The Bass Fishing Hall of Fame (HOF) announced it will induct five new members as the class of 2009.
The HOF considers nominees from all sides of bass fishing – from the pros to industry personnel to media stars.
The next class to be inducted in includes a pro-fishing pioneer, a Bassmaster Classic champion, an industry leader, and two longtime outdoor writers. They are, respectively, John Powell, Woo Daves, Irwin Jacobs, Tim Tucker and Steve Price.
The Selection Process
The final five were selected by HOF members earlier this summer from a list of nominees. Powell and Tucker will be inducted posthumously.
Nominations for induction are accepted and added to the HOF master list, then considered by the membership. Inductees must receive enough votes to be among the Top 5 and ratified by the board of directors.
Additional nominees above the Top 5 vote recipients may also be considered by the board for inclusion or special honor.
The Class of 2009 will be inducted during ceremonies Thursday evening, Feb. 19 at the Bassmaster Classic in Shreveport, La. They will join 35 other men and women honored for their contributions to the sport.
In announcing the new class, HOF president Sammy Lee said: "We're thrilled to honor such a diverse class and highlight the outstanding accomplishments of these men. This group has established themselves over the years on the water with rods and lures, with key decisions in the boardroom and to readers on the pages of magazines, newspapers and the Internet to help make our sport what it is today.
"Numerous people have made an impact over the years to help improve and grow the sport of bass fishing we love so dearly," Lee added. "We applaud these men and women in the class of 2009 and our previous honorees for their great innovations, strong dedication and intense passion."
What follows is a brief biographical look at each of the new inductees.
John Powell
Powell grew up on a "rawhide" farm in Elmore County, Ala. – northeast of Montgomery. He fished commercially until joining the Army Air Corps in 1947. After a 22-year service in the Air Force, Powell continued his love of fishing with a new tournament-circuit organization established in his hometown – the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society.
He was a longtime friend of BASS founder Ray Scott and borrowed a V-hull plywood boat to fish the second-ever BASS tournament – at Smith Lake in Alabama in 1967.
Scott loaned Powell a canoe-like Chrysler boat to fish additional events, which he used to win his first tournament at Lake Eufaula with a stunning catch of 132 pounds.
Irwin Jacobs pushed the pro-fishing envelope when he purchased Operation Bass and founded FLW Outdoors.
After a tour in Vietnam, Powell retired from service and began to fish professionally. He became the first to win consecutive tournaments, in 1971 on Sam Rayburn and then Table Rock. He qualified for six Bassmaster Classics.
Powell was an early innovator of shallow-water worming, which gained popularity in the 1970s after Mann's Bait Co. hit the market with its Jelly Worm. Powell regularly told anglers in the boat with him to set the hook quickly when they felt a bite, rather than wait. Yet he was known for his patience and adept casting skills.
Powell died in 2007.
Irwin Jacobs
A Minneapolis-based entrepreneur, Jacobs owns and operates more than half a dozen businesses, including Genmar Holdings Inc., the world's largest privately-held recreational boat builder with annual sales exceeding $1 billion, and FLW Outdoors, the world's largest fishing tournament organization with annual awards of $43 million.
Jacobs set out to fully tap into the buying power of the nation's 50 million fishing enthusiasts with the 1996 acquisition of a small fishing-tournament company called Operation Bass, which he later renamed FLW Outdoors after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood.
Jacobs saw FLW Outdoors tournaments as a unique and powerful opportunity to communicate with a huge consumer group that had never been pursued. In 1997, Jacobs hooked the giant retailer, Wal-Mart, as a title sponsor, which eventually allowed him to court the world's leading consumer products companies.
As a result of Jacobs' efforts, more than 50 leading consumer brands, including brands owned by global powerhouses like BP, General Motors, Kellogg's and Procter & Gamble, have sponsored FLW Outdoors tournaments.
In 2007, FLW Outdoors made history by awarding the sport's first $1 million check to Arkansas angler Scott Suggs when Suggs won the Forrest Wood Cup.
Among his personal accomplishments, Jacobs underwrote and served as chairman of the 1991 International Summer Special Olympics Games, which were held in Minneapolis/St. Paul. He's personally funded the building, furnishing and overall operations of Dells Place (a group home for developmentally challenged individuals), Functional Industries (an occupational workshop for physically and mentally disabled individuals), and The Art Center of Minnesota.
Additionally, Jacobs supports several other local and nonprofit organizations that benefit the arts, disabled, developmentally challenged and homeless.
Woo Daves
Late in his already long pro-fishing career, Daves won the 2000 Classic in Chicago, Ill. In all, he's competed in 17 Classics and finished among the Top 5 in six of them.
He's won four BASS tournaments, including the 2002 New York Open.
In a career that's now spanned more than 35 years, Woo Daves won a Bassmaster Classic and fished 16 others.
Daves is known as a relentless promoter of bass fishing who spent the entire year after his Classic win presenting seminars and making appearances to represent his sponsors and the sport. In fact, after Daves dedicated that year to promotion, BASS instituted what's now called the "Woo Daves Rule" that requires Classic champions to compete in following season in order to fish the next Classic under their champion's exemption.
One of the first to establish a close connection between NASCAR and bass fishing, Daves in 1991 established an annual charity tournament involving NASCAR legends and bass anglers. The tournaments generate funds for Super Kids – a Virginia-based organization benefiting the mentally challenged.
Tim Tucker
One of the country's most influential and widely published outdoor writers, Tucker was a longtime senior writer for Bassmaster and BASS Times magazines, and his work also appeared in Field & Stream, Outdoor Life, In-Fisherman and a host of other publications.
In addition to his syndicated columns in 33 newspapers, Tucker authored eight books and co-hosted radio programs over the years. He won more than 100 awards for his writing and photography during his 25-year career as an outdoor journalist. His articles and photographs helped launch the careers of several of today's most successful professional anglers.
Tucker died in an automobile accident in Gainesville, Fla. in July 2007. He was a member and past president of the Southeastern Outdoor Writers Association, remaining active in the organization as a boardmember and advisor. The father of twins, Rachel and Kyle, he was a popular little-league baseball coach at the time of his death.
Tim Tucker (left) was one of the most prolific writers in the sport's history. Steve Price (right) has attended every Bassmaster Classic since 1976.
Tucker was posthumously awarded the BASS Outstanding Achievement Award at the 2008 Classic in Greenville, S.C. which was accepted by his wife, Darlene, and their children.
Steve Price
Price has been a full-time writer and photojournalist since 1973 and a writer/photographer for Bassmaster since 1974, selling more than 3,000 magazine articles, primarily about bass fishing, to such publications as Field & Stream, Outdoor Life, Sports Afield, National Geographic, Rand McNally, Southern Living and many more.
Price served as Outdoor Editor for Southern Living magazine, which had a circulation of 3 million, from 1975-78. He was a syndicated newspaper columnist for 10 years (1986-96), a radio program producer/host (1990-1994) and is the author of five books about bass fishing.
His photography has been recognized both nationally and internationally, and he's been a semi-finalist and finalist in the worldwide "Wildlife Photographer of the Year" competition sponsored by BP (nearly 20,000 entries annually). His photography has been used in books and promotions worldwide and by organizations such as the National Geographic Society, Reader's Digest, Associated Press, Game Conservation International, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, General Motors, Toyota, and Brunswick Corp., among others.
Price has attended every Classic since 1976 as a press writer/photographer. He's also appeared on numerous television bass-fishing programs as a spokesman for the sport.
Notable
> The Bass Fishing Hall of Fame is a nonprofit organization dedicated to all anglers, manufacturers and members of the media who further the sport of bass fishing.
> Tickets for the 2009 Hall of Fame induction banquet are $75 per person and $1,000 for a corporate table. They may be purchased through BassFishingHOF.com or by calling (888) 690-2277.
