Our Featured Angler for September is Former Virginia Federation Member and Jacobs Cup Qualifier, David Dudley

by Pete Robbins
(Who is Pete Robbins & what else has he written?)

Former Virginia Federation member David Dudley will be competing for a top prize of $500,000 in the Jacobs Cup (the FLW circuit’s championship) on the James River later this month. The Team Castrol pro is no stranger to the James – he won a B.A.S.S. Top 100 tournament on the river in the mid-1990s. Nor is he a stranger to big money tournaments – as the winner of the Ranger M1 tournament on the Mobile Delta, he took home a cool $700,000, the largest single prize ever awarded in a freshwater fishing tournament. I recently caught up with David as he returned from a day of prefishing for the upcoming championship.

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How has your practice gone so far?
Practice hasn’t been too good for me. I don’t think it’s been too good for anybody. We’ve just had kind of a heat wave come in, and we haven’t had a heat wave all summer. The water’s getting really, really hot. The two days I’ve fished here it’s been slick and sunny and extremely hot, so fish are moving around a little bit right now, as opposed to what they were doing a couple of weeks ago.

A lot of people would consider you to be a local favorite in this tournament. How does that affect the way you practice?
You know, I get that a lot, thinking that I know the river very well. But, you know, the James River, besides fishing that week for the B.A.S.S. tournament, I probably maybe fished it ten times in my life. People must get that idea because I am from Virginia but I think the only advantage that I have is that I understand tides pretty well. As far as being a local favorite, and am I fishing any different because I’m expected to do well? No. I fish the same as if I was the local favorite or not.

If you’re asking indirectly if it puts any more pressure on me, no. I don’t let things like that get to me.

Have you noticed any other fishermen following you around at all?
Yeah. I started to see a little bit of it yesterday and today. Even with some of the competitors. They know that I’m supposed to know the James fairly well. I am having to hold off on fishing a few little areas I plan on fishing in the tournament, just for the simple fact that people are paying attention to where I’m going and what I’m doing. I can feel the eyes looking at me.

You won a B.A.S.S. Top 100 tournament on the James in a pretty well-known area. Have you been back in there in practice?
No, I haven’t. I’ve heard they pulled a bunch of the barges out. I haven’t even made a cast in there. I’ve kind of stayed in the Appomattox and in the creeks down around there. I did a lot of riding around looking yesterday. I fished a very little bit. I caught five yesterday, but they were just keepers. Today I fished a lot and only caught one keeper. That wasn’t until 5 o’clock, so it’s not looking too good right now.

What do you think about the tournament format? [The Jacobs Cup will be conducted in "NCAA Bracket" style, with individual competitors going head-to-head in single elimination.]
I don’t know. The point of the matter is that I’m up against a certain guy, and I’ve got to beat him. I’ve got mixed feelings about it. I reckon it’s one of those things is the cup half full or is the cup half empty. I don’t know which way I’m swinging towards.

In the first round you’re up against Jim Moynagh of Minnesota. What do you know about him, and have you seen him out on the river?
I haven’t seen him out on the river. He’s a good fisherman, it’s obvious he made the classic this year. He’s won an FLW in the past, on his home lake. I can’t take anything from him….he’s made the classic and he’s a good fisherman.

Do you think many of the pros are receiving local help, and what sort of time do you think most of them are putting into practice?
I know a lot of people have been down here for a long time. I’m kind of breaking my law right now. Normally I only allow 5 days to practice for a tournament, and I know guys who have been down here 2 weeks solid. They’re practicing like 4 weeks for the tournament. To me, that’s stupid, because in 4 weeks…so much can change. So much can change in one week. I’ve been breaking my law and I’ve practiced more days than I normally allow. Since I live close to the James, it’s been a tease to me, so I rode over here and fished it.

Do you suspect that during the tournament you’ll run the tides, or stay put in one area?
Normally, I won’t tell you what I’m going to do, because I don’t know, but I’m just going by past stats. In past tournaments, Classics, everything has always been won in an area, One creek, or one little stretch, and fished it low, high, incoming, outgoing. They get in an area and just fish the fish. Here’s a prime example: Woo Daves, never won the Classic here and he ran the tides. He did everything textbook, but he never won. Here’s Hank Parker, Guido, Rick Clunn, they stay in one place and end up winning the tournament.

What technique or techniques do you think are most likely to produce a win?
It’s pretty obvious it’s going to be shallow wood, cranking and flipping. Those will be the two main techniques.

What sort of weights do you expect to see?
Oh man. Judging by what I caught today [laughs], it would be extremely low. You can’t go by that. If it stays really, really hot the next few days, they’re going to gang up big time. Right now, I think they’re spread out too much. There are some fish real shallow, some fish out deep.

There have been a lot of rumors lately that the fish population in the James has declined substantially, possibly due to the recent years of drought. Based on what you’ve seen, do you see any truth in those rumors?
I haven’t really fished the James much, so I can’t really comment on the whole population. This is the only comment I can make. This is my thought on things: Fishermen, in general, are getting a lot better at what they do. When lakes have their good time of the year, years ago, I’m just throwing a number out, say a thousand fish were caught. Nowadays, two thousand fish are getting a hook in their mouth because people are getting better. From that, I think fish are getting smarter. I don’t think there’s a decrease in population because all of a sudden here comes springtime and there they are again. Most lakes are getting a lot more pressure on them, and it seems like it’s getting tougher, but I think it’s because towards the end of the year so many fish have been caught. Whether or not they’ve had a kill, I have no clue. I can only say that there’s been an ample amount of freshwater, as much rain as we’ve had, so I know the saltwater hasn’t come up and done anything.

Do you think the field of fishermen will spread out into the Chickahominy and the Appomattox, or do you think they’ll be concentrated in certain areas?
Pretty much everybody’s going to be in the James. I don’t think anybody’s going to take their chances in the Chickahominy. Everybody’s going to weigh their odds up here in the James, where the quote-unquote bigger fish live. That’s what it’s going to take to win.

You won the Ranger M1 tournament previously. Do you somehow practice or fish differently when the stakes are so high?
No, not really. Whether I’m fishing for $500,000 or $50,000, my intentions are the same.

Does the amount of money involved encourage you to take more chances, or perhaps to fish more conservatively?
I’ve learned here in the past few years to fish for a win no matter what. I used to fish conservatively, just to get checks, but every tournament now I’m going for a win. My strategy is the same. I want to win, and that’s it.

How do you see FLW Outdoors now in comparison to B.A.S.S.? Does this tournament match up to the Bassmasters Classic?
Now I may be stepping on peoples’ toes. [long pause]

Do you not want to answer?
Put it this way, I will comment on one thing, because I don’t want to step on any toes. FLW’s Classic, last place, if you just show up, you get $13,200. Last place in the Bassmasters Classic is what, $5,000? You tell me.

Copyright 2003 Peter Robbins All Rights Reserved
robbins@vabass.com

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