Farewell To The First Champ

Wednesday, July 16, 2008
by Ray Scott

He is forever enshrined in bass fishing history as the winner of my first-ever national All-American bass fishing tournament at Beaver Lake in l967 – the event that many credit with launching modern bass fishing, especially tournament fishing. It certainly inspired my creation of BASS.

Photo: Ray Scott Outdoors Stan Sloan won Ray Scott’s first All-American tournament at Beaver Lake, Arkansas in 1967 with a 37-08 total.

At Beaver Lake, he bested l05 other anglers, including Bill Dance and Don Butler, with a 37-08 catch. He caught his fish on a Bomber Spin Stick. It was one of the rare occasions an event was won on a topwater lure.

Stan was a corrections officer in Nashville when he claimed the championship at my first All-American event – $2,000 and a trip to Acapulco. After that he plunged into the bass world full time with his Zorro Bait Company and as a BASS Tournament Trail competitor.

Stan was no fluke in bass fishing. He fished competitively until 1971 and fished in five Classics. But he might be just as well remembered for the many lures he designed, especially the Aggravator spinnerbait that Bobby Murray used to win the first Bassmasters Classic in 1970. Stan could not have been more proud. I always found he preferred to talk about his lures more than his fishing skills.

He was a very innovative man in the realm of bass fishing, and not just lures, of which he designed many. I’ll never forget the first tournament in particular. Stan was working on his rig in the motel parking lot and was getting a lot of attention from other curious anglers who surrounded his boat. When I got closer, I saw he had a seat and a trolling motor mounted on the bow of his rig.

Now you younger anglers might say, “So what?” But in those days trolling motors were virtually always mounted on the rear of the boat and a front casting seat was a total novelty. This was a breathtaking break from convention.

But Stan had a simple and logical explanation: “ It’s easier to pull a chain than to push it.” And he was right. It wasn’t long before the bow-mount trolling motor and casting seat were standard equipment. But those were the kind of innovations that popped up at every BASS tournament and laid the groundwork for the equipment and tactics we enjoy today.

I called Stan frequently in the last year or so. I knew he wouldn’t be with us long. He could be ornery, but we enjoyed talking about the old days. One thing was for sure, Stan supported what I did in his own gruff way. With tongue in cheek, he always liked to address me as “Leader.”

He was one of the loyal crew who traveled the countryside with me in 1970 in a Bluebird bus, “preaching the gospel of bass fishing” along with the likes of John Powell, Roland Martin, Bill Dance, Tom Mann and Harold Sharp. In the course of a year, we crisscrossed the country and addressed standing-room-only crowds of anglers hungry for information. He always said he was no public speaker, but he loved the subject matter.

Photo: Ray Scott Outdoors Sloan won his last Ray Scott competition in 2001 at the Eagles of Angling Seniors Tournament, a fundraising event held on Scott’s private lake. He's surrounded by Scott, ex-President George H.W. Bush and former Alabama governor Don Siegelman.

I flew to the funeral from a business meeting in Dallas and met up with Bob Cobb, who drove from Montgomery and also gave an emotional farewell. I was very happy to see my good friend Earl Bentz of Triton Boats there. Earl has a profound appreciation of bass fishing history and great gentleman that he is, he wanted to honor Stan Sloan.

I was also delighted to see Jimmy Holt there as well. Jimmy was a longtime outdoor photographer for the Nashville Tennessean and provided the photo for the very first cover of Bassmaster Magazine. He also fished my first tournament and is famous for weighing in the smallest 1-day limit of bass at any tournament. His 10 fish weighed 1-13 (that was obviously before I thought about size limits.) His record still stands.

I want to especially thank Stan’s daughter, Vonda Goodman, for keeping me always updated on her father’s condition and for being with him faithfully in his final days. On behalf of myself and the bass fishing community. I’d like to extend my condolences to Stan’s family and friends and express our appreciation for his many contributions to our sport. He will not be forgotten.

Note: To read more about the inspiring story of Ray Scott and the multi-billion-dollar sportfishing industry he created, order Robert Boyle's biography, Bass Boss, at RayScott.net, or call (800) 518-7222..