Chris Covert and Bob McLaughlin missed out on money by one point.

Covert, 40, of Renfrew has been teamed up with McLaughlin, 50, of Prospect on the Keystone Beer Buddy Circuit, - an eight-tournament Western Pennsylvania bass fishing series, for the past two years.

Fishing duos are ranked by points accumulated from each individual event, which is similar to NASCAR's point standings. Covert and McLaughlin finished sixth in points among 101 teams this year.

The top five teams receive monetary prizes.

"One point is all we missed by," Covert said. "That was tough to take."

That one point cost the duo a few hundred dollars, but they made up for that by winning the annual KBBC Classic on the three rivers in Pittsburgh Sept. 25.

The pair won the first prize of $2,500 and received championship rings for their effort. They combined to catch 10 fish with a total weight of 13.57 pounds.

The second-place tandem also caught 10 fish, but the combined weight was 11.92 pounds.

The KBBC Classic pits the top 40 fishing duos in points on the river at the same time.

"That's our Super Bowl," Covert said. "It ran from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. You're on the water for a long time and the fish you bring in have to be alive."

Covert also won the KBBC Classic in 2002, when his partner was Randy Laughner of Renfrew. Covert and Laughner finished second in 2001.

"His partner couldn't do it any longer," McLaughlin said. "He has young children and this circuit does require commitment of a lot of time."

McLaughlin has been tournament fishing for more than 20 years and Covert got to know him through the sport. They teamed up last year and were 15th at the KBBC Classic.

The first tournament on the circuit was April 1 on Lake Arthur. Pymatuning Lake, the Monongahela Shenango and Ohio rivers are among the other tournament sites.

Covert and McLaughlin finished second at Shenango, their highest finish before the KBBC Classic.

"The competition is brutal," Covert said. "As many as 800 teams competed in this circuit at one time or another."

"You can't succeed at this without practice," McLaughlin said. "Three days a week during the season, I'll go out on the water after work (2:30 p.m.) and stay there until dark.

"Before the Shenango tournament, we were on that water three straight days and the two weekends prior to it," he added. "You always want to find hidden fishing points, with stumps, rock rubble, subtle little changes that keep most fishermen away."

Covert said teamwork goes a long way toward success on the circuit.

"We both have high-performance bass boats," he said. "We share boats, share spots and share experiences.

"The competition we fish against in this part of the state is among the best in the nation. These guys are awesome."

Ernie Pate of Butler is director of the KBBC Classic. The circuit just completed its 11th year.

"Chris and Bob have been doing this for a number of years," Pate said. "They are veteran tournament anglers who know what it takes to win.

"We keep joking with each other that we want to keep the championship in Butler."

The KBBC has been affiliated with the Make-A-Wish Foundation in recent years and contributed $4,339 to that charitable organization last year.

Ten dollars of each boat's entry fee is donated to Make-A-Wish.

"They've been a good fit for our organization," Pate said. "We wanted to align ourselves with a charity and give something back. We used to work with another charity, but it was faceless, we never knew who we were helping.

"Make-A-Wish puts a face on our donation. Sometimes we get our Make-A-Wish child on the water. We presented one with a jacket, fishing equipment and had him fish with us. It's fun getting the kids involved in what we do."