Texan 'Bassmaster' honored at White House ceremony

WASHINGTON — Newly crowned Bassmaster Classic champion Alton Jones of Waco visited the White House on Tuesday.

Now the champion fisherman has his eye on that other White House.

"I'm hoping to get an invite to fish on his lake in Crawford," Jones, 44, said during an Oval Office apperance with President Bush, who posed with Jones and 2008 Women's Bassmaster Tour champion Judy Wong.

The veteran fisherman won the Bassmaster title last month with a three-day haul of 49 pounds, 7 ounces.

Jones and his family — his parents, wife and three children — expected to have about 20 minutes with the president, but White House aides told them Tuesday morning that Bush rearranged his schedule to give them more time. Along with Wong and her family, they spent almost an hour in a private meeting with Bush.

They talked fishing, and Jones gave Bush gifts including a rod and reel and a stocked tacklebag. And they also talked life. The president, Jones recalled, gave an Oval Office tour and told the children, "popularity lasts for a moment, but principles last for a lifetime."

"I could tell that to my kids a thousand times and it wouldn't mean as much as him saying that once," Jones said.

Once the cameras came in, Bush said he hosted the champs to encourage people to fish.

"This is a good, clean sport," Bush said. "It's a sport that requires good conservation in order to make sure our fisheries are good, and I love to welcome the champs here."

Bush and Jones weren't exactly strangers. They fished for crappie together at Lake Aquilla near Hillsboro just before Bush entered the 1994 governor's race.

"I had a fantastic experience with Alton and our friend, Charlie Pack," Bush recalled.

Jones was just as complimentary, saying, "President Bush is actually a very good fisherman and a great conservationist."