On April 5^th and 6^th, 130 of Virginia's best anglers had access to the Intercoastal Waterway, various river systems and Sounds of both Virginia and North Carolina to compete for the title of 2003 MR. BASS for Virginia.

Thirty eight year old Craig Owens, a member of REGION 7's VIRGINIA BASSMASTERS since 1995, chose to make a 25-mile run into the Back Bay area. Back Bay is a shallow Sound encompassing coastal Virginia and North Carolina covered mostly by grass, with an average depth of 5 to 8ft.

On Saturday, day 1, Craig’s run was made especially long by the powerful winds that stirred up 3 to 5 foot waves on Currituck Sound. Craig was fishing a small stretch of grass approximately 100 yards long. The choice to stay in the one small area vice running to other water and trying to find more active fish wasn't determined solely by the weather, but rather by the quality of fish that were caught there. On day 1, Craig caught 25 fish, and culled down to a four fish limit weighing 14.28 lbs., putting him in the lead of the tournament by only a pound.

He made the long run to the same spot on day 2. Fortunately, the wind had died down to a respectable 25 miles per hour. Unfortunately, the temperature had dropped drastically overnight and was hovering in the high 40's to low 50's. With the temperature drop, the number of fish that Craig caught also decreased. He only caught 8 fish for the day but the number of fish caught didn't matter because the quality was still there. His day 2 weight was 11.38 lbs. His 2 day total for the tournament was 25.66 lbs.

Craig wasn't the only MR. BASS competitor in that small area of Back Bay. At least 4 or 5 other boats braved the rough water and ended up in the same area as Craig and his partner. Fortunately all of the anglers were respectful of each other's honey holes and did not infringe or interfere with each other, and Craig credits this fine sportsmanship with allowing him to win and several others to finish high in the standings as well.

Craig caught all his fish flipping a heavily weighted Zoom 6" Pumpkin lizard with a chartreuse tail into a grassy shoreline in 2 ft of water. His Gambler boat was sitting in just over 3 ft of water. Craig's lizard was tied to 20lb Stren, spooled onto a Shimano Citica reel and mounted on a 7 1/2' Fenwick flipping stick. Murphy's Prop Shop of Norfolk, VA, Budget Boats of Chesapeake, VA and Budget Mobile Outboard Repair of Chesapeake, VA sponsor Craig.

Craig has been fishing competitively since he was 16 but just recently seems to be coming into his own. He is coming off of an awesome year as a fisherman. Last season (2002) he won Angler of the Year in his club, VIRGINIA BASSMASTERS. He also won that title in 1999 and 1996. Also, he and his region partner, Harold Delp, claimed the honor as TOP TEAM in Region 7 in 2002.

Craig thanks his wife Susan for her love and support. His memory of VIRGINIA BASSMASTERS founder and long time friend Don Sprinkle guides him through many tough times. Craig praises many of his club members for taking the time to help him refine his patterns and lure presentation when it comes to competing at the Region & State levels but no one more than his region partner Harold Delp. Harold will give you whatever it takes to succeed but what is most welcome is his willingness to share his knowledge and instill in you the confidence that you need to compete at this level. It's an honor to compete against the best in the state but it’s a lifelong dream to become one of them. Craig and his fellow anglers will be representing Virginia in the Eastern Divisional Finals at Lake Champlain in Burlington, VT 14-19 September.

Congratulations Craig Owens, 2003 Virginia Mr. BASS!

LOW TURNOUT: There were only approximately 130 participants in the tournament. Region 9 sent no one, only 6 Region 1 clubs sent representatives. Should the Federation continue to schedule events on such unpopular bodies of water?

Craig resents the failure of certain clubs and regions to send representatives. "It was poor and not right that those clubs did not participate just because they don’t like the location. It’s always a hassle if you’re on one side of the state and the tournament is on the other side of the state, but that’s the way it goes." He reiterates that the sites are determined by individual regions on a rotating basis, and that the host region must by necessity select a body of water where they can effectively handle the arrangements, lodging, meeting halls, ramps, etc. He bristles at the notion that Munden Point Park is unpopular, saying that it was only unpopular to non-locals.

He does suggest that perhaps the Mr. BASS tournament should be split into East and West tournaments as a "happy medium," with the first place finisher from each tournament advancing to the Eastern Divisional.

SIX MAN TOURNAMENT: The Six Man Tournaments are always held on Buggs Island. If indeed Craig believes that the rotating location of the Mr. BASS tournaments is a good thing, would he support holding the Six Man on other bodies of water, such as the Potomac River or Smith Mountain Lake?

Craig firmly believes that the location of all state tournaments should be rotated, but notes that the existing leadership and membership "seems to be quite comfortable with the Six Man being on Kerr every year and that’s ok."

POTENTIAL RULES VIOLATIONS: The location of this year’s Mr. BASS tournament, spanning Virginia and North Carolina waters, combined with the tournament’s 12" minimum size limit, provided a potential for violations (knowing or unknowing) of the law. Put another way, anglers could catch 12" fish in North Carolina, where the minimum is 14", and put them in the livewell to weigh in. Additionally, the tournament officials did not check competitors for North Carolina licenses.

Craig believes that for the most part the laws were followed. Specifically, with respect to the North Carolina license issue, he assisted four other competitors in obtaining licenses online and faxing them directly to their hotel’s front desk. As far as the minimum length issue, he is "not aware of anyone having a problem with that, but to eliminate that problem, the Federation should have required a fourteen inch minimum."