spectr17
07-25-2003, 01:41 AM
Jul. 20, 2003
Young fishermen prove they can catch the big ones
By BRENT FRAZEE, The Kansas City Star
Tucker Adams picked a great time to catch the bass of a lifetime.
As time wound down in the Junior Bassmasters National Championship on Saturday at Smithville Lake, he was feeling like most of the 37 young fishermen in the field: hot, tired and frustrated.
Then he played a hunch and instructed his adult driver, Pete Wenners, to pull the boat onto a rocky point. And with one cast, his fortunes changed greatly.
As the deep-running crankbait cut through the water, a 5.09-pound bass darted up and grabbed it. And Adams was on his way to a national championship.
"I had run out of spots," said Adams, 14, who lives at Lake Lotawana. "I hadn't fished that point before, but I thought it looked good.
"I knew it wouldn't hurt. We weren't catching fish anyplace else.
"I figured the bass might be down there suspended in that deep water off that point."
Adams figured right. Fishing in the heat and humidity, he caught his biggest bass ever.
Combined with another keeper he had landed earlier in the day, that gave him a total of 6.64 pounds -- and just about every honor the tournament had up for grabs.
He won the national title in the 11- to 14-year-old age division, big-bass honors for the tournament, and a college scholarship worth $1,000.
It was a good day for local fishermen. Adams' friend and fellow Lake Lotawana fisherman, Cody Carl, finished second in the 15- to 17-year-old age division. He caught one bass weighing 2.07 pounds. Nick Kelly of Brownsville, Tenn., took the title in that age group with one fish weighing 2.31 pounds.
The tournament featured young fishermen from junior bass clubs in 18 states and one Canadian province who advanced to the nationals at Smithville by doing well in qualifying events.
Two fishermen from each age group fished together and were chauffered by adult drivers. Those adults, some of the best tournament fishermen in Missouri, weren't allowed to provide advice on where or how to fish.
The kids called the shots. And make no mistake, they had a game plan.
Adams, for example, had fished with veteran tournament fisherman Coy Childers and his dad several times in the week leading up to the tournament and had a good idea of what he was going to do.
"This little area where several points come out a ways has been holding some fish," he said as he worked the area. "The other day, Coy caught a three-pounder here and I got one that was two pounds.
"But the fishing has been tough. You have to make a lot of casts before you get one to bite."
That much became evident by looking at the weigh-ins. The kids brought in only eight keepers.
That wasn't a reflection of their fishing ability, though. Smithville, a 7,000-acre reservoir about 25 miles north of Kansas City, has been tough all year long.
Few of the adult tournaments have produced eyeopening catches. In fact, the Smithville of the 1990s, when it was one of the hottest bass lakes in Missouri, has largely faded.
But fishermen such as Adams knew there were still big bass roaming the flooded timber. It was just a matter of getting them to bite.
"When that big one hit, it didn't feel that big at first," Adams said. "But then it came up and I saw it and I said, `Whoa, I can't lose this one.'
"I knew that fish could give me the tournament."
Just an hour after landing the bass, Adams was in the spotlight. Adults rushed up to congratulate him, cameras clicked and the crowd roared as he reached into his livewell and pulled out the big bass.
But Adams wasn't the only one feeling good about the day's events. Jim Coyte and Jim Noah of the Missouri BASS Federation, the fishermen who coordinated the event, also were smiling.
The event, the first national championship for junior bass clubs, was a big success. It attracted major sponsors such as industry giants Ranger Boats and Cabela's and had an all-star look with some of the nation's top bass pros -- Denny Brauer, Guido and Dion Hibdon, Brent Chapman and Mike Wurm -- in attendance.
It brought kids from as far away as New Jersey, Vermont and Pennsylvania into Missouri and gave Smithville national exposure.
"This was a dream for us, to come up with a national championship for the juniors and to hold it here in Missouri," said Coyte, director of Missouri's youth program. "Some of these kids are excellent fishermen; they really know their stuff.
"We wanted to come up with a showcase event for them, and we think it worked out well."
Many adults went home with an appreciation for just how good the young fishermen are.
Jerry Pape, a tournament fisherman from Kansas City, watched Kelly and Joe Moore of Stockholm, N.J., work a stretch of riprap with the same precision that adult fishermen do. And he was impressed.
"These kids know what they're doing," Pape said. "They're great casters, they're very knowledgeable, and they have good equipment.
"I tell you what: I don't know if I'd want to go up against them in a tournament."
Young fishermen prove they can catch the big ones
By BRENT FRAZEE, The Kansas City Star
Tucker Adams picked a great time to catch the bass of a lifetime.
As time wound down in the Junior Bassmasters National Championship on Saturday at Smithville Lake, he was feeling like most of the 37 young fishermen in the field: hot, tired and frustrated.
Then he played a hunch and instructed his adult driver, Pete Wenners, to pull the boat onto a rocky point. And with one cast, his fortunes changed greatly.
As the deep-running crankbait cut through the water, a 5.09-pound bass darted up and grabbed it. And Adams was on his way to a national championship.
"I had run out of spots," said Adams, 14, who lives at Lake Lotawana. "I hadn't fished that point before, but I thought it looked good.
"I knew it wouldn't hurt. We weren't catching fish anyplace else.
"I figured the bass might be down there suspended in that deep water off that point."
Adams figured right. Fishing in the heat and humidity, he caught his biggest bass ever.
Combined with another keeper he had landed earlier in the day, that gave him a total of 6.64 pounds -- and just about every honor the tournament had up for grabs.
He won the national title in the 11- to 14-year-old age division, big-bass honors for the tournament, and a college scholarship worth $1,000.
It was a good day for local fishermen. Adams' friend and fellow Lake Lotawana fisherman, Cody Carl, finished second in the 15- to 17-year-old age division. He caught one bass weighing 2.07 pounds. Nick Kelly of Brownsville, Tenn., took the title in that age group with one fish weighing 2.31 pounds.
The tournament featured young fishermen from junior bass clubs in 18 states and one Canadian province who advanced to the nationals at Smithville by doing well in qualifying events.
Two fishermen from each age group fished together and were chauffered by adult drivers. Those adults, some of the best tournament fishermen in Missouri, weren't allowed to provide advice on where or how to fish.
The kids called the shots. And make no mistake, they had a game plan.
Adams, for example, had fished with veteran tournament fisherman Coy Childers and his dad several times in the week leading up to the tournament and had a good idea of what he was going to do.
"This little area where several points come out a ways has been holding some fish," he said as he worked the area. "The other day, Coy caught a three-pounder here and I got one that was two pounds.
"But the fishing has been tough. You have to make a lot of casts before you get one to bite."
That much became evident by looking at the weigh-ins. The kids brought in only eight keepers.
That wasn't a reflection of their fishing ability, though. Smithville, a 7,000-acre reservoir about 25 miles north of Kansas City, has been tough all year long.
Few of the adult tournaments have produced eyeopening catches. In fact, the Smithville of the 1990s, when it was one of the hottest bass lakes in Missouri, has largely faded.
But fishermen such as Adams knew there were still big bass roaming the flooded timber. It was just a matter of getting them to bite.
"When that big one hit, it didn't feel that big at first," Adams said. "But then it came up and I saw it and I said, `Whoa, I can't lose this one.'
"I knew that fish could give me the tournament."
Just an hour after landing the bass, Adams was in the spotlight. Adults rushed up to congratulate him, cameras clicked and the crowd roared as he reached into his livewell and pulled out the big bass.
But Adams wasn't the only one feeling good about the day's events. Jim Coyte and Jim Noah of the Missouri BASS Federation, the fishermen who coordinated the event, also were smiling.
The event, the first national championship for junior bass clubs, was a big success. It attracted major sponsors such as industry giants Ranger Boats and Cabela's and had an all-star look with some of the nation's top bass pros -- Denny Brauer, Guido and Dion Hibdon, Brent Chapman and Mike Wurm -- in attendance.
It brought kids from as far away as New Jersey, Vermont and Pennsylvania into Missouri and gave Smithville national exposure.
"This was a dream for us, to come up with a national championship for the juniors and to hold it here in Missouri," said Coyte, director of Missouri's youth program. "Some of these kids are excellent fishermen; they really know their stuff.
"We wanted to come up with a showcase event for them, and we think it worked out well."
Many adults went home with an appreciation for just how good the young fishermen are.
Jerry Pape, a tournament fisherman from Kansas City, watched Kelly and Joe Moore of Stockholm, N.J., work a stretch of riprap with the same precision that adult fishermen do. And he was impressed.
"These kids know what they're doing," Pape said. "They're great casters, they're very knowledgeable, and they have good equipment.
"I tell you what: I don't know if I'd want to go up against them in a tournament."