Fishing News - 7/27/00

        From BASS

Fishing's Most Exciting Series Comes to Louisiana ANGLERS EAGERLY AWAIT W.C.F OPENER MONROE, La, July 27, 2000 - After nearly four years of planning and one event conducted 11 months ago, the Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse World Championship Fishing (W.C.F) kicks off its first full season Aug. 4-6 in Louisiana on the Ouachita River, and the 16 anglers chosen to compete

Among the bass pros competing are Roland Martin, winner of 19 BASSMASTER Tournament Trail events; Davy Hite, 1999 BASS Masters Classic world champion; Mark Davis, winner of the 1995 BASS Masters Classic; and Shaw Grigsby, Jr., who finished third in the recently completed 2000 Classic in Chicago.

The unique Lowe's W.C.F format calls for just six hours of fishing each morning, with afternoons devoted to special boating skills competition during which the anglers make timed navigation runs through a course designed by the American Power Boat Association. In many of the Lowe's W.C.F competitions, including this one in Louisiana, the fishing event will be held on a different body of water each day. Both the fishing and boating events will have individual winners who will each earn $25,000 while the overall tournament winner with the best combined score from both events takes home $50,000.

"Spending just a half day on three different lakes is exciting to us because it means you don't have to be conservative like you are in most fishing tournaments," notes Gary Klein of Weatherford, Texas, winner of last year's inaugural W.C.F event in Mount Vernon, Ill. "You have to fish fast to cover the water, and that's how most of us like to fish, but there's still a lot of pressure to catch fish quickly because you won't have a second chance."

Klein and his fellow competitors will spend the mornings fishing three of Louisiana's best-known fisheries, Lake D'Arbonne on Friday, Caney Creek Lake on Saturday, and the Ouachita River itself Sunday. On Lake D'Arbonne and the Ouachita River, a five-bass, 12-inch minimum size will apply, but at Caney the anglers must follow state fishing regulations, which require all bass measuring between 15 and 19 inches to be released immediately. The pros will also only be allowed to keep two bass measuring more than 19 inches.

"Conceivably, that could mean releasing a 6- or 7- pound bass," laughs Dean Rojas of Arizona, another W.C.F angler who is eager to improve on his 17th-place finish in last year's tournament. "Caney has produced eight of the 10 largest bass ever caught in Louisiana, including the state record of 15.97 pounds, so spectators may be in for a real treat. I think we're all going to have a lot of fun."

Louisiana professional angler Homer Humphreys of Minden will make his W.C.F debut this week, and while he has fished all three bodies of water, he doesn't believe he has any special advantage. "These fishermen are so good they can figure out what it takes to catch bass in a matter of minutes," he explains, "and every one of them is an excellent boat driver. I've competed with and against them for years, and can assure you that plenty of fish will be brought to the scales. I know all of us are especially looking forward to fishing Caney Creek, too."

Regardless of how the fishing goes, spectators will also have the opportunity to watch the pros make individually timed runs through a special high-performance obstacle course in which the navigational skills of the angler are severely tested. Each pro gets one chance one the course per day, with the option of throwing out the lowest. The course is designed to place a premium on driving skills rather than on pure boat speed.

"We're excited about starting this year's W.C.F series this week on the Ouachita River because we can virtually guarantee a good show for the spectators," noted Don Corkran, W.C.F director. "We have 16 of the most skilled bass fishermen and bass boat drivers in America, and each one of them wants to win.

"Last year in Illinois, when 38,000 spectators came to watch, we knew we had a concept the public would enjoy, and this year we're excited about expanding the idea into five different cities for the public to see.  

Admission is free and the anglers are completely accessible for autographs and photos, something you don't find in many other sports." Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse, the world's second-largest home improvement retailer, has assumed the title sponsorship of the five-event W.C.F series for this year. The remaining Lowe's W.C.F events will be conducted in Illinois, Virginia, Alabama and Kentucky during the next several months.

         B.A.S.S. Web site: http://www.bassmaster.com.

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