1982-83 Bassmaster Trail Part 2

Last week we started the coverage of the 1982-83 Bassmaster Trail with a breakdown of the format of the new season.  Today in 1982-83 Bassmaster Trail Part 2 we look at the first League event and the Angler of the Year standings after two events.

Yes, this was the first league event of the season, but the AOY race started at the end of the 81-82 season with the BASS Champs event held on the stingy Ohio River.  In that event, Larry Nixon won, which also gave him his second Bassmaster AOY of his career.

Entrants were excited to leave the thought of the Ohio behind and get to Florida for some better fishing.  Unfortunately, what should have been a great event turned sour before official practice even began.

Locals reported that the fishing had turned off three weeks prior to official practice and when the competitors got to the lake, nothing good could be said about the bite.  Locals were the favorites due to their knowledge of the water, especially during trying times.

One angler, though, had never seen the water prior to the official practice period.  That angler was Ken Cook.  But even though Cook had never seen the water, he had a couple aces up his sleeve.  He was a biologist for the state of Oklahoma and a crack bass angler who had already qualified for two BASS Masters Classic through the Western League in 1981 and 1982.

But the Florida Invitational wouldn’t be a cake walk for Cook.

Rounding out the top five were Ken Cook (OK) with nine fish for 22-04, Wayne Yont (FL) with 9 for 21-05, and Richard Vance (FL) with 10 bass for 20-14.

Parker remarked that when he’d got to his spot the second day that there were 40 boats in the area.  Parker was quoted in the Palm Beach Post as saying, “When I got out there this morning I thought maybe a plane had crashed and they had sent a rescue mission out there.  There were so many boats out there, it forced me to change my method.”

Parker had been throwing a weedless spoon for his fish the first day.  He changed to flipping a worm the second day.

Roland Martin was also one of the pre-tournament favorites to win but a flop on day one took him out of the running.  Martin blanked on day one and weighed only one bass for 1-12 on day two.  He sat in 207th place.

Day Three

Parker’s day one string continued to hamper his chances of winning the Florida Invitational.  The third day of the event saw another armada of boats on his water and he was only able to bring one bass to the scales the final day.  His 27-04 total would drop him to fourth place by the end of the event.

But the Oklahoma fisheries biologist kept on his fish with little notice.  In fact, Ken Cook said everyone saw him fishing.  They couldn’t miss him.  He was fishing the Southport Lock.

Cook’s thought going into the event was this.  With the bite so bad, if he could find moving water, he might find more active fish.  His hunch paid off in spades.  Each time the lock would open, current would flow and the bite would turn on.  On the final day, sitting in third place, Cook boated four bass for 7-13.  This brought his three-day total to 30-01, enough for the win.

Tom Jurkewicz held on to the second spot with 28-01, while Dave Friesenborg moved up and took the third-place spot with 27-07.  Rounding out the top five was Hank Parker (NC) 27-04, and Peter Thilveros (FL) with 24-03.

Cook concentrated on Alligator Grass, wood and pilings near the Southport lock.  He said every time the lock opened the current would make the fish eat.  But the current wasn’t the only thing he credited to his win.  He also mentioned that with the high sun, he paid close attention to shade.

In fact, Cook said that as the day progressed, he noticed the fish would go deeper in the grass.  He wasn’t able to penetrate the thick grass with his 1/4-ounce worm weights, which is what made him turn to the wood and pilings.  This was back in the day when a 1/2-ounce worm weight was the biggest your could buy.  It was far simpler for Cook to target the shady sides of hard cover.

Cook threw a Norman Snatrix in Electric Blue.  He felt that the glitter helped the fish to see the bait in the tannic water.  Who could argue with his first Bassmaster win.

The full results and Score Card for the event are shown below as are the AOY standings after two events.