Bobby back in the day – check out that reel! (Photo: BASS)
Was surfing the new lurenet.com site (home for the Yum, Booyha, Bomber, Rebel, etc. brands) – you heard about it right? lol – and ran across this, from the one and only Bobby Murray:
Competitors in the first Bassmaster Classic were limited to just 10 pounds of tackle. Nowadays a single Stowaway can weigh more than that.
Every competitor was given an identical tackle box before the event, then there was a “weigh in†the night before the tournament.
“You put your box on the scale and if it weighed over 10 pounds, Ray Scott would open it up and start taking things he wanted out of it!†said Bobby Murray, who won that first Classic in 1971 and another seven years later.
“I thought it was a neat deal,†Murray said. “It forced everyone to fish to their strengths because you couldn’t take a bunch of stuff with you. It will surprise you how fast you get to 10 pounds.â€
I wonder if that would be the most stressful restriction you could give to guys in a tourney. Ever done it…maybe not by choice, like you somehow left it in the truck or at home?
I’ve also liked that one-fly contest the flyfishin’ folks do. Would love to see that in a for-fun bassin’ derby: One bait, that’s all you have, when you lose it or wear it out, you’re done.
One more thing: Bobby told me he has a warehouse full o’ tackle somewhere in Arkansas. A warehouse! I say we sign him up for that Hoarders TV show just to get a look at what’s in it….
7 Comments
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Jared
October 14, 2011 at 12:23 pm
Our bass club puts on a “one lure” fun tournament every year to help bring in new members. Half day, $30 per person. We draw one lure blind from 5 that were chosen. We come up with the 5 and try to make it them good choices for that lake so that we can still catch some fish. 3 fish limit. You get two rods, each rigged with that lure. No fabrication on the lure, straight outta the box. Same color and size! We usually steer clear of soft baits because of all the complex rigs.
first year we drew out a pencil popper – talk about tired arms! but i won that one so i wont complain 😉
admin (mostly Jay)
October 16, 2011 at 6:32 am
That’s cool!
Brent Brody Broderick
October 14, 2011 at 12:57 pm
Where is that warehouse? Sounds like a eBay load or two for my consignment stores. Call me Bobby
Dean Jones
October 14, 2011 at 1:20 pm
All bass tournament anglers are hoarders just look in their garage.
Brian
October 14, 2011 at 1:42 pm
The most stressful restriction you could give guys now days would be the ‘No GPS’ rule 🙂
As for the one bait subject, how about the always popular Snagproof Open. Not quite exactly as restrictive as you suggest, but certainly along that line of thinking.
I think these ‘non-traditional’ tournies are great ways to draw in some guys who might not fish a tourney otherwise. One I’ve seen around here are the ‘hourly’ events, where you can only weigh in one bass each hour, and largest/2nd largest bass win hourly prize money with other awards for largest overall or most total weight over the course of the day. A lot more strategy involved than you might immediately think, and fun to boot.
admin (mostly Jay)
October 16, 2011 at 6:33 am
Big fan of the unorthodox in for-fun tourneys. We also did the hourlies in the old Weekend Warrior Championship plus end of day weigh. Was great.
Randy S. Breth
October 16, 2011 at 5:14 pm
My tackle bag (for the boat) feels like lifting a 5-gallon bucket of paint. Too much stuff, but I like to be prepared.