Taxiing down the water runway, building relentless momentum before takeoff, pro bass angler Dean Rojas is ready to awaken the beast - a pair of beasts to be precise. One's within him, another's behind him. The latter, a 225-horse outboard, is bolted to the back of his bassboat - best described as a chip of fiberglass with carpeted decks and a foot-operated accelerator. "You'd better take your hat off," Rojas warns.
I don't have time. We're up on plane and zooming to 65 mph within 1,000 feet before swinging into a 360-degree clockwise pivot around four buoys spaced in a rectangle the size of a swimming pool. That's when the sensation of over-the-top speed - cheeks flapping, tears streaming behind sunglasses - shifts to my spine, which is being mercilessly twisted by the G-forces.
Riding shotgun with Rojas on this 3,500-foot obstacle course is like checking out a NASCAR race with the in-car cam, sans comfy living room couch. I'm white-knuckling a grabrail, squeezing my fingerprints into it, as Rojas pirouettes his Skeeter bassboat counterclockwise around a triangle of buoys barely beyond spitting distance from the brushy shoreline. Spinning out of the turn with aplomb, Rojas power slides us through a slalom, nicking the buoys to shave time. From there, we bank into a sweeping right-hander and haul butt for the finish line. A 70-second run that feels more like an hour strapped to the wing of a 747 - especially without my hat.
"That was fun, man," Rojas shouts, juiced with speed. "This kind of racing is going to be the new deal." I have to agree. Beneath the windburn, I'm grinning like a lunatic.
WWF or WCF?
What Rojas is jazzed about is World Championship Fishing (WCF), the boat-racing/bass-fishing spectacle now in its sophomore season after last year's tryout in southern Illinois. In the six-event 2000 tour, 16 professional bass fishermen do what they do best in the mornings - catch big, green, ugly fish - and what they're learning how to do in the afternoon - race bassboats. A steep learning curve, to be sure. For decades, bassboats have been designed primarily for full-tilt, straight-line boogying. Now these anglers, driven by six-digit purses, are asking their boats to dance.
The new WCF is backed by the venerable Bass Anglers Sportsman's Society (B.A.S.S.), which is hoping to pump excitement into what some would argue is an otherwise somnolent, albeit successful, sport. The double-barreled, racing/fishing events are recorded and televised on the Fox Sports Network, an adjunct of the outfit that briefly brought us the streaking red puck of National Hockey League telecasts. And with the WCF, the same Rupert Murdoch - esque spin applies. It's one part sport, one part made-for-TV entertainment. And it's proving to be phenomenally successful with the fans.
