If not for an accident, one of the anglers competing in the Bassmaster Classic in Pittsburgh might be chasing thoroughbreds instead of fish.
Kevin Wirth of Crestwood, Ky., is a 43-year-old bass pro today, but in 1981 he was an 18-year-old jockey in the Kentucky Derby. Wirth rode Mythical Ruler in the 107th Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs, finishing 17th in a field of 21.
Wirth had to give up riding when his horse in another race went over an inside fence nine months later. Wirth hurt his back in the accident, and was told by doctors that another similar accident could leave him paralyzed.
Wirth became a horse dentist for a while after his racing career ended, then got involved in bass fishing. That's turned out pretty well. He's fishing in his sixth Classic and and has earned more than $425,000 in his career.
$1 million fisherman. He's earned more than $1.6 million in his career, thanks in part to winning the 1983 Classic on the Ohio River in Cincinnati, Ohio. Davy Hite, a 40-year-old from Prosperity, S.C., who enjoys hunting and saltwater fishing when he's not working, is the latest pro to win more than $1 million in his career. He topped that mark earlier this year. Hite won the 1999 Bassmaster Classic in New Orleans.
