Ever wonder what the pros do when they're not fishing?

All last week, 109 of the world's best anglers spent their days casting for local largemouths in hopes of claiming the $100,000 first prize in today's final round of the Bassmaster Elite Series event at Wildwood Park.

But behind their decked out boats and colorful angling regalia, many of them have interesting backgrounds that have nothing to do with fishing.

Billy Brewer, of Texas, for example, is accustomed to spectators, having played major league baseball for eight years with the Kansas City Royals and Philadelphia Phillies.

Casey Ashley, of Donalds, S.C., loves to sing. The 24-year-old angler performed the National Anthem at last Thursday's opening ceremony at Wildwood.

Denny Brauer claims to be the first fisherman ever featured on a box of Wheaties-- and has made two appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman .

Some anglers enjoy fishing because it's safer than their previous jobs.

Brian Clark, of Texas, for example, got into pro fishing after nine years riding bulls for Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association.

Glenn Delong, of Ohio, raced motocross for 13 years, breaking a total of 19 bones. Matthew Spahr, of New York, was a competitive downhill ski racer for 11 years who has his cheek permanently wired after a serious wipeout.

Kevin Wirth, of Kentucky, is the only pro angler who also rode as a jockey in the Kentucky Derby, finishing 17th in the 1981 Run for the Roses.

Byron Velvick, of Texas, was "The Bachelor" on the sixth season of the popular ABC series.

California's Greg Gutierrez is also a full-time fire captain who has many years of active duty with house and brushfires. He is also a fire safety education professional.

Paul Hirosky, of Pennsylvania, has a twin brother, and both are pharmacists.

Mike Iaconelli played ice hockey for years, and was in the process of turning pro when he opted instead for fishing, because of warmer environments.

NWTF LAWSUITS: The National Wild Turkey Federation is preparing its response to lawsuits filed by two former executives fired by the group's board on March 25.

The April 25 complaints by former chief operating officer Carl Brown and vice president Dick Rosenlieb allege the board spread false and defamatory information about them, and fired them over allegations that were untrue.

Specifically, the NWTF board accused the men of falsifying membership numbers by using "donated memberships" from people who bought tickets to fund raising banquets and assigning those memberships to the names of expired members.

Brown contended in his complaint the practice was both long-standing and accepted within NWTF and did not constitute grounds for his firings.

According to Rosenlieb's complaint, board members falsely claimed he accepted a discounted African safari from an outfitter the federation does business with, in violation of NWTF's rules.

The firings prompted the resignation of NWTF CEO Rob Keck, who quit the following day.

Rick Morgan, the federation's lawyer, said he will file a response to the lawsuits by May 24, but declined to discuss the allegations contained in the complaints.

"As these issues are part of the litigation, there isn't a whole lot anyone can say once litigation gets started," he said. "We're not trying this case in the press."

The plaintiffs, who are seeking unspecified actual and punitive damages, have requested a jury trial.

CHRONICLE AWARDS: The Augusta Chronicle was honored with three awards in the Georgia Outdoor Writers Association's annual Excellence in Craft competition.

The awards included first place in the Conference Site category for a column on Craft's Court, a motel in St. Simons Island, Ga., where the organization's 2007 conference was held. The Chronicle also won second place in the Daily Newspaper category for a story exploring coyote predation on whitetail fawns; and third place in the Non-Game & Recreation category for a story about endangered mussels of Sumter National Forest.

The competition was judged by members of the Virginia Outdoor Writers Association, and announced April 26 during the Georgia group's annual conference at Bagby State Park in Fort Gaines, Ga.