|
|
|
Earl |
|
He was born and raised outside of Charleston, South Carolina, on his family's farm. When he was fourteen, he left the farm and began working at his uncle's marine dealership, where he garnered a love for boats and racing. Earl was so good at maneuvering a boat at high speeds, that he began racing boats at the tender age of sixteen. In 1973 he joined the Mercury Racing Team where he raced for eight years and captured nine National titles and two World Championships. As the "bass boat boom" was exploding, in 1975, he accepted a job with Hydra-sports Boat Company, in nashville, to work on boat design, research and development. During this time, he became the first person to ever drive a bass boat with a V-6 outboard motor on it. In 1983, he left Hydra-sports to begin his own boat company: Stratos Boats. Under his leadership, Stratos quickly became a leader in the fiberglass fishing boat industry. In 1987, he sold his company to Outboard Marine Corporation and became President of the OMC fishing boat company, until 1996. In 1996, with several of his key management team from OMC, he founded what has become the leading producer of wood-free boats in America: Triton Boats. Over the past thirty years, Earl Bentz and his team have been credited with developing many of the designs and system standards on today's bass boats. Among them: 6-gauge trolling motor wiring as standard equipment; automatic circuit breaker electronics; wood-free boat construction; retractable passenger grab handles and the most recent innovation: the retractable boarding ladder that received the "Award of Excellence" for lifesaving innovations by the National Safe Boating Council. Along with his love of fishing, Earl has also found time to become one of the most respected hunters around. When hunting season arrives each September, his staff knows that you can probably find him in the woods somewhere, looking for another mount to add to his already impressive collection. In case you think he has neglected his civic duties: he has served on numerous industry boards including: the National Marine Manufacturers' Association; the American Sport Fishing Association; the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation; and on the board of the Middle Tennessee Boy Scouts, to name a few. Between his personal and corporate donations, he has helped raise millions of dollars for some of America's most worthwhile charitable organizations and his unwavering sponsorship of anglers across america is legendary. As fellow Hall of Fame board member, and ten-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier, Guy Eaker told me recently: "in almost thirty years of working with Earl, I've never had a written sponsorship contract. One day, several years ago, I asked him if he thought we needed one, and he said "if you can't trust me with my handshake, then we don't need to work together"." He and his wife, Janet, reside in Nashville, Tennessee, with their three daughters. |
|
George |
|
|
|
When his father moved the family into the Lakewood subdivision of North Little Rock, his love of fishing blossomed when a neighbor began showing him the correct way to rig-up and fish different lures. In order to pursue his love of bass fishing, he did it when basically no one was watching. Until he started releasing some of the bass he'd caught into the family's backyard swimming pool. Which, of course, made it very difficult for his mother and the lady he was dating at the time, who is now is wife, to keep "mum" on his fishing exploits. With his love of the outdoors, for both hunting and fishing, growing each day, it put a lot of pressure on this gentleman to keep up with his high school studies. In fact, he missed so many days in high school, his senior year, because he was hunting and fishing, that any time the telephone rang at home, his mother always knew that it was the high school principal asking, "where is he today? hunting or fishing?" Fortunately, he did graduate and then in 1971 married the love of his life, Debbie, and went to work for a railroad company. Having a family to support didn't seem to slow down this young man, as he was always able to provide food on the table, from either the fish he'd caught, or from any of the game that he'd taken. George was ready for "big time bassin'" and the record books prove it. In his home state, he's won two Arkansas State Championships and has taken over fifty different tournament titles. But it was when he began his professional tournament career along the B.A.S.S. tournament trail, that people really started to take notice of him. He placed 31st in the very first Bassmaster tournament event he competed in, the 1979 Florida Invitational on the St. Johns River, in central Florida. During his B.A.S.S. tournament career, he qualified for 20 Citgo Bassmaster Classics; captured seven Bassmaster tournament titles, including the 1987 Bassmasters Classic, on the Ohio River, outside of Louisville, Kentucky. An event that saw him win the championship with only 15-pounds, 5-ounces for the three day total. He caught every one of his bass within a two hundred yard stretch, just above the takeoff ramp each day, and only burned about one gallon of gas, during the three day competition. George's ability to locate and catch bass out of extremely shallow water, year-round, is the thing that legends are made of. In addition to his BassMaster Classic titles, and other BassMaster tournament wins, he's taken home over one million dollars from the BassMaster pay window and placed in the top10, 49times. His fellow competitors and peers all call him, "Gentleman George" and with good reason. His mild demeanor and gentle approach to tournament fishing are traits that every person should strive to emulate. |
|
|
|
Harold |
|
He's not a "big-time pro angler". He's not a manufacturer of products that help you catch more fish. But, if you've ever fished an organized bass tournament, of any size or scope, then you've felt his presence. A presence that was vital to the growth of both B.A.S.S. and to tournament fishing. When Ray Scott started the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society in 1967, Harold Sharp proved to be among a small group of visionaries to see the future of the sport of bass fishing. Plus, he had the willingness and willpower to work to make it happen. While fishing the second B.A.S.S. tournament ever held, on Smith Lake, Alabama, this inductee met Bob Cobb, a fellow inductee, who had helped form the Tulsa Bass Club. Being intrigued by the thought of organizing anglers into "clubs", Harold requested a copy of the by-laws of the Tulsa Bass Club and traveled back home to Chattanooga, Tennessee, with the thought of forming his own "bass club" and affiliating with the "mother ship", the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society. During a promotional tour, to Chattanooga, in January 1968, he informed Ray Scott of his intentions and that day put into motion the first bass club in America affiliated with B.A.S.S. While talking with Ray, he began formulating a "set of tournament rules" that each club and tournament should follow. Harold's devotion to bass fishing led him to resign his position with Southern Railroad, after 26 years, and move to Montgomery, Alabama, to engineer the fledgling BassMaster Seminar Tour. The BassMaster Seminar Tour traveled coast-to-coast teaching bass fishing and preaching anti-pollution messages. And it seems that at every stop, our inductee was able to form bass clubs, which immediately affiliated with B.A.S.S. When the BassMaster Seminar Tour ended, he simply changed hats and took charge as the Director of the BassMaster Tournament Trail. A job he held from 1970 until his retirement in 1987. During this time, and under his guidance, he administered "fair and square" rules for tournaments; he helped build entries, raising the pay outs; enlisting host sponsors and overseeing the format and development of such B.A.S.S. signature events as the BassMasters Classic and the first major big money event: the B.A.S.S. Megabucks Tournament. If you ask any veteran of the B.A.S.S. tournament trail, they will tell you that when Harold ran the tournament department and there was ever a question about a rule, it was, "there's a right way, a wrong way, but, it's Harold's way or the highway." Today, Harold makes his living in semi-retirement by running "Fishin' Talents", an agency dedicated to assisting pro anglers find sponsorships and personal appearances. Along with his agency work, he is also a "birder". He watches birds and makes notes on the different types and species in their home area. Harold Sharp one of this industry's most respected individuals, and a person whom every tournament bass angler, everywhere, should thank for the "rules of tournament bass fishing" and for helping ensure that professional bass tournaments are truly "professional" and for guaranteeing that professional bass anglers, everywhere have a "code of conduct" to adhere. |
Billy
Westmorland
Throughout the history of
competitive tournament angling, it seems that the "power"
techniques of fishing have always captured the limelight:
flipping; crankbaiting; spinnerbaiting and such, but, you
haven't heard a lot about the fine art of light tackle, or
finesse fishing. At least not until the last few
years. Billy Westmorland made the fine art
of light tackle fishing very well known, during his very
successful tournament career, in the early, to mid
seventies. When the conventional wisdom was
that you had to be fishing with 9-inch worms and
twenty-pound test lines, this gentle giant went about using
what was called: "toy tackle", or "mickey mouse"
equipment. Armed with 8 to 12 pound test
lines, Billy proved that he could catch 'em anywhere and
under any condition. Born in 1937, he grew up fishing
the shores and waters of Dale Hollow Lake, which borders
Kentucky and Tennessee. Anyone who has been to Dale Hollow
knows that the water is so clear, that it's not uncommon to
be able to see bottom, in 25-30 foot depths. Armed with this knowledge, while
guiding on Dale Hallow as a teenager, he knew that small
baits and light lines were needed to pursue and catch Dale
Hollow's primary inhabitant: the smallmouth bass. And, fish these light weight rigs,
he did. With such success that his fishing reputation grew
beyond the borders of Kentucky and Tennessee, to a national
level. "Fishing Facts" magazine did a two
part article on him and his expertise. It seems that the
fishing magazine from "up-north" was awed by this man's
ability to make catches of huge smallmouth, over
seven-pounds, on a regular basis, with such tiny lures and
light lines.area, i realized that there was more to him than
meets the eye. While tall and large of stature,
his demeanor was that of a gentle man. In 1976 he published a book titled:
"Them Ol' Brown Fish". Billy achieved great success, along
the B.A.S.S. tournament trail. From 1972-1977, he qualified
for six consecutive BassMaster Classics, using the "toy
tackle". Three times, he captured tournament
titles along the B.A.S.S. circuit, including victories in
the 1974 and 1975 Florida Invitationals, where lunker bass
and broom handle rods were the norm. Not the "mickey mouse"
equipment that he was using. In 1977 he captured his final
national tournament title, when he won the B.A.S.S. Arkansas
Invitational, on Greers Ferry Reservoir. Billy Westmorland,
of Celina, Tennessee, is the Hall's first Posthumous
Inductee.
