ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 31, 1995 TAG: 9601020029
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Outdoors
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
There were those who scoffed when Ray Scott announced he would be moving the BASS Master Classic weigh-ins inside. Not just anywhere inside, but into big coliseums made for basketball and rock concerts, places that seat 20,000-plus.
``Who's going to show up to watch fish being weighed?'' they asked.
The good old boys from North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Arkansas, Ohio and Indiana, that's who.
Some 20,000 showed up each of the past two years at the Greensboro (N.C.) Coliseum for weigh-ins that lasted longer than back-to-back basketball games. That had B.A.S.S. officials beaming.
But there is a second swelling crowd of Classic fans that is a bit more disconcerting, especially for tournament fishermen. That's the on-the-water crowd.
During the past two Classics on High Rock Lake near Greensboro, the tournament fishermen have been followed by flotillas of bass boats and barges. Favorites, such as David Fritts, often are dogged by galleries of as many as 60 to 80 boats.
It's only going to get worse. This year, the Classic moves to Lay Lake near Birmingham, Ala., from Aug.8-10. Lay is 12,000 acres, bounded by 289 miles of shoreline, which makes it just a little more than half the size of Smith Mountain Lake.
Maybe It won't be like moving the Super Bowl to Victory Stadium, but it is going to be crowded.
The on-the-water spectators are changing the way Classic competitors fish. They also may be dictating who wins.
While the crowds are unnerving to ``old timers'' of the sport such as Roland Martin and Rick Clunn, they have been accepted, even endorsed, by others. In Greensboro, Martin chastised the tag-alongs.
``Shame on yourself,'' he said. ``That's not right. That's not quality bass fishing.''
Fish Fishburn, a pro angler with a penchant for comedy, invited spectators to follow him.
Always serious, Clunn, the only four-time Classic winner, said future Classics will have to be fished differently. Contestants will have a tougher time fishing highly visible areas. They will have to move around more, picking up a bass here and there, rather than sitting all day on a honey hole. They will have to accept the fact crowds are a part of the contest.
``I can recall my first several Classics, when nobody would pay any attention to you,'' Clunn said. ``You wouldn't have any boats following you around. I would look for one spot where you could catch 50 fish. The past few years, with all the traffic, I have changed my approach. I am looking for 50 spots where you can catch one bass.''
Clunn acknowledges he has been slow to adapt. He has used the word ``paranoid'' to describe his own attitude.
``These guys are proving you can catch big fish in traffic,'' he said of the leaders of the 1995 Classic. ``I really didn't think you could catch fish in open water with the amount of boats around you. I know what it sounds like underwater, and it's [an] incredible amount of noise when you've got that many boats.''
Fritts has had more followers than anyone.
``I made up my mind I just wasn't going to pay any attention to it this year and just go out there and fish,'' he said.
Even with that kind of attitude, Martin believes the crowds still hurt Fritts.
``I think he is working at a disadvantage,'' Martin said.
B.A.S.S. officials said 130,000 people attended Classic events in Greensboro in August. This time, at Lay Lake, contenders may get the feeling there are that many on the water.
LENGTH: Medium: 72 linesby CNB