Mount Ida youth wins fishing prize

It runs in the family. Fisher Davis, son of a top professional angler, had the winning touch in the Junior World Championship Saturday on Alabama’s Lake Guntersville, catching a limit of five bass weighing 12 pounds, 15 ounces. Besting a field of 37 junior anglers, Davis received a $2,500 scholarship from The Bass Federation.

Fisher’s father is Mark Davis, of Mount Ida, the 1995 Bassmaster Classic champion and three-time Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year. Mark Davis, 52, and wife Tilly have three children: James, Hunter and Fisher.

Fisher finished more than 1 pound ahead of runner-up Scott Sledge, the Greenwood, Ind., youth catching a limit weighing 11-3. Jacob Ferrell (Vernon Hill, Va.) finished third at 7-14, Cameron Rhodes (Warwick, R.I.) fourth at 7-1, Kyler Mckie (North Augusta, S.C.) fifth at 3-5 and Isaiah Rios (Phoenix) sixth at 2-15. McKie’s only fish was the largest of 17 caught, Davis and Sledge the only anglers with limits.

Fisher caught most of his fish using a junebug-colored, Texas-rig type style. He only had six bites, culling one.

Davis defeated seven contestants for the Central Division title Friday with four fish weighing 100. Conditions changed on the second day with intense heat giving way to cloud cover and light rain.

“I was worried. I was real worried,” Fisher said. “But I didn’t change a thing. I hit some spots, but I hit them yesterday. I think it was more just consistency.”