PITTSBURGH - Dan Villa of Seattle is not a Maytag repairman, but he was one of the loneliest men in Pittsburgh Saturday - at least one of the loneliest men at the Bassmaster Classic take-off.

Villa and several companions from the Voices for Animals of Western Pennsylvania displayed a large sign stating, "Cruelty is not a sport." They stood silently in the middle of the crowd at the starting line at Point State Park.

There was little interaction between the animal rights group and the assembled fishing fans. Fans seemed to form a bubble around the group, keeping their distance. Given the die-hard crowd of anglers and fishing fans, Villa didn't really plan to change any minds.

"Hopefully, we'll just get some people to think that fish feel pain," he said.

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"If we could plant that little seed of thought, they'll maybe think about it."

Although professional anglers take great pains to keep fish healthy, they are penalized for bringing dead fish to the scales. Villa is unwavering in his belief the sport is cruel.

"They're still hooking them by the mouth and taking them out of their natural environment and putting them in an environment where they can't breathe," he said.

Although tournament organizers tried to have the group removed from the state park, Villa said the fishing fans were generally polite.

"It's been really nice," he said. "People just scoff a little bit."

"They're bored individuals looking for something to do," said John Fitzgerald of Pittsburgh. "They're up there holding their sign up. They're making their statement, but it's pretty muted in this crowd."

Bo Curry of Frederick, Md., echoed that statement.

"I didn't even notice them," he said. "This has no bearing on the bass tournament whatsoever."

David Jayne of Allentown, Pa., said the protesters' concerns are misplaced.

"They know nobody here is anti-fishing, or they wouldn't be here," he said. "The fish are better taken care of than the people standing here."

Other notes from the first two days of the Classic:

Gerry Jooste of Harare, Zimbawe turned himself in on a rules violation Friday.

Jooste took off from a spot, and put his boat on plane in a no-wake zone, a rules violation. When he realized what he had done, he dropped the boat off plane.

However, he reported himself to the tournament director and was disqualified.

An enterprising local angler tried a little extortion on Hughson, Calif. angler Ish Monroe Friday.

Monroe reached an area he hoped to fish Friday, only to find a local fisherman on the spot. The fisherman informed Monroe that he had already caught three keepers.

When Monroe asked if he could fish the area, the angler asked for one of Monroe's rods and reels. Monroe moved on, leaving the angler with three keepers and no additional rods and reels.

Rick Clunn was a bit embarrassed when he appeared at Friday's weigh-in without a fish. He had been named the sport's greatest angler of all-time the previous day. Clunn did weigh in a pair of fish Saturday.

After a sizeable crowd appeared at Pittsburgh's Mellon Arena from Friday's weigh-in, nearly 9,000 fishing fans packed the venerable facility Saturday.

les.winkeler@thesouthern.com

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