Arkansas Angler Reels In Bass Masters Classic Title

An Arkansas angler who has lost more than 150 pounds in the past year used a Bomber Fat Free Shad to win $50,000 in the 1995 BASS Masters Classic on High Rock Lake.

More than 20,000 vocal fans at the Greensboro Coliseum watched Mark Davis of Mount Ida, Ark., become the first man to win the BASS Masters Classic and Angler of the Year titles in the same year.

The 31-year-old professional angler edged rookie Mark Hardin of Canton, Ga.

Davis jumped from third place to first on the final day. He had 47 pounds, 14 ounces of bass compared to Hardin’s 46 pounds.

Michey Bruce of Buford, Ga., was third with 44 pounds, 13 ounces, and Mike Wurm of Hot Springs, Ark., was fourth with 42 pounds, 8 ounces.

The fans paid tribute to 1994 winner Bryan Kerchal, who was killed in a December plane accident, as an empty Classic boat made a Polish victory lap around the coliseum as the fans watched in silence.

Davis caught most of his fish on the new crankbait scheduled to be in stores within two months.

“The fish I was catching were around the tops of brushpiles 6 to 8 feet deep in 15-16 feet of water,” Davis said. “I cast the bait on 20-pound test line to keep it from going too deep.”

Davis used a topwater Pop-R to catch most of his fish Thursday, but relied on the Fat Free Shad for most of his fish the past two days. “I could not catch a fish on the bottom on any of the three days,” he said. “I had to figure out how to catch those suspended fish each day.”

Davis’ weight loss was planned. He dropped from 382 pounds to 230 in a year. “It has been a major boost for my fishing,” he said. “I have more strength, more stamina and more energy. It has been like starting my fishing career all over again.”

Fritts said his total number of spectator boats set a record with 84 - and there were two airplanes. “One of the airplanes flew so low over the boat I could have hit it with a crankbait.”

Jay Yelas of Jasper, Texas, who finished 12th to earn $4,000, said the only pattern he could discover was docks with loud rock ‘n’ roll music.

“I tried the ones with country music and couldn’t catch anything, and there were several playing jazz, but the fish wouldn’t bite there either,” he said.