The Face Of Bass Fishing

Friday, January 28, 2005
by Ray Scott

To satisfy your curiosity, they are (in no particular order): Larry Nixon, Rick Clunn, Mark Davis, Roland Martin, Bill Dance, Hank Parker, Gary Klein, Jay Yelas, Kevin Vandam and Denny Brauer.

As I look over the mug shots in neat, impersonal rows, an awesome sense of pride washes over me. What an incredible group of men. What a privilege to know them personally. What an honor to have helped start each and every career on the BASS Tournament Trail. Every single one of them cut their teeth on my tournaments. I have literally watched them grow up – if not physically, certainly professionally.

A couple of these guys literally pioneered the sport of tournament fishing, like Dance and Martin and only a breath later, Clunn. I'm proud to say these guys DO represent the face of bass fishing. A face that America loves. A face that sponsors love.

It has always been interesting to me how a sport takes on a certain character. Each sport really does have a unique personality when you think about it – NASCAR, tennis, golf, football, basketball, baseball and others.

I can't tell you how these sports evolved and took on their own personas. But I can certainly tell you what happened in the modern bass fishing world that was literally born in l968 with the founding of BASS and the creation of a national bass fishing tournament trail.

The bass fishing world and tournament fishing in particular was a big lump of clay waiting to be molded. And that's what BASS did with strict rules, high standards and an unspoken code of conduct that demanded sportsmanlike behavior, civility and to use an old fashioned word, gentlemanly conduct – on and off the water.

In l967 when I conducted the first national bass fishing tournament with a decent purse and strict set of rules, bass fishermen were quite frankly looked upon for the most part as beer-drinking bubbas and/or refugees from hard work. If you had ever told anyone they were athletes and that bass fishing was a competitive sport, you would have been laughed out of the local tackleshop.

I may be prejudiced, but there isn't a single competitive sport I know of that attracts a better quality of individual than bass fishing. Who says bass pros have to be highly responsible people? Yet they invariably are.

So here I am looking at the faces of bass fishing, already representing several generations. The traditions of excellence have been passed down. Each of these men has brought his own style – his own unique talents to the sport. And one more crucial thing as well that has been a hallmark among BASS competitors – the willingness to share their knowledge.

As one of the first superstars (he won no less than eight out of the first 20 BASS events between l968 and l970), Bill Dance undoubtedly set the standard for future pros. Personable and outgoing, Dance was ready and willing to share his know-how, which he still does today on his classic cable show, Bill Dance Outdoors.

I banked on that willingness to share when I founded BASS. There were four things I knew about bass fishermen in l967. First, there were a lot of them. Second, they had an insatiable hunger for knowledge. Third, a majority of them enjoyed the fellowship of other anglers. And fourth and foremost – thankfully for the future of BASS — they wanted to share their knowledge.

And nothing provided more knowledge more quickly than the tournament experience. It set off an information explosion, fueled by a flood of talented bass anglers from every nook and cranny of the country – and abroad in later years. It seems bass fishing was not only a national phenomenon, it was a global phenomenon as well.

And it was all gloriously captured in the pages of Bassmaster Magazine and on The Bassmasters television show. ESPN took on a very healthy, well-defined sports community with the purchase of BASS.

As I look at the faces of the "greatest anglers," I know firsthand the generosity of spirit of each of these men, as well as their undeniable talents. That spirit alone makes them great and makes our sport great. They are indeed the collective face of bass fishing and I couldn't be more proud.