Interesting Film From 1974 Bass Masters Classic

Caught this on YouTube this morning and thought some of yall might find it interesting…

1974 Bass Master Classic

Early days of big time bass tournaments. Bill Dance narrates. Does a short segment on the “most advanced fishing technology” which consisted of a “16 foot bass boat, made from fiberglass” and a “85 HP motor that tilts for shallow water and trims for top performance”. A Lowrance flasher on the console “so the angler will know how deep it is and something about the structure on the bottom”. An electric trolling motor on the bow that “allows the angler to change direction with a tap of the toe” and an electric anchor on the bow that “keeps the angler on the fish and is retrieved automatically”. 10 pounds of tackle. Those 16 foot Ranger boats were a tri-hull and had a seat at the front, one at the helm and one in the stern….passenger sat on the back seat underway. Multiple shots of the “blast off” and there was noticeable differences in performance amongst identical hulls….they were “hand laid” and quality control was in its infancy so many probably had issues along the waterline and at the step. They ALL porpoised bad….I'm sure at the time any 16 foot narrow hull with an 85 on the back did so but we’d have no part of that today.

Most of the fishing consisted of basically blind casting to shoreline cover. Lots of small fish caught. There was a local angler who made a pretty good run finishing second who was fishing offshore cover. That was typical I think back in the day….probably still is.

Just an interesting bit of bass fishing history. Thought some of yall might find it interesting.