Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, July 25, 1994 TAG: 9407250039
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Most people have resolved that will be David Fritts.
Last August, Fritts went to his first Classic, in Birmingham, Ala., and won by nearly 8 pounds.
In September, he won the Virginia Invitational at Kerr. After that he was first in Georgia; second in Alabama and South Carolina; third in Maryland and Alabama.
This Fritts blitz earned him the B.A.S.S. Angler-of-the-Year title by a commanding 61-pound, 1-ounce margin.
The great names in tournament fishing, Bill Dance, Roland Martin, Rick Clunn, Larry Nixon, Guido Hibdon, never had a season like it.
So Fritts has headed down the road to the Thursday-through-Saturday Classic as the heaviest favorite in the 24-year history of the event. And it wasn't a very long ride, either. Fritts' home, in Lexington, N.C., is about 15 minutes from High Rock Lake, the tournament impoundment.
That brings us back to the big question of the Classic: What's High Rock Lake?
Located on the southwest side of Greensboro, it is a 67-year-old hydroelectric impoundment that is 15,750 acres in size - about 500 acres smaller than Smith Mountain Lake - and owned by the ALCOA Aluminum Co. of America.
North Carolina fish officials say good populations of fast-growing 3-to 4-pound bass are finning about in the lake, which is on the Yadkin River.
``It will be on par with Alabama, or anywhere else,'' said Bodie McDowell, of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. ``It is going to take about 42 to 46 pounds to win.''
So why don't more people know about High Rock? Why do Roanoke Valley fishermen go to Kerr or Gaston, rather than High Rock? Why do fishermen in the Greensboro area prefer Kerr or Jordan or Falls of the Neuse or Wiley to High Rock?
Maybe it has something to do with the fact that one Greensboro angler called High Rock ``The big mud puddle up the road.''
But North Carolina and Greensboro officials know the Classic will put High Rock on the map, and they are attempting to give it the best image possible.
``High Rock has been overlooked by fishermen over the years,'' Frank McBride, fisheries program manager for North Carolina, told Fincastle outdoor writer Bruce Ingram.
Maybe so, but not by one fisherman, David Fritts.
High Rock is his lake. He grew up about two miles away. It was his childhood playground.
``I guess I caught my first bass at High Rock,'' Fritts said. ``It was on a crankbait.''
When he took up tournament fishing, slipping away from the family car-tire business, other anglers around High Rock got the feeling they were fishing for second place when Fritts showed up.
It is a feeling shared by many of the pros this season.
``David is on a roll,'' said Clunn, the only angler to win four Classics. For Clunn, it is a supernatural, Zen-like state of perfectability.
``A boat cuts you off, you turn and go the other way and catch a 6-pounder.''
Clunn believes Fritts would be the favorite, even if the Classic were in California.
Bassmaster Magazine writer Tim Tucker went fishing with Fritts on High Rock, shortly after the announcement that the obscure lake would be the Classic playing field. Tucker said Fritts told him he wasn't going to his good spots, then ended up catching about 45 pounds of bass.
As for the home-field advantage, Fritts said, ``I've 'bout walked every inch of that place. But it's not like I've been there a lot lately. Two years ago, I didn't even get a North Carolina fishing license.''
Like the pressure on Fritts, the water level has been rising at High Rock. When Fritts saw it the other day, he reported it was full. Rains have it discolored.
Firtts prefers to fish High Rock when the level is down 2 or 3 feet.
``High or muddy water will really equalize the game, because it scatters the fish,'' he said.
There are 39 other fishermen in the Classic who know how to take the slightest advantage to the bank. Six are former Classic champs - Charlie Reed, Paul Elias, Tommy Martin, Larry Nixon, George Cochran and Clunn - but Fritts has a lock on the spotlight. He's even more of a home-town favorite than Woo Daves was the three years that the Classic was held on the James River at Richmond.
Daves is the only Virginian in the Classic. He is happy that Fritts has knocked him back to Woo Who? status.
The Greensboro location will give Western Virginia anglers their closest look at the Classic. The weigh-in at the Greensboro Coliseum is about a two-hour drive from Roanoke. High Rock is slightly less than an hour drive from the Coliseum.
That's the big reason that the Classic is on High Rock. B.A.S.S. must find a major lake within a reasonable drive of a facility that will seat upward to 20,000 people at the weigh-in and have display space for a major tackle show.
It doesn't matter if the water is a bit muddy, especially when you have a fishermen who can all but walk on it.
by CNB