Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 3, 1993 TAG: 9305030291
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"It may sound cocky, but we were sure we could put a 6-pound bass in the boat," said Spangler, 34, who lives in Blue Ridge.
They had been onto bass all week, catching them after dark on Red Fin lures cast to areas where bait fish were frolicking in the shallows.
"Wednesday night I had a five-fish limit that weighed 20 pounds," Spangler said.
Before driving to the lake Friday evening, Spangler called contest headquarters to see what the leading largemouth was. It weighed 5.68-pounds.
"I told him [Mayhew], we ought to be able to beat a 5.68 with the week we've had."
But while fishing from 10 p.m. until 5 a.m., the best they could do was a 4 1/4-pound bass. The next evening they arrived a tad earlier. Waiting for dark, Spangler tied on a Berkley Power Worm and cast to a rock pile up Beaver Dam Creek, where he'd caught a 5 1/2-pound bass earlier in the week.
As he worked the worm in 2- to 4-foot water, he felt a slight twitch and set the hook, but there was nothing but dead weight.
"I'm hung up," he told Mayhew, who lives in Roanoke.
Then the log he thought he'd snagged began to pull his rod down and he set the hook a second time. A huge fish swam away from the rock pile, stretching Spangler's 8-pound line to the snapping point as it went.
Spangler and Mayhew had no idea what it was. When the fish rolled to the surface the first time they caught sight of its bronze side in the waning light.
"The coloring was almost identical to a smallmouth," said Mayhew. "I thought, `This can't be!' "
The next time up, Mayhew netted the fish, a 36 1/4-inch catfish that weighed 21.84 pounds.
The giant not only won the contest's catfish category Sunday, but also set a tournament record for the species. That meant a $500 bonus for Spangler, making his fat cat worth a total of $1,100.
None of the 652 contestants was able to catch the $25,000 tagged fish. Club officials are offering $500 for it if landed before May 31 and checked at Foxsport Marina.
The winners:
CATFISH - 1. Mark Spangler, Blue Ridge, 21.84 pounds. 2. Billy Sanford, Roanoke, 17.60, 3. Lenn Morris, Bedford, 7.64. 4. James Morgan, Simon, W.Va., 6.96.
CRAPPIE - 1. Brett Wilson, Bedford, 2.02. 2. Barry Turman, Wirtz, 1.86. 3. David Perdue, Virginia Beach, 1.84. 4. Ricky Keith, Pilot, 1.76.
LARGEMOUTH - 1. Donnie Bowman, Chester, 6.54. 2. Dennis Meadows, Waynesboro, 5.78. 3. Scott Graham, Roanoke, 5.46. 4. David Engle, Ashland, Ky., 5.26.
MUSKIE - None.
SMALLMOUTH - 1. David Marsico, Salem, 4.84. 2. Ermel Brown, Moneta, 4.70. 3. Fred McGlothlin, Davenport, 4.38. 4. Leonard Hampton, Keen Mountain, 3.92.
WALLEYE - 1. Phillip Burkholder, Goodview, 6.41, 2. Randy Whittington, Walnut Cove, N.C., 5.07. 3. Robert Terry, Troutville 4.44. 4. Perry Brown, Penhook, 4.00.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***