish were preparing for the spawn." Fisher's exclusive bait was a 1/2-ounce Strike King Premier spinnerbait (white/chartreuse), rigged with tandem No. 5 and No. 6 Indiana blades. Like Harp, he targeted pre-spawn bass in the backs of creeks. "I fished this bait like a jig, making a short pitch to the banks and slowly jigging back across the rocks," he said. Matts used two baits to catch his fish in Lackey Creek. His primary bait was a 10-inch Berkley Power Worm (blue/flake) that he Texas-rigged to a 2/0 Owner Hook. The second bait was a Gene Larew Hoodaddy Junior, a soft-plastic jig also Texas-rigged. Both baits were worked around tapering banks with rocky bottoms. Smarr used a variety of baits, including crankbaits, tube jigs and spinnerbaits to catch his fish in the backs of creeks and on main-lake points. Jones flipped a tube jig along shorelines featuring a variety of isolated structure, from boat docks to rockpiles. There were only 55 bass caught today that made the 14-inch minimum and 5-bass limit. The overall catch of 237 bass weighed 535 pounds, 3 ounces. All of the fish caught by the competitors were released back into the fisheries. This tournament featured a field of 51 anglers from four continents and six nations. The contestants belong to the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society's B.A.S.S. Chapter Federation, a global network of bass clubs in 46 states and the nations of Canada, Japan, Italy, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. Complete scores and photographs from the 2000 B.A.S.S. National Championship can be viewed on bassmaster.com. Sponsors of the 2000 B.A.S.S. National Championship are: Ranger Boats, RangerTrail Trailers, Mercury Marine, Chevrolet Trucks, BIG Kmart, Humminbird/Zercom Electronics, Pennzoil Marine, ACDelco Batteries, Flowmaster Exhaust Systems, MotorGuide Trolling Motors, Quantum Rods and Reels, Berkley Trilene, Berkley Power Bait, Eagle Claw Fishhooks, worldwaters.com and Knoxville Sports Corporation. MarJean Corkran Media Relations Coordinator B.A.S.S., Inc. Communications Dept. |