Former Classic champion and Bassmaster Angler of the Year David Fritts weighs in: "I've caught all kinds of things on a crankbait. I've caught every kind of fish and every piece of clothing you can wear. I never caught a bra, but I've caught underwear - both male and female."
GUY EAKER KEEPS HIS CLASSIC DREAM ALIVE
Guy Eaker has a dream. It's not just any fisherman's dream, either. The 65-year-old North Carolina pro has a burning desire to become the oldest angler ever to qualify for the Bassmaster Classic.
"That would be something," said Eaker, one of the sport's true gentlemen. "That would tell these youngsters that guys like me aren't necessarily over the hill because of our age.
"I really think I'm fishing as well as I ever have. The good Lord's blessed me, and I feel good."
With a pair of top-six finishes on the Bassmaster Tour, he seemed poised for Pittsburgh and set to strike a blow for fishing's senior citizen set. Then the unthinkable happened. When the Tour came to his home lake (Norman), where he's reigned for decades, the wheels came off for Eaker.
After finishing 99th at Norman, he continued to crash and burn by placing 136th in the season finale at Table Rock Lake.
But the dream didn't die with his late-season collapse. Eaker managed to grab one of the final qualifying spots on the Bassmaster Elite 50 Tour. After a respectable 24th-place showing in the season-opener on Alabama's Smith Lake, he's in good position to make a run at one of the 10 Elite 50 slots in the Classic.
Eaker has enjoyed a long and successful career in professional fishing. His résumé includes a BASS tournament victory, $463,000 in earnings and appearances in 10 Classics, but his last Classic appearance was in 1992.
In recent years, he's had to overcome significant injuries that impacted his fishing. In 2001, the removal of a non-cancerous tumor in his throat killed one side of his voice box and required extensive rehabilitation. In 2003, Eaker was helping another angler lift his boat onto a trailer when he pulled both hamstrings and rotator cuffs. "I had to pitch underhanded for two tournaments because I was in so much pain," he said, "and I made a check in both of them!"
To maintain his health, Eaker takes some routine steps.
"When I'm home, I exercise and walk a lot," he said, "and we just don't eat a lot of fried stuff. I really think that makes a difference in the way I feel and the way I do. I haven't sat down in a boat in 30 years. I stood up two solid weeks at times this year on the Tour. If I get my rest I can compete. No problem."
A renowned spinnerbait expert, Eaker credits his reemergence this season to a change in his fishing philosophy.
"I sort of changed my style of fishing," he said. "I fished a tube a lot this year, and it seemed like I caught some quality fish on a tube when I really needed them. I feel like when I come to a place where I need to pitch a tube, I'm catching them. I'll pick up a spinnerbait or crankbait and fish my other places. Then, when I come up on a special place and pitch my tube - boom! - I usually catch one.
"I had never really fished a tube much, except on beds. As far as fishing a tube or a jig, it seemed like a jig would always work better for me, but I decided to switch to a tube because I kept thinking about (Denny) Brauer when he won the (1998) Classic, and he couldn't get a bite on a jig, but he went back to the same places and fished them with a tube and won the Classic. That told me that at times they'll bite a tube when they won't hit a jig.
"It seems like a Berkley Power Tube in black with red flake works everywhere I've been. That's really the only color I've thrown."
What's the saying about old dogs and new tricks?
"I tell you, old dogs sometimes try to learn those new tricks if they have enough patience," Eaker said. "I made myself be more patient. Instead of fishing wide open, I backed off a little bit and fished a little slower, and it seemed like I've been getting better bites."
ANGLERS WITH A HEART
A group of big-hearted Bassmaster pros will be visiting hospitals at upcoming Elite 50 events to bring cheer to both adult and kid patients.
Calling themselves "Angel Anglers," 11 pros visited a Jasper, Ala., hospital at the Elite 50 season-opener two weeks ago.
The pros will visit the Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock on May 14th during the week of the Elite 50 tournament at Lake Dardanelle. On May 28th, they'll stop by the Medical Center at Lewisville during the Tour stop in Texas. Then, when the Tour swings through Wisconsin, they'll take time from the Lake Wissota Elite 50 event to visit Atrium of Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire on June 11th.
GREATEST ANGLER DEBATE
Former Classic champion Paul Elias was one of the 35 semifinalists in the Greatest Angler Debate. Who he would vote for as the best of the best?
"If I had to vote for one that would be a hard pick," he said. "I'd probably vote for (Rick) Clunn.
"To me it's a hard choice between three guys - Roland (Martin), Clunn and (Larry) Nixon. When I look at the whole picture and look at what Clunn has done on so many different tours, I just feel like he comes out on top.
The Greatest Angler Debate series is part of BASS Saturday on ESPN2. The programming features biographical shows on the top 10 anglers as well as debate among hosts. Fans will find stats and stories in the pages of Bassmaster Magazine, BASS Times, Bassmaster.com and on the weekly ESPN Outdoors radio show. In June and July, the debate will heat up again as the fans choose between the top two anglers during a second round of voting.
The debate will conclude in Pittsburgh - at the 2005 Classic - when two champions are crowned. One will be given the Classic trophy and the other - or perhaps even the same angler - will be hailed as the greatest angler of all time.
DID YOU KNOW?
Arkansas is the only state to have sent a qualifier to every Classic.
IF I HADN'T BECOME A BASS PRO
2004 Angler of the Year Gerald Swindle would probably be working with his hands. The Alabama pro was trained in commercial refrigerator installation before becoming a carpenter.
THEY SAID IT
"I've always taken pride in doing it all myself. Some days I struggled because of that. Sometimes I didn't have the knowledge I needed of a lake. Maybe I should have talked to somebody, but that's never worked for me. In the long run, I had all the confidence in the world I could do it on my own because I knew if things got tough I had the ability to change and do it, and more often than not it's happened." Four-time Classic champion and ESPN Greatest Angler Debate semifinalist Rick Clunn on his penchant for avoiding dock talk and other types of help during tournaments.z