Bass Fishing

For several years, fans of pro basketball and Major League Baseball have had opportunities to attend fantasy camps in which they work out with and learn from the professionals.Now, Bobby Wilson, a South Carolina pro angler, has put together a similar program for bass fishermen. Called Camp Fish-N-Fun, Wilson's fantasy camp is suited to all fishermen over the age of 12, but is aimed at those who follow the professional bass fishing circuits.Wilson has lined up 26 bass pros to eat and fish with campers, and to teach shoreside seminars.

Six people have been charged since the start of this month with illegally catching striped bass in federal waters more than three miles off the coast of Ocean City , according to the Maryland Natural Resources Police. Police said the recreational fishers had caught the fish, all more than 28 inches in length, in what is known as the Exclusive Economic Zone - a designated area of waters between 3 and 200 miles off the United States coastline where the federal government holds jurisdiction.

Largemouth bass fishing on the Potomac is just about ready to peak."Normally, these bass begin spawning in March, but because of the lingering cool temperatures, the indications point to the first or second week of May before the prime spawning period gets under way," professional bass guide Richie Gaines told me during a great bassin' trip last Wednesday.In deference to a strong northwesterly wind and unseasonably chilly temperatures, Gaines suggested we launch his fully equipped bass boat from the Smallwood State Park ramp and confine the morning's fishing to the much calmer Mattawoman Creek.

Luke Clausen found a rare day in June when, on the fourth day of the FLW Tour bass fishing tournament on the Potomac River out of National Harbor, he brought in 19 pounds, 4 ounces of fish, two pounds more than any other professional fishermen had caught that day. His total catch weighed 69 pounds, 14 ounces, and it earned him a cool $125,000 paycheck. Rocell Viniard, vice president and director of marketing for National Harbor, figures several thousand people attended the event, particularly on the last day, when FLW and sponsors have a lot of free family activities that are open to the public.

Luke Clausen found a rare day in June when, on the fourth day of the FLW Tour bass fishing tournament on the Potomac River out of National Harbor, he brought in 19 pounds, 4 ounces of fish, two pounds more than any other professional fishermen had caught that day. His total catch weighed 69 pounds, 14 ounces, and it earned him a cool $125,000 paycheck. Rocell Viniard, vice president and director of marketing for National Harbor, figures several thousand people attended the event, particularly on the last day, when FLW and sponsors have a lot of free family activities that are open to the public.

INDIAN HEAD -- The traffic on Mattawoman Creek is heavy for a weekday morning -- a curious beaver and a white-tailed deer having made their way across the creek channel, causing us to slow below the 6-knot speed limit to let them pass -- but it matters little.A balky trolling motor has sent us back toward the launch at Slavin's for repairs, and the pair of beautiful swimmers is a pleasant diversion.The beaver dives and surfaces, takes a peek at the sleek bass boat Ken Penrod has borrowed while awaiting delivery of a new model, and dives again only to surface a few yards further across the channel.

On my first cast of the day, I scored a bulls-eye on a submerged stump. Bass pro Bob Parker attempted to conceal his amusement while nudging his boat toward the Mattawoman Creek shoreline so that we could free my lure. It was the first of a series of mishaps and the beginning of a great largemouth bass safari.If I had to limit all my bass fishing to a single spot, the choice would be this section of the lower Potomac River. Most bass fans finger this area as the East Coast's finest largemouth waters.

Picture, if you will, this scene: A businessman places a chair outside his office door and practices pitchin' a lure under it while keeping an eye on the hum and drum of commerce.It could be at any small business in any small town in the country where bass fishing is king, right?Wrong.Zimbabwe. Harare, Zimbabwe, to be exact.And pitchin' a lure beneath a chair is how Gerry Jooste practiced his technique for the BASS Masters Classic that ended yesterday on Lake Logan Martin near Birmingham, Ala.Jooste, a 39-year-old boatbuilder, had a problem, you see.While there are big bass in Zimbabwe thanks to a stocking program started by the Bass Anglers Sportsmans Society in 1982, there is a dearth of docks and piers on the bass waters of that African country.

POSSUM RIDGE, Ky. - Bait a hook. Cast a line. Catch a fish. It's an activity as old as the hills, with demographics to match. Fishing? That's for retired folks, and bass fishing is for Bubba. That's a problem for the masterminds plotting the future of professional bass fishing, which has limited visibility even though its tournaments have made winners rich and famous. Sponsors demand fans - the younger and hipper, the better - and the promise of television coverage with head-snapping action.

Largemouth bass fishing continues to be big business in the recreational fishing industry.I remember when largemouth bass fishing came of age -- or rage -- in the early 1970s. You couldn't catch a bass on an ordinary rod; it had to be a bass rod or worming stick that felt more like a pool cue than a fishing rod.And spinning reels were out -- only conventional, bait casting reels could catch them big hawgs (bass).Everyone had to be a member of the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (BASS), and no BASS member would be caught dead fishing in anything other than a bass boat.

River cleanup and tubing Monday and Thursday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Patapsco Valley State Park, Avalon area: 5120 South St., Halethorpe. Float down the river and help with a river cleanup, picking up litter and dragging debris to the side for later pickup. Bring your own tube. Children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. Limited to 20 participants. Call 443-636-0163 in advance to register. Cost is free and donations are welcome. Boating meeting Thursday, 10 a.m.-noon, Maryland Boat Act Advisory Committee meeting, Kent Island Yacht Club, 117 Yacht Club Drive, Chester.

He has been striped bass fishing off Brooklyn, N.Y., and largemouth bass fishing under a pier back home in Florida, but one of the places where Oriole Luke Scott remains a rookie is the Chesapeake Bay. That shortcoming will be remedied May 1, when the designated hitter-first baseman will fish the 27th annual Championship on the Chesapeake, the long-running contest sponsored by the Maryland Saltwater Sportfishermen's Association. On board with Scott will be the winner of a World Fishing Network contest and a friend.

Eric Hayden of Bowie writes: This has felt like the longest winter on record because my cabin fever is raging. I know I must have missed it earlier, but could you please remind me about the new rules regarding catch-and-release striped bass fishing this spring? Outdoors Girl replies: When it comes to cabin fever, join the club. The winter of 2009-2010 is now in the books, at least as far as the equinox is concerned. Let's hope the weather gods can read the calendar. The new catch-and-release rules for the Chesapeake Bay go into effect Monday and continue until April 17, when the spring trophy season starts.

Sam Dutton of Baltimore writes: Saturday, I went with three friends to the Potomac above Hancock to go bass fishing. We waded in about four feet of water and had a blast. I caught about nine smallmouth and one of us caught 20, all from 7 a.m. to noon. All were catch and release. That area is loaded with bass. The Upper Potomac must be one of the best bass fishing areas in the country. We also find that river bass fishing is far superior to lake or pond bass fishing. The river bass put up a stronger fight and are lean and fit since they must fight the continuous current.

To break into the all-male club called the Bassmaster Classic, Kim Bain-Moore answered the call of nature and solved the dilemma of answering nature's call. Before dawn tomorrow, Bain-Moore will point the bow of her low-slung boat onto Louisiana's Red River to kick off three days of competition in the king of all bass fishing tournaments. First place is worth $500,000. "I can see myself up there," she says of standing on the stage for Sunday's final weigh-in. "I actually can." Being the first woman to qualify for the 38-year-old tournament known as "the Super Bowl of bass fishing" didn't happen overnight, and it wasn't a gimmick cooked up by some overactive flack.

TILGHMAN ISLAND -- A flamboyant Chesapeake Bay charter captain and Eastern Shore entrepreneur who already has three fishing-law violations on his record has been charged with another offense against Maryland's state fish. Maryland Natural Resources Police said yesterday that an officer caught Levin "Buddy" Harrison III, 72, of Tilghman Island with undersize striped bass at his seafood processing plant last Friday afternoon. The officer, acting on an anonymous tip, went to the plant, which is typically where the catch is taken for cleaning after a charter fishing trip.

Sam Dutton of Baltimore writes: Saturday, I went with three friends to the Potomac above Hancock to go bass fishing. We waded in about four feet of water and had a blast. I caught about nine smallmouth and one of us caught 20, all from 7 a.m. to noon. All were catch and release. That area is loaded with bass. The Upper Potomac must be one of the best bass fishing areas in the country. We also find that river bass fishing is far superior to lake or pond bass fishing. The river bass put up a stronger fight and are lean and fit since they must fight the continuous current.

Starting this afternoon, regional bass fishermen will have an opportunity to learn more about their sport and the areas in which they fish, as Bass Expo '91 opens at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium.The seventh annual Bass Expo is an ambitious undertaking put together by Bob Dobart of Baltimore, who competes on the B.A.S.S. and Redman circuits and operates East Coast Bass Shows Inc. Dobart says his connections on the pro tours contribute to the quality of the show, which this year includes 18 seminars on different aspects of bass fishing.

Finally, the world championship of bass fishing truly is global. Takahiro Omori won the Bassmaster Classic last Sunday on North Carolina's Lake Wylie in a last-minute burst of made-for-TV bravado. The Tokyo native caught his two fattest fish in the final five minutes of the three-day tournament. He beat Aaron Martens, the bridesmaid for the second time in three years, by 2 3/4 pounds. His joy was genuine, his relief palpable. A TV camera caught his reactions as he piloted his boat back to the dock: a fist-shaking, hat-waving emotional explosion.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - After struggling for most of the day, Takahiro Omori changed his lure and changed his life yesterday by becoming the first foreign national to win the Bassmaster Classic. A resident of Emory, Texas, who was born in Tokyo, Omori caught a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 39 pounds, 2 ounces to win the Classic on Lake Wylie and the $200,000 first prize. Aaron Martens of Castaic, Calif., was second (36-6) and won $50,000. Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich., the 2001 Classic champion, was third at 35-11.