CHICAGO, July 22 - On a breezy day in the Windy City, Virginia pro Woo Daves erased a series of painful BASS Masters Classic memories by winning his 15th Classic try Saturday by the narrow margin of 1 pound, 2 ounces.
Daves, who has finished second and third by agonizing margins of 6 and 13 ounces in past Classics on his home waters, protected his second-round lead with a final-round catch of four bass weighing 6 1/2 pounds. His three-day total of 27 pounds, 13 ounces earned Daves the $100,000 top prize and the most important title in competitive fishing.
California's Mark Rizk, fishing his second Classic, rode Saturday's largest five-bass limit (10-1) to second place with 26-11. Shaw Grigsby of Florida finished third with 24-7, followed by four-time Classic winner Rick Clunn of Missouri and Japan's Kotaro Kiriyama (both with 23-14).
But the day belonged to Daves, a 25-year veteran of the B.A.S.S. wars and two-time national champion.
"Winning the Classic is the dream of every bass fisherman in the word," he said. "And my dream came true today.
"It means a lot more to me because I'm no spring chicken. I'm 54 years old. My mother keeps asking me if I was ever going to win the Classic before she died. And she's 81. I told her she might have to live to 95 before I won it."
Daves was the only Classic angler to target smallmouth bass exclusively. He used a Zoom tubejig (tied to 6-pound test line) to mine an abandoned seawall located about 300 yards out into Lake Michigan in the shadow of the world-famous Sears Tower. He battled 3- and 4-foot waves for all three days to fashion his winning pattern.
Rizk, 37, "stumbled" onto a school of feeding largemouths in the second round, catching six keeper bass in consecutive casts. He returned to the same area in Lake Calumet on Saturday, where the action was considerably slower. His success came on Magic and Assault hand-poured finesse worms tied to a drop-shot rig.
"I'm really satisfied with my finish," Rizk said. "I'm not much a finesse fisherman, but I made the necessary adjustments to catch fish in this tournament."
The 44-year-old Grigsby struggled to catch four bass totaling 7-6 to drop from second to third Saturday. His success came on both largemouth and smallmouth bass in wind-swept Lake Michigan and some protected harbors, where he used a Luck 'E' Strike G4 tubejig.
Defending Classic champion Davy Hite shook off two fishless days to catch the largest bass of the tournament Saturday (4 pounds, 3 ounces), and win the $1000 Pennzoil big-bass award.