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New Martinsville, W. Va. - Sept. 24, 1999 - Russell Smarr, a 51-year-old employee at a sporting goods store and owner of his own lure company led the first day of the B.A.S.S. National Federation Eastern Divisional Championship, then bombed on Day 2 and came up from behind to win the three-day tournament with a total of 6 bass weighing 10 pounds, 14 ounces.

Smarr started out the first day of competition with 4 bass weighing 6 pounds, 3 ounces. Having success the first day with a buzzbait pattern, Smarr used the same pattern on Day 2 and never caught a fish. Day 3 Smarr changed his pattern to a spinnerbait (made by Catch 'em lures), he located himself at Willow Island Pool fishing Middle Island creek. Most of his fish were caught in shallow water less than 6 feet deep.

Runner-up position went to Ray Sprano of St. Albans Bay, Vt., with a total catch of 6 bass weighing 9 pounds. Ray was in 10th place on Day 2 of the tournament and beat out the other team members for a slot at the National Championship. Ray Sprano from the Vermont team and Ed Cowan of the New Jersey team have made it to the National Championship in the past, both will be making a second appearance.

Other anglers advancing to the Wrangler/B.A.S.S. National Championship next spring include: David Harp (Connecticut/7-5), Paul Koluch (Maryland/5-8), Lee Whaley (Virginia/8-6), William Woodward (New Jersey/1-0), Ken Baumgardner (Pennsylvania/5-10), Joe Matt (New York/5-4), Mark Donovan (Rhode Island/3-13), John Farrand (Maine/5-11), Chris Price (Delaware/5-11), Michael Tamburello (Massachusetts/4-6) and Alan Denise (New Hampshire/7-4)

Team Standings:

1st place: West Virginia/38-13
2nd place: Connecticut/36-7
3rd place: Maryland/35-10
4th place: Vermont/29-12
5th place: Virginia/28-3

Big Bass for the day was caught by John Farrand of Lewiston, Maine (3 pounds, 7 ounces, also big bass of the tournament.

The rules of this tournament event allowed each angler to weigh five bass, either largemouths or smallmouths, measuring a minimum of 12 inches. Collectively, the anglers caught 263 such fish weighing a total of 325 pounds, 3 ounces. All but one fish was returned alive back into the Ohio River No limits were caught.

Special Note: Eric Bouldin and Tom Prowant's catches were disqualified yesterday (Day 2). Tom had big-bass, but was replaced by Ed Cowan, with a fish weighing 2 pounds, 8 ounces.

Sponsors of the B.A.S.S. National Federation Eastern Divisional Championship are: Wrangler Rugged Wear, Ranger Boats, RangerTrail Trailers, Chevrolet Trucks, BIG Kmart, ACDelco Voyager Batteries, Berkley Trilene, Berkley Powerbait, MotorGuide Trolling Motors, Mercury, Lowrance and Eagle Electronics, JERZEES ActiveWear, Flowmaster Exhaust Systems, Quantum Rods and Reels and Eagle Claw Fishhooks.

From B.A.S.S. Reports

Charleston's Russell Smarr manufactures a lot of his own fishing lures and catches tons of fish on them each year.

And Friday, Smarr won his second fishing title in three years. But he didn't catch his winning fish on lures he makes himself. Amusingly, he used lures made by friends to capture both of his titles.

Smarr outfished 178 other anglers from 13 states Friday to capture the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society Eastern Divisional title. He's the third West Virginia angler to do so.

The 51-year-old Smarr - a lure manufacturer who works at the Mink Shoals Anglers Roost - also won the West Virginia Federation State Championship in 1996.

As for the regional tournaments, they pit B.A.S.S. State Federation clubs against one another, with one finalist from each state advancing to the Wrangler Nationals next spring in Knoxville, Tenn.

This year's Eastern was held on the Ohio River at New Martinsville. And fishing was, obviously, tough. No one weighed in a five-fish limit on any day during the entire three-day event.

The result? Three-day weight totals were very low.

"It was really tough,'' said Smarr. "I'd found some fish in practice before the tournament. I knew they were there, if I could catch 'em. But the fishing conditions changed.''

After the first day's competition, a cold front moved in and killed the fishing. Smarr, who opened the tournament Wednesday with a four-fish, 6-pound 3-ounce lead, dropped into fourth place Thursday with no fish.

He landed four fish Friday for a three-day total of eight bass weighing 10 pounds, 14 ounces - more than enough to claim the title under super-tough fishing conditions.

"The first day, it was overcast off and on with a little wind. The fish started biting when the wind came up. I knew there was a little top water bite, so I threw a buzzbait and caught four fish that day. We had clear skies the next day and I stayed with the buzzbait, but it didn't produce. I don't know if the sun sent the fish deeper or what.

"On the third day, I tried the buzzbait again and it didn't work, so I switched to a spinnerbait and scraped up four more bass,'' he said.

The main winning strategy for Smarr was to stick with his previously scouted area and fish it hard for three days.

And what about his choice of lures? Well, he likes to use lures he makes. But his buddies produce several different kinds of lures that he doesn't make.

"I was using the same buzzbait that I won the state championship with in '96, made by Bob Smith [a local lure manufacturer],'' said Smarr, who works with Smith at Anglers Roost.

Darren Elder of St. Albans (owner of Catch 'em Lures) makes the spinnerbaits Smarr won with Friday. "Those fellows make some awful good lures,'' he said.

Second place went to Ray Sprano of St. Albans Bay, Vt. Sprano caught six fish weighing nine pounds even.

In addition to winning the tournament outright, Smarr also led Team West Virginia to a victory over the other 12 states.

The West Virginia team finished with 38 pounds, 13 ounces and collected $17,500 in prize money.

"This is a team tournament and the money is paid out on a team basis,'' said John Burdette of Buckhannon, president of the West Virginia B.A.S.S. Federation chapter. "It's the first win ever for West Virginia as a team and it's something we'd been trying to do for years.

"We had a good team and they all worked really well together and shared their information. I'm real proud of Russ and all the other team members,'' Burdette said.

There was a fog delay the first two days of fishing, which kept some anglers from running 45 miles and locking through to the Pike Island Pool - two pools above Willow Island, where the tournament was launched. Burdette said a lot of fishermen wanted to fish the Pike Island Pool. "They just didn't have time to get there on the days the river was foggy,'' he said.

The biggest bass caught during the three days of competition was the 3-pound, 7-ouncer landed Friday by John Ferrand of Lewiston, Maine.

Other top Mountain State competitors included Robert Fleshman, also of Charleston, who finished seventh overall with six fish weighing 6 pounds, 12 ounces. Fleshman was in third place after two days of fishing.

Charleston's Bob Burgess finished eighth with six fish weighing 6 pounds, 2 ounces. William Moorehead of Beckley placed 17th with three fishing weighing 5 pounds, 5 ounces.

And Lester Marsh of Weston finished 33rd with four fish weighing 3 pounds, 12 ounces.

David Martin of Summersville and Jay Blackwell of Huntington finished tied for 64th place. James Dingess of Huntington finished 86th. Dwight Given of Heaters finished 107th and William Phillips of Elkview, Steve Groves of Mt.
Nebo, Glen Perry of Fayetteville, and John Burdette of Buckhannon all finished in a tie for 115th.

Frank Haught of Lumberport won the Eastern Divisional in the late 1980s and went on to fish the BassMasters Classic. To this day, he's the only state angler ever to make it to the Classic. Dennis McAvey of Bristol won a Federation title in the early 1990s, too, while fishing in Connecticut.

To contact Andy Hansroth, call 348-5113 or send e-mail to
andyhansroth@wvgazette.com