never been penalties for being late to meet- ings, partner pairings, or tournament func- tions. So therefore let’s make a 1-pound penalty for being late to any of the above. It was absolute genius. I still remember my very best friend, Gary Klein telling me that he drove all the way from Oroville, California to Las Vegas with the windows open and no air conditioning. He told me it was his way of conditioning himself for the heat. Gary drove around that entire week of the first U.S. Open with no air conditioner and his windows open. None of us really knew what to do on the water, either. Hey, it’s common knowl- edge now, but I have to tell you, it was so cool when we were the first to discover that bass would blast your surface bait at high noon in 100-plus-degree temps! Let me make this clear, no one had ever thrown a Heddon Zara Spook in the Western United States. I mean no one. No one even had one in their tackle box. Greg Hines of Mesa, Arizona, who went on to win that first U.S. Open, was the an- gler that discovered the prowess of the Zara Spook on Lake Mead. Greg Hines made the first cast with the Heddon Zara spook
It took until the year 2000 for Dave Gliebe to break through and win the U.S. Open. Right, Don Iovino was in the same bass club as Rich Tauber and was in contention at many early U.S. Open events.
on Lake Mead period, end of story. Yes, my- self, Don Doty, and one or two other an- glers went to on to use the Zara Spook in that first U.S. Open. But we all learned the technique and found out about the lure from Greg Hines.
It was absolutely amazing that you could fish this topwater bait in 117-degree heat, fish it all day long, and without question it was head and shoulders better than any other lure you could on that lake. But that just added to the physi- cality of that first U.S. Open. Not only were you
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