Fishing News - 8/3/01

        From BASS

2001 BASS Masters Classic Notebook

New Orleans, La.
Day 5
August 3, 2001

2001 BASS Masters Classic Notebook---Day 4
New Orleans, Louisiana
August 2, 2001

Travel Time

Roland Martin won the award for traveling the longest distance during the first day of competition. Martin fished the south end of Venice and logged a total of 220 miles and more than six hours of driving time.

Stay The Course

The Louisiana Delta encompasses hundreds of square miles of water. The maze of canals, cuts and swamps the fishermen must navigate all look alike after the first turn. If a contender zigs when he should have zagged - and is even one minute late checking in - it could cost him the championship title and the $100,000 payday. To help anglers avoid this costly mistake, B.A.S.S. officials have included the most advanced sportfishing electronics available on every contender's boat. The new Lowrance LCX-15 MT sonar/GPS gets its name from the 6.54-inch diagonal, 480x350 pixel Monochrome Transflective (MT) display. In laymen's terms, the MT's screen can be viewed at any angle, through polarized sunglasses, and while the sun is full bore. The underwater detail and mapping readability are unmatched in marine electronics. The memory of the unit is capable of storing 1,000 waypoints, 1,000 event markers, 100 routes, 10 plot trails with 10,000 waypoints per trail, 34 map zoom ranges, and probably even your anniversary if you need a reminder.

Factoid

David Walker, the BASS Masters Classic Day One leader, is fishing in his second "Super Bowl" of bass fishing. Walker's first Classic appearance was last year in Chicago where he finished 37th. 

In Control

The electric trolling motor is undoubtedly the most misnamed item on the BASS Masters Classic boats. That's because it isn't used for trolling at all, but rather to move or position the boat in response to the controlling angler's every whim. It has been one of the most relied upon tools on a bass boat ever since MotorGuide introduced the first foot-control model with a retractable bow mount some three decades ago. Early-day tournament anglers described the advantages of having it on the front of the boat versus the rear with the analogy, "it is a lot easier to pull a chain, than to push one." The MotorGuide TE7109V is the most powerful ever used on a Classic rig. It is a 36-volt system that delivers an incredible 109 pounds of thrust. And although power is important, particularly for holding in strong wind or water current, so is battery efficiency. The 36-volt system affords minimum amp draw to deliver maximum time on the water. MotorGuide is the oldest of the BASS Masters Classic sponsors, entering its 24th year.

Weather To Go

The tropical storm looming in the Gulf of Mexico has many Classic anglers and spectators worried about the second day of competition. No official word has come from the tournament department on possible delays or cancellations. There has never been a competition day lost during a BASS Masters Classic due to weather. In 1991, a practice day was cancelled when a hurricane was bearing down on Baltimore's Chesapeake Bay. 

Quote Of The Day

"When you come to a tournament like this, you have to have a Plan A, B and C. Today I think I made it to F." Kevin Van Dam, Currently in 3rd Place

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

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