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Alton Jones Captures Virginia Lowe's Home Improvement
Warehouse
W.C.F. Title
Richmond, VA -- September 3, 2000 -- With a little help from his friends,
Yamaha/Skeeter team member, Alton Jones of Waco, Texas gathered in a grand
total of $75,000 at the Lowe's World Championship Fishing event on
Virginia's James River with a first-place effort in the fishing competition
($25,000) and a fifth-place performance in boating while amassing 72 points
for the overall title ($50,000).
With the James River being the third of three separate, Lowe's W.C.F.
angling venues, Jones nabbed first-place money by combining the knowledge
he gained a day earlier on Lake Chickahominy with a suggestion from
reigning BASS Masters Classic® champion, Woo Daves in sacking a limit
weighing seven pounds, one ounce for a 31-1 three-day total.
"I had a terrible practice on the James River," admitted Jones, who
fully
planned on accepting help from another Yamaha/Skeeter teammate, Dean Rojas
who agreed to let his teammate share his water. Then, a suggestion from
Daves changed everything. Could Jones still fish his water in the
Chickahominy since it was part of the James River system?
"At four o'clock in the morning, I called Don Corkran (Lowe's W.C.F.
director of competition) who was a little grumpy at that hour," smiled
Jones. "He told me the only limitation on me was time."
For Jones, it was sweet music. After running 60 miles and negotiating one
lock, his fish were still on the same flooded cypress trees just above the
upper confines of Lake Chickahominy.
Although his four-inch Riverside Vibra King Tube (watermelon/gold flake)
rigged on a 3/0 flippin' hook and 3/16-ounce Lake Fork MegaWeight again
produced bass, the strikes were a little slower in coming. Moreover, the
fish had slightly repositioned themselves to the shallow side of the
cypress trees, forcing Jones to adjust his pattern. He had to do it quickly
since his running and lock time left less than three hours for fishing.
With a credible 7-6 final-day limit, Flowmaster/BC Powders' Skeet Reese
held onto second place with a 26-1 tally, but didn't close the gap on
Jones. Plus, he had to suffer further as Jones nudged him from the overall
title by just one point.
Third-place in fishing was Brent Chapman, Kuhmo Tires team member, with a
24-11, three-day total. While the Yamaha/Skeeter driver only bagged three
fish, the best weighed 4-pounds, 8-ounces giving Chapman the Lowe's Weekend
Project Big Bass award for top fish of the tournament.
In the boating competition, Triton Boats swept the top three spots, led by
Ford Trucks team member, Gary Klein of Weatherford, Texas driving a
Mercury-powered, TR-20. Adding $25,000 to the $75,000 he collected just
three weeks ago at the Lowe's W.C.F. event on Illinois' Rend Lake, Klein
has become a nearly unstoppable force in the boating competition.
After Dustin Wilks was the first to break the 60-second barrier during
round one, Klein promptly responded with two sub-sixty runs for a total
winning time of 1.59.33 minutes.
"I don't think anyone here enjoys driving a boat more or puts in more
effort than I do," said Klein. "As the other guys push, I push. What
you
noticed at this Lowe's W.C.F. event is that all of the anglers are getting
better. The time spreads are turning into tenths and one-thousandths and I
knew that would happen as the year progressed."
Not far off the blistering pace set by Klein was EAS driver Shaw Grigsby,
piloting a Triton/Mercury rig, who not only nailed down second place in the
boating with a 1.59.96 minute total, but turned in the fastest lap time
during competition, an eye-watering 59.48 run. For his efforts, Grigsby
took home the Kobalt Tools Quick Lap award.
As the Pennzoil Marine angler, hometown hero, Woo Daves admittedly had
little time to prepare for the event in view of his blossoming
responsibilities as the 2000 BASS Masters Classic® champion. With a
hard-luck three days of fishing and some tough runs around the boating
course, Daves accepted - with his usual good humor - the BC Powders
Fisherman's Headache Award.
For additional information Contact:
W.C.F. Communications at (334) 272-9530.
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