In today’s Friday Finale, a bit of a different pro picture pulled from the newspaper archives. Back during the 1994 Bassmaster Classic on High Rock Lake, Claude “Fish” Fishburne found himself with the Day one lead after bringing 14-10 to the scales and ultimately sharing big bass for the event (6-08). His technique was dragging a Carolina-rigged lizard over points and mid-lake humps. The photo features Fish hanging over the boat, trying to free a bass that had tied him up around some dock pilings.
Unfortunately, Fish would fail to bring a keeper bass to the scales on Day two, dropping to 22nd before recovering and winding up 14th.
But beyond the candid picture, Fish provided a lot of fodder for the various newspapers covering the Classic story. For example, The Atlanta Constitution quoted him saying, “When David (Fritts) went by, 50 boats followed him. It was exciting.”
Of the day two weigh-in, they wrote, “Fishburne, described by Scott as ‘the clown prince of bassdom,’ failed to bring a bass to the second day’s weigh-in ceremony. Thousands laughed and cheered as Fishburne played the comic, frantically looking in the Ranger bass boat’s live wells and searching for a fish.”
Another example; The South Bend Tribune coverage said day one leader Fishburne, “…left many staid tournament insiders grumbling at the prospects of the Classic clown winning the prestigious championship.
“‘Hey, let’s not forget that it’s ONLY fishing,’ chuckled the 29-year-old Georgian, who spouts off-the-wall one-liners in Robin Williams-like humor. ‘I realize my style may offend some of my fellow pros. But this is me, and this is what you get.’
“What you get is a bearded red head who wears tinsel in his shoe laces, has been known to do hand stands and play rock-and-roll music from the bow of his bass boat, and bellow war hoops as he roars down the lake past fellow fishermen. Last year, he taunted other contestants, in jest of course, by shooting water balloons at them during the tournament.”
