More and more, Memorial Day week in Hot Springs, Ark. is looking like the Bass Fishing Olympics.

First announced was the Professional Bass Fishing Hall of Fame's World Championship tournament (May 22-25), where the top anglers from all the top circuits will face off against one another for the first time.

Then came the BassFan.com Fishing Skills Competition (May 24), the first-ever indoor skills competition where fans will get up-close-and-personal views of just how good the pros really are.

And now there's the Light-Line Tournament (May 21), where the nation's top anglers will fish a one-day tournament using 4-pound-test (it must break at 4 pounds) and try not only to win, but to set a new Arkansas line-class record for bass.


Where else can you go to see all of that? Nowhere but Hot Springs -- in just 3 weeks!

Scott Behind It

The driving force behind the Light-Line Tournament is none other than the father of modern bass fishing, Ray Scott. And as you might expect, he has a few things to say about it.

"It's more exciting to shoot a deer with a bow and arrow than with a .30-06," he said. "Some, including me, got bored shooting deer with a .30-06. I got tired of walking over to where he was, and over the years I got to the point where I didn't want to shoot again. I got to the point of almost giving up.

"But a friend of mine put me onto archery. Now I have a whole new feeling about hunting," Scott said. But if make any one of about 10 mistakes, the party's over. And there's no difference in light-line fishing.

"For the fishermen, (light-line fishing) is enormously more exciting than fishing with heavier stuff. With 4-pound line you have to keep track of a dozen elements, any one of which can cause the party to be over.

"You better have the right hook or else you won't hook the fish, and you have to have the right guides, rod action and drag on your reel. And the last thing is your nervous system. If you don't have nerves of steel, you might have to take a pill. If you have a 5-6 pound bass on 4-pound line, you better be right."

Scott said anglers fishing light line are "put to the supreme test of using every skill in the world rather than just winching that fish to the boat. I saw Paul Elias catch a fish over 8 pounds (on 4-pound test) on my lake. He was all over the boat -- he knocked his partner over running from one end to the other."

That was during an "experiment." Elias, Davy Hite, Ken Cook and Roland Martin showed up to Scott's house at Scott's invitation without knowing why they were there. All he said was, "Bring small baits." Scott gave each pro four rods and reels loaded with 4-pound line, and sent them out on his lake.

"It took them about 15 minutes to adjust," Scott said. "We watched them for 6 hours, and they caught over 60 bass per boat. The fish averaged slightly over 5 pounds. It was exciting."

'Sport' Back in Sport Fishing

Light-line tournaments, which Scott calls "Sportackle" tournaments, "puts the sport back in sport fishing," he said. "If you have a 200-pound man fishing 20-pound line who catches a 2-pound bass -- boom, he's in the boat. Where's the sport?

"I have absolutely no intention of suggesting that people should quit fishing traditional bass gear," he added. "This is just another opportunity for excitement with bass."

Fishing Without a Net

What will make the Light-Line Tournament even more interesting is that the anglers will not be able to use nets. "Four-pound line, no nets," Scott said. "It's hand-to-hand combat, angler against bass. That's extreme sports for bass anglers -- and it makes for good television."

In fact, Scott wishes nets would be banned from the pro tours -- for the same reason he banned nets from B.A.S.S. tournaments in the first place: fan excitement.

"In 1981 we had an Invitational in Cincinnati, and immediately after that we said no more nets," Scott said. "When we were preparing to get into television, I saw (nets) as a distraction from entertainment. Let's have some combat.

"Look at it this way. Say you were planning to go to a NASCAR race. Before you buy your ticket, a fellow walks up and says, 'At that race there will be no wrecks, no crashes, no flat tires, nothing more exiting than a tire-change in the pits.' I ask you, would you go see the race? No excitement, no calamity, no spin-outs? I wouldn't go," Scott said. "I wouldn't go because I'm looking for the most possible excitement."

Tournament Specifics

> The Light-Line Tournament will be held on May 21 -- a practice day for the World Championship -- on Lake Ouachita. Only pros fishing in the Championship are eligible. Take-off and weigh-in will be at Mountain Harbor Marina.

> Artificial lures only, no shock leaders.

> The International Game Fishing Association (IGFA), keeper of fishing records, will be there to weigh and certify all catches, as well as test the lines to make sure they break at 4 pounds (most break far higher than their ratings).

> The current 4-pound-test Arkansas record largemouth is a 1-pound 14-ouncer caught by Charles Key on April 12, 2001. "I'll bet my cowboy hat right now that we'll see the current record broken on May 21 at Lake Ouachita," Scott said. "Chances are the record will be broken more than once."

> For more info on any of the Hall of Fame-hosted events call (888) 690-2277.

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