Dianna Clark

Dianna Clark began her angling career with the now defunct Women's Bass Fishing Association. She earned rookie-of-the-year honors, a number of top finishes and a Classic berth each season.

But she never won a tournament.

How was it, then, that this 42-year-old angler from Bumpus Mills, Tenn., won two of the five events and Angler-of-the-year honors during the inaugural season of the Women's Bassmaster Tour(WBT)?

"focus," Clark said. "With the WBFA, I was competing at that level for the first time. My focus then was on everything around me instead of what I was doing and what the fish were doing.

"I had the drive back then, but there was too much interference from what was going on around me. With the WBT. it's been all about the right focus.

"But don't get me wrong. When i get off the water, I still like to joke and cut up. To enjoy life, you have to be able to walk and chew bubble gum at the same time," laughs the former Army staff sergeant.

Following the season's first tournament at Neely Henry in Alabama. Clark might have questioned her ability to multi-task. She finished 32nd.

"I was devastated," she remembered. "I had the fish on to win that tournament. I saw them. A couple were at the end of my hand. One about 6 or 7 pound snapped my line. I couldn't understand why it was happening."

How did she overcome this rocky beginning?

"A calm has to come over you," she said. "When it happens, everything falls into place. The biggest mental adjustment I made was to forget about the negative aspects of that first tournament."

Additionally, she remembered what she had done wrnog at the second site, Lake Lewisville, during the debut tournament there the previous fall. She learned from her mistakes and she adjusted, winning the second WBT tournament by 2 pounds, 5 ounces over Oklahoma's Sheri Glasgow.

"I had spent too much time running around," Clark said. "This second time, I made a smaller circle. I hit isolated coves with one or two trees and less pressure, and I finished each day close to a couple of boat ramps."

Around those ramps, a marina was testing ski boars. "They were really churning up the water," the Tennessee angler explained. "That's when I'd catch the fish."

As a Neely Henry , Clark used a B&M jig to get most of her bited at Lewisville, the same bait that she then utilized to finish seventh at Lake Norman.

"Again, I had a strong pattern with that little brown jig," she said. "The bass were on bream beds, with their backs out of the water, waiting for the bream to come back so they could ambush them."

Clark found those shallow bass durning practice. "When I first fish a lake, I like to start by running the banks and then work my way out, regardless of the time of year," she said.

The veteran of the Persian Gulf War missed the cut at Norman by just 10 ounces. "I was using a little jig and I know that the little hook caused me to lose fish," she said. "That's an adjustment I'm making right now, working with B&M on a round bend jig hook, and also some grass and finesse jigs."

Then came Lake Dardanelle and a decisive 10-pound victory over Arkansas' Lucy Mize.

Again, a jig was her preferred bait.

"I never felt a bite," she recalled. "I had to see the line move. I remembered watching Davy Hite on a television program and hearing him say that you had to concentrate on every cast and that's what i did.

"Several time, I didn't even see the line moce. I'd see the bass move through the grass towards the line and I'd anticipate the bite."

When Clark climbed onto the weighin stage the final day in Little Rock, she knew that subtle jig bite had given her more than enough weight to win.

"But then it hit me," she said. "I had two wins now, which was one more than I had thought about getting.

"That knocked the wind right out of me. I was overwhelmed by the excitement. That's when I knew Angler of the Year could happen."

With two victories and another top 10 finish, Clark led in points to be the WBT's first Angler of the Year. But Arkansas' Tammy Richardon, who had won at Neely Henry, wasn't far behind.

On the first say, Richardson seemed to take control of the late-summer bite on Bull Shoals. While she led the field with four bass weighing 6-5, Clark managed just one and ended the day in 31st place, more than 5 pounds behind.

The Arkansas angler brought in a limit on the second day. Clark, however, did as well, using a buzzbait and jig. Those five fish were critical to Clark's Angler-of-the-Year hopes, since the pushed her into the Top 6 for the final day of fishing.

Richardson caught three bass on the final day to claim her second WBT victory, while Clark managed just one. But that on was enough for fifth place and a three point victory over Richardson for Angler of the Year.

Months later, she still basked in the glow of her achievements.

"I feel like I'm on top of the world," she said. "And I'll never forget the people who helped me - my family, friends and sponsors. In no sport can one person get there alone."

And she remembered how happy she had been just to hear that BASS has started the WBT.

"When word got out, so manny women were so excited," she said. "Fising is not a gender sport. So many of us - men, women, boys and girls - we have competitiveness in our blood.

"And we thoguth, if anyone can make this happen for us, ESPN and Bass can."