Saturday, February 23, 2008
Freeman fights cold at start
Salem resident John Crews sits in 31st place after the first day of the Bassmaster Classic.
Mark Taylor is outdoors editor at The Roanoke Times.
mark.taylor
@roanoke.com
981-3395
Mark Taylor
Outdoors coverage
- Notebook: Outer Banks beach-driving plan kicks up sand
- Outdoors commentary: Many Sunday hunting cons
- Winter tourneys invite fishermen out in the cold
- Visit our Outdoors page
The Wild Life blog
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Despite a frigid rain, a brutal cold and stiff competition from 49 of the nation's best bass anglers, Jeff Freeman is still living the dream at the Bassmaster Classic.
Freeman, a full-time patrol deputy from Max Meadows, Va., boated a heavy enough limit of bass to put him in 17th place after the first day of the three-day tournament.
"I'm pumped," said Freeman, whose five bass weighed 14 pounds, 3 ounces.
Charlie Hartley of Grove City, Ohio, took the tournament's early lead with a catch of 21 pounds, 3 ounces.
John Crews, a professional angler who lives in Salem, had a limit weighing 11 pounds, 2 ounces, and is in 31st place.
Weather conditions were being called the worst in the Classic's 38-year history.
As the anglers shot out across 56,000-acre Lake Hartwell just after dawn Friday, a steady rain was falling and temperatures hovered in the mid-30s.
Wearing a protective face mask that gave him the appearance of Darth Vader, Freeman struggled to see where he was going as he gunned his shimmering red Ranger to 60 mph.
"I had a boat in front of me and I could see the spray off its prop," he said. "That's the only thing that got me to the bridge."
Freeman, 36, had been battling a cold earlier in the week, and it returned Friday with a vengeance. His cough grew worse throughout the day.
It didn't help that Freeman was anxious about fishing in the most prestigious bass tournament in the world, having earned that spot through top finishes in a qualifying series run through the BASS's Federation Nation grass-roots fishing organization.
"I slept about two hours last night," he said. "When we took off in the morning, my heart was just [pounding]."
Freeman headed first to some areas that had been productive in practice. Casting a special jig, he quickly had a bite but missed the fish.
"I can't afford to miss those today," he groaned.
Thirty minutes later a plastic worm produced another hit and another miss.
Freeman hooked his first fish at 8:30 a.m. and gingerly fought it toward the boat. Carefully, he swept the 3-pound bass aboard.
"At least I didn't zero," he said after putting the fish in his livewell. "That was my biggest fear."
Shifting his rod from hand to hand so he cold blow on his frozen fingers, Freeman patiently fished areas that had paid off in practice. By early afternoon he reached his limit, with one of the fish a chunky 5-pound largemouth. He managed two more keepers that enabled him to cull smaller fish.
Freeman doesn't hold any aspirations of catching up with the tournament's top anglers, but he believes his opening-day performance puts him in good shape to make the cut of the top 25 anglers who will fish Sunday.
Crews is hoping to make the cut after falling just shy in his previous three Classic appearances.
"It's a three-day event," Crews said. "That's what I keep telling myself."
Freeman would love a third opportunity to ride into a packed Bi-Lo Arena in his boat in front of thousands of screaming bass fans.
He admitted to being somewhat overwhelmed after looking up to see his own picture on the big screen as the emcee announced his entrance.
"But I felt kind of like a goober because as the guy was driving me in I was sitting there driving the boat," he said, laughing. "I guess that's what you call getting lost in the moment."
Although many anglers who struggled Friday said they were considering changing strategies, Freeman has no such plans.
"This is all I've got," he said of his pre-established patterns of fishing shallow with jigs and plastic worms.
Freeman was looking forward to the warmer, sunny weather in today's forecast. Not because it would be more comfortable for him, but because it could help him catch more fish.
And for two more days, that's the priority.
