Fishing News - 8/12/00

        From BASS

Klein, Rowland 1-2 in Lowe's Illinois W.C.F.

 MT. VERNON, Ill. (August 12, 2000) Boat handling competition is providing the excitement in the Lowe's Home Improvement WarehouseIllinois World Championship Fishing here on Rend Lake, but fishing will decide the outcome as the 16 select contestants head into Sunday's final round.

Defending champion and Ford Trucks Triton driver Gary Klein held onto his first-day lead in the overall standings, but Zell Rowland of Team Evercel Batteries posted the biggest catch in Saturday's fishing competition to trail by only one point despite ranking ninth in boating. Klein had another good run in the boating competition, but weighed in only four pounds, six ounces to slip to seventh in the fishing division. Jay Yelas and his Auto Ventshade Skeeter rank third overall with 59 points, three behind Klein.

Under the Lowe's W.C.F. format, the B.A.S.S. pros spend the morning fishing and the afternoon negotiating a series of tight turns and straight-aways on a 3,300-foot course laid out in a Rend Lake bay. Points are awarded for finishes each day in both fishing and boat handling, with the fishing portion accounting for 60 percent of the scoring.

The overall winner takes home $50,000 while boating and fishing division champions pocket $25,000 each. The pros fished Crab Orchard Lake the first day, Carlyle Lake Saturday and will finish up on Rend Lake Sunday.

Anglers piloting Triton Boats own the top seven spots in the boating division with Shaw Grigsby posting the day's best time. Grigsby just missed the course record of :58.10 set by Klein the day before when he ran a :59.48 in his Team EAS Nutritional Supplements Triton powered by a Mercury 225 EFI.

"I'm getting a better feel of the boat and the course each day," said Grigsby, who sat out last year's competition due to back surgery. "I love this concept and we're all having fun with it."

Four anglers were under the one minute mark Saturday, with Dustin Wilks turning a :59.71 in his Team Yamaha Triton powered by a 225 outboard; Klein ran a :59.73 with a 225 Mercury EFI, and Ron Shuffield of Team GNB Power Cycler Batteries, who won the boating division here last year, ran at :59.74. Shuffield is running a 225 Evinrude Ram on his Triton. Skeet Reese in the Flowmaster/BC Powders Champion boat widened his lead in fishing with a 13 pound, 4 ounce catch Saturday to give him 24 pounds, 10 ounces. Rowland is second in fishing with 20 pounds, 11 ounces while Alton Jones of Team Yamaha is third with 19 pounds, 8 ounces.

Reese, who has used a Terminator jig and buzzbait to catch his fish in less than a foot of water, is running a 200 Mercury EFI, the smallest outboard in the competition. The Californian, who missed a buoy and was disqualified Thursday, ranks 15th in boating and fifth overall.

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

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