Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, May 29, 1995                   TAG: 9506020014
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: A-8   EDITION: HOLIDAY 
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

BASS CLASSIC SLIPS THE HOOK ON DAVES

Daves is a good old boy, a tobacco-chewer, a crowd-pleaser.

``Woo! Woo! Woo!'' is the chant from bass-fishing fans when he rolls into the BASS Masters Classic weigh-in coliseum, be it in Richmond, Baltimore, Md. or Greensboro, N.C.

But not this time. Not the 1995 Classic. Woo didn't make the cut.

For the first time in a decade, Daves, from Spring Grove, won't be there to represent Virginia.

``It is a little disappointing,'' he said. ``I had a couple of bad [qualifying] tournaments.''

Daves, who has fished 13 Classics - finishing in the top five in six of them - attempted to qualify for the 1995 event by fishing the Top 100 and Eastern Invitational circuits. He finished 39th in the Top 100 standings, which sends its best 25 fishermen to the Classic. He wasn't close in the Eastern division.

That leaves 19-year-old rookie David Dudley, of Lynchburg, as Virginia's only Classic entry. Dudley won a spot in the prestigious tournament through the Eastern Invitational circuit.

Daves isn't the only established pro who won't be weighing fish during the '95 Classic in Greensboro, Aug 3-5. Larry Nixon, who has fished 18 consecutive Classics and picked up more than $1 million dollars in prize money along the way, didn't make it. Nor did Ron Shuffield, Peter Thliveros, Jim Bitter, Zell Rowland and Tom Biffle.

Among the big-name fishermen who did qualify are Guido Hibdon, Rick Clunn, Roland Martin, David Fritts, Gary Klein and Jimmy Houston. Mark Davis won Angler of the Year.

``But I feel like I will bounce back,'' said Daves.

One of the first qualifying tournaments of the 1995-96 season will be on the James River below Richmond - home water for Daves.

With tournament-fishing fame comes the heavy responsibility of dealing with sponsors who demand that their pros put on seminars and appear at shows.

``The sponsors are the ones who pay the bills. Tournaments don't pay the bills. I work 40 or 50 shows a year and have done 126 seminars this year,'' Daves said.

This leaves little time for pretournament practice, he said. ``Hopefully, I will have time to adjust my schedule where I can practice two or three days on the tournament lakes,'' he said.

Here are the Classic pro qualifiers:

TOP 100

Mark Davis, Denny Brauer, Shaw E. Grigsby, Guido Hibdon, Jay Yelas, Stanley Mitchell, Rick Clunn, Roland Martin, Kevin VanDam, Claude Fishburne, David Fritts, Ken Cook, Randy Dearman, Stacey D. King, Jimmy Houston, Bernie Schultz, Mike Wurm, Randall A. Romig, Mickey Bruce, Bud Pruitt, Terry Baksay, Larry Lazoen, Gary Klein, Bill Etheredge, Clark Wendlandt.

EASTERN INVITATIONAL

David Dudley, Mark Hardin, Rick Lillegard, Craig Daniel, Johnny Lesesne.

CENTRAL INVITATIONAL

Richard McCarty, George Cochran, Dion Hibdon, David Ashcraft, Dan Morehead.