ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, August 10, 1996 TAG: 9608120130
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BIRMINGHAM, ALA.
SOURCE: Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
SOMETHING'S FISHY on Alabama's Lay Lake, the tournament's anglers say.
The mystery that is Lay Lake continued to baffle all but a handful of anglers Friday at the 26th annual BASS Masters Classic.
During practice three weeks ago, the 41 anglers who qualified for the $300,000 tournament consistently caught a lot of good-sized bass. Five-bass stringers weighing 20 pounds were deemed likely this week.
Instead, the fishing has been frustrating. Mickey Bruce of Buford, Ga., leads the Classic going into the final day with a two-day total weight of 23 pounds, 6 ounces. Only George Cochran and Davy Hite have caught more than 20 pounds. Only six anglers have caught their five-bass limit each day.
Spring Grove's Chris Daves, the only Virginia angler to qualify, was tied for 22nd with five bass weighing a total of 9 pounds, 12 ounces.
Nobody seems to know what's happening. Some say the lake, an impoundment of the Coosa River, has too much current. Others say there isn't enough current. Some say the water has a low oxygen level, which has made the bass lethargic. Others say an increase in the lake's water level has made the bass move.
Bruce, 45, who finished third in last year's Classic after leading the first day, is among the few anglers whose fish have remained in the same place.
Thursday morning, he caught a five-fish limit weighing 11 pounds, 12 ounces at his top spot within 25 minutes and left. Friday morning, the bass were not as receptive, but the spot still produced three keepers, two of them good ones.
Bruce filled his limit elsewhere by 11:30 a.m., then visited his top spot around 1 p.m. Thirty minutes later, he caught a 4 1/2-pound largemouth on a jig. That fish improved Bruce's daily weight to 11 pounds, 10 ounces and propelled him into the lead in the chase for the $100,000 top prize.
``I knew I needed a better fish to be in contention after two days,'' Bruce said. ``I went back and threw a big-fish bait and sure enough I caught a big fish.''
Bruce's spot is a drop-off in 9 to 11 feet of water a quarter-mile from the Classic launch site. The key to his success, he said, is that he's fishing a jig like a plastic worm, easing it along the bottom.
``My execution has been at as high a percentage as I can get,'' Bruce said. ``I've lost only a couple of what I think of as key fish in this tournament, but they're still in my No.1 spot. Hopefully, I can catch them before [the tournament] is over with.''
Cochran, 46, of Hot Springs, Ark., caught 11 pounds, 10 ounces Friday to go with a 10-14 total Thursday to trail Bruce by 14 ounces.
Hite, 31, of Prosperity, S.C., is third at 20 pounds, 2 ounces, followed by amateur Thomas Vickers of Dener, N.C., at 17 pounds, 8 ounces.
A shallow-water specialist, Cochran has been getting his limit in 2 or 3 feet of water, then targeting bigger bass in 15 feet.
First-day leader Kevin VanDam couldn't buy a fish Friday. After catching five bass weighing 14 pounds, 1 ounce Thursday, the reigning B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year caught one bass weighing 1 pound, 3 ounces to drop to ninth place.
LENGTH: Medium: 63 linesby CNB