‘Crewsing’ for a win
Young Virginia bass pro looks to make mark at Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship
RICHMOND, Va. – At 25 years of age, John Crews of Jetersville, Va., is one of the youngest pros competing in the 2003 FLW Tour Championship. While making such an elite field at a young age is a worthy achievement, this week Crews is more likely to reap the benefits of his home address rather than his youth.
For the last two seasons on the FLW Tour, Crews has quietly endured painful fishing lessons on unfamiliar lakes across the country. Now he is finally enjoying a home-court advantage as the FLW Tour Championship rolls into Richmond and onto the James River this week.
Growing up in Jetersville, about an hour southwest of Richmond, Crews cut his teeth fishing the James River. With just 47 other bass pros from various parts of the country vying for the $500,000 top prize, Crews is hoping to use his local knowledge of the James River to make a major breakthrough in his bass-fishing career.
On Saturday morning, Crews briefly entertained the idea of winning the championship as he cast a crankbait to tide-soaked logs along the James River during practice.
“I could go from just another young dude who fishes tournaments in anonymity to having some notoriety as a professional angler,” he said. “I have not won a major tournament. I need a win to get over the hump – to help fortify some sponsor relationships. And this is the one to win. If I’ve ever had an advantage, this is it.”
And what about that $500,000?
“Oh, yeah!” He paused, trying not to let his brain get too carried away with half a million bucks just yet. “That would help. I might finally be able to buy a house or new truck instead of wrapping pennies for gas money. Most of all, I could fish tournaments without worrying about getting a check every time. If I had $500,000 in the bank, I might not beat myself up so bad because I missed the money by 3 ounces.”
Quietly paying dues
The concept of fishing for a living grew on Crews during his college years. In between business classes at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Va., he fished BFL events in Virginia and the Carolinas.
He started his professional bass-fishing career right out of college. Shortly after graduation he fished the FLW Tour as a co-angler and took on the EverStart Series and BFL events as a pro.
In 2002, he moved to the pro side of the FLW Tour and cashed four checks out of six events to finish 64th for the year.
In 2003, Crews qualified for both the FLW and BASS tours.
“I started out fishing both, but I knew from the beginning that I would put my primary focus into the FLW Tour because of the Jacobs Cup on the James River,” he said. “Not only is it my home water, but it’s a matter of economics. Even if I don’t catch a fish, I still get $12,200 and that’s awesome.”
Crews bolstered his championship qualification in March with a third-place finish at the Lake Murray FLW Tour stop. After cashing two more checks this season, Crews finished 34th in the points to secure a shot at $500,000 in his backyard.
Local advantage?
Crews has been fishing tournaments on the James River for years. He believes that the James River is one of a few places where local knowledge is a big plus.
“There are certain places where local knowledge can be a hindrance,” he said. “Because of the tides and the fickleness of this river, local knowledge is a big help here. Look at Woo Daves’ record in the three Classics on the James. He never won, but he was consistent. He was in the top five each time. That’s hard to do on this river.”
Crews understands the potential dangers of knowing too much about a fishery – namely panic.
“The biggest thing I have to watch out for is when I go 20 or 30 minutes without a bite and my brain starts thinking of where I caught a 3-pounder in practice or where I got several bites in row,” he said. “But even with the possibility of panic, I would still rather know what I know about this river than not know anything at all.”
Specifically, Crews believes the two biggest bonuses of local knowledge on the James are an inherent feel for the tides and knowing what places replenish with fish the fastest.
“In terms of tides, everyone knows the fish bite best here in low water,” he said. “But it’s not as simple as just running the low tide everywhere. The low tide is not always the exact level or time that it’s predicted to be.
“Other variables like wind and water influx affect that, too,” Crews said. “So you can’t go strictly by a tide chart. You have to know where to fish based on how the water looks at any given time. I am planning on running the tides, but I know places that are best at high tide; I know places that are good on a medium tide; I know places that are good on slack tide. It’s not just about low tide; it’s about knowing what’s the best tide for each spot.”
Crews feels that his knowledge of how quickly fish reposition on certain covers will also play into his hands.
“Some places you can catch two or three fish and come back an hour later and catch two or three more,” he said. “Other places, if you catch two or three fish, it will be several days before more fish use it again.”
Crews figures the longer he can survive, the better he’ll do in the tournament.
“This is just a guess, but I would have to bet that some guys are going to survive their first rounds off one spot and burn up their fish in the process,” he said. “I may be wrong, but I don’t think this tournament can be won by fishing one spot for four days. I have a lot of water to fish up and down the river. Again, the danger is that I’ll want to fish it all that first day. But if I can get through the first round, I think my tournament will only get better as I can keep going to new stuff each day.”
One problem: Clunn
Despite Crews’ confidence in his home-water knowledge, he has a bit of a problem standing between him and the finals. That problem is Rick Clunn – as in four-time Classic winner Rick Clunn who won a Classic on the James River in 1990. Crews has been matched against Clunn in the first round of the FLW Tour Championship.
Though Crews respects Clunn as one of the best anglers of all time, he has no plans of yielding to his accolades this week.
“The matchup should be intimidating to me, but, for some strange reason, it’s not,” Crews said. “He’s incredible and he’s done some amazing things in this sport, but, when we hit the water Wednesday, I’ll view him as just another competitor. I’m going to go out there and catch all I can catch regardless of who I’m paired against. The best way I can look at it is to say, if he beats me after the first two days, then he deserves to win the tournament.”
Crews is thankful that he has two days to beat Clunn instead of one as it would be if he faced Clunn in the day-three semifinals.
“We all know what he is capable of out here,” Crews added. “So I would rather have two days to get by him than just one.”
What’s it going to take?
Currently, Crews describes the fishing on the James as “fairly tough.”
“I think 8 to 10 pounds per day will move an angler right along into the finals,” he said. “It would surprise me to see a bag over 14 or 15 pounds this week. But, then again, at every tournament I get surprised by something, and I’m sure it will be the same way here. Someone might catch a 7-pounder, someone might catch 17 pounds – something will surprise me. This time I would like to surprise myself and be the one to catch a 17-pound string on the last day.”
Despite the possible $500,000 payday and the matchup with Clunn, Crews says the real pressure for this tournament comes from wanting to do well at home for his friends, family and local supporters.
“I know we are going to have a good crowd in the coliseum because half of them will be my family and friends,” he laughed. “I just don’t want to let them down.”
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