(Editor's note: This is part 2 of a 2-parter on David Fritts.)

As Fritts battles to overcome his eye ailment, he also has to contend with turning his career around. He's not accustomed to poor finishes and admitted the spring schedule has taken its toll. "The spring schedule has hurt me," he said. "Fall has always been my strong suit."

While the Bassmaster Tour used to be a split schedule that spanned different seasons, it now centers on a spring format. That all but eliminates Fritts' crankbait weaponry. But the Bass Opens occur during fall, and he had planned to fish them last year.



"Actually, I was in the Opens," he said. "They canceled Lake Eufaula, with good reason because of the hurricane. They rescheduled it on top of a trip I'd already planned to Canada. Then this accident happened so I couldn't go to Okeechobee (for the final Open). Fortunately, the E50s are getting more toward my styule of fishing. They're in May and June."

He noted that techniques on the tours have moved toward an emphasis on shallow water, which is a natural extension of spring competition. "It seems like the trend has gone to shallow water and sight-fishing. I haven't won a (regular-season) tournament since 1991, when I won the Legends. The schedule makes it hard to do my kind of fishing. I never could see sight-fish to start with. With my eye, now I know I can't see them."

Too Much To Handle

Along with the spring schedule, he also said his fishing suffered from trying to do too much. He fished both the Bassmaster and FLW Tours. "I think another thing that really played into it last year was I got burned out a little. That 11-week road trip really hindered me. I had a lot on my mind and I found myself at one tournament, but already thinking about the next one.

"It was BASS-FLW, BASS-FLW for 11 weeks in a row. I never could get comfortable and settle down and fish where I was right then without thinking about the next week."

He'll scale back this year to relieve some of that pressure. He'll fish the full Bassmaster Tour, provided his eye holds out, but he'll only fish a few FLW events. "I signed up for the last two FLWs," he said. "That's not anything against FLW, but I just turned 48 years old. It's one of those things where, 10 years ago, I could have done it with no problem.

"(Rick) Clunn and some guys are still doing it. I don't know how they do it. Personally, I can't adjust and concentrate (on two tours). If I go to a tournament and really focus on it, I usually do much better."

Other Interests

Fritts also noted that his outside business interests, which include a boat dealership (David Fritts Outdoors) and tackle design for Normark (Rapala), have taken a lot of his time. That may or may not have hurt his fishing too.

"I can't tell you how many hours I spent on the (Rapala) DT series," he said. "And it's an ongoing process. We're getting the DT4 ready and it should hit the market anytime now. We also have another bait that's a lot different than most baits out there, but I can't tell you a lot about it until it comes out. I'm also working on stuff for 3 or 4 years down the road."

He said he invests heavy time in bait testing for Rapala. "I don't know how many hours I spend testing. The good thing and the bad thing about Rapala is that these are my baits. That means I have to approve them. I've made everybody mad there because I keep sending them back, telling them we need to tweak this or that.

"The Rapala people over in Finland are the only guys I've ever met in my life that can take your idea and really make good with it. I spent a lot of time in Finland. I'm getting better at it and not taking as much time. But I'm the kind of person who, if it's not right, it's not right. Believe me, they've had a lot of baits most people would have released, but I wouldn't release it. They're the best of the best."

And his boat dealership is another project that commands his time. "I have a Ranger dealership in Welcome, N.C. called David Fritts Outdoors. We built a new building last year and business has been fairly successful. "I don't know if it's affected my fishing or not. I don't think it has. The main thing is the time of year and water we're fishing. If we go somewhere in the summertime in post-spawn or fall, you can usually count on seeing my name somewhere close."

Crank Time May Come

There is no doubt that tournament success breeds bait sales. But as the tours continue to focus on spring schedules, does Fritts feel that negatively affects crankbait sales?

"I think it's hurt crankbait sales," he said. "The thing about the tackle industry – and I've learned a lot about it since being involved with Rapala – is that when there's a good crankbait season, with a few tournaments won on them, it seems like crank sales go wild. It's the same thing with spinnerbaits or lizards. It goes in cycles and you'll go 2 or 3 years when cranks are just unbeatable, then plastics take over, then jerkbaits, then tubes.

"There's more baits out now, so the cycles are getting a little further apart. We're getting due for some really good crankbait fishing. It's just a matter of the situation of right water level, clarity and oxygen. Every year we practice for the Classic in June and murder them on cranks because June is the ultimate month for crankbaiting. But by August, the lakes lose oxygen and the fish have to move up shallow."

A New Fritts

In spite of his disappointing season last year, or maybe because of it, Fritts is fired up for this season. He plans to change his fishing and climb back toward the top.

"You're going to see a new David Fritts this year," he said. "I may lay that crank down for half a day and fish plastics. The year I won Angler of the Year (1994) I threw Zoom Centipedes and Lizards. Even though I threw cranks, I found my fish on the Lizard. So I want to change my practice a little this year."

But he noted how difficult it is for him to put the crank down. "I'm a veteran, diehard crankbaiter. It's almost impossible for me to put them down. If I could find some way I could lock up my crankbaits for only a dire emergency, I probably still wouldn't last half a day without them.

"I know if I can find them on a crank I can win the tournament. That's what makes it so tough to put them down. All the tournaments I won in the '90s were because people didn't think the fish were biting cranks that good. But I was able to find one or two bunches eating crankbaits.

"I feel real good about this year. I'm ready. You just wait and see."

Notable

> Fritts noted that he thinks fishing has changed somewhat in the last few years, and the Classic is a good example. "In the Classics we've been having – they should have all been won on cranks. Some were, like Wylie. (Omori) was using a shallow crank, and I don't know what else he did. But he was catching fish in 3 feet of water. The deep fish should have been the ones to deal with there. Maybe it's all the rain keeping the lakes high."

> On his decision to fish a full Bassmaster season over FLW: "It's gotten to a point with my eye that I'm really scared to fish both of them. Ranger is one of my big sponsors, and they sponsor FLW. On the other hand, Mercury is another of my big sponsors, and they want an emphasis on BASS. So I'm a little torn. I've made a name on both trails."

- End of part 2 (of 2) -