Gray's angling skill lands national spot
Daniel Gray’s streak is some fish story — and he wanted to keep it going.
So the 43-year-old Butler resident decided to fish for the state of Maryland in last week’s TBF (The Bass Federation) Mid-Atlantic Divisional Championship last week on Kerr Lake in South Hill, Va.
Gray competed in the Bassmasters nationals last October, placing third in the Mid-Atlantic division.
By competing in that event, however, he missed out on qualifying for the Pennsylvania team in the TBF tourney.
“I had qualified for a state divisional team seven years in a row,” Gray said. “That streak means a lot to me and I didn’t want to give it up.
“The Bassmasters regionals were in September last year and the nationals were the very next month. The team provided money to go to the site of the nationals for practice and I couldn’t miss that. The (TBF) Pa. qualifying was at the exact same time.”
Gray has officiated tournaments in Maryland before. He discovered that he was eligible to try to make that state’s team this year.
“As long as a person hasn’t tried to qualify for another state, he’s eligible,” Gray said. “So I took my shot.”
Qualifying is one thing. Gray wound up placing third overall at the Mid-Atlantic Divisional — the 84-angler field including Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.
He caught 14 fish over the three-day event, totaling 30.7 pounds. Only Ronald Dye of Abingdon, Va., and Tom Haynes of Chesterfield, Va., caught more.
No other angler on Maryland’s team caught more than nine fish or had a combined weight of 17 pounds.
“Going down there and beating them on their home waters was a bit of a surprise,” Gray said. “But the fish change every day down there.
“During practice, you try to figure out where the fish are at, whether they’re out on the main lake, in the bay, in grassy areas, near rocks, wherever.”
The weather changed during the tournament and Gray changed his fishing location with it.
“When a front comes through, that changes everything,” he said. “The same spot that yields a lot of fish one day may not be worth anything the next.
“The other (Maryland) guys consistently fished the same spots each day. I moved around and it worked out for me.”
The Bass Federation national tournament takes place in Arkansas next April. The body of water and exact dates have not been released yet.
Gray is just happy to be part of it.
“Only one other guy that I know of, Kenny Baumgarder in Pennsylvania, has qualified for a divisional team eight times — and he’s been doing this for 30 years.
“I only started eight years ago, so I’m pretty proud of this.”
Steve Hughes of Rimersburg finished seventh overall at the Mid-Atlantic Divisional and led the Pennsylvania contingent with 12 fish totaling 26.6 pounds.
