Woo
Daves

Irwin
Jacobs

John
Powell

Steve
Price

A Minneapolis-based entrepreneur, Irwin L. Jacobs owns and operates more than half a dozen businesses, including Genmar Industries, the world’s largest privately-held recreational boat builder with annual sales exceeding $1 billion, and FLW Outdoors, the world’s largest fishing tournament organization with annual awards of $43 million for anglers in 12 tournament circuits targeting bass, walleye, redfish, kingfish and striped bass.

Jacobs set out to fully tap into the buying power of the nation’s 50 million fishing enthusiasts with the 1996 acquisition of a small fishing-tournament company he later renamed FLW Outdoors after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood.

Jacobs saw FLW Outdoors tournaments as a unique and powerful opportunity to communicate with a huge consumer group that had never been pursued.  In 1997, Jacobs hooked the giant retailer, Wal-Mart, as a title sponsor, which eventually allowed Jacobs to court the world’s leading consumer products companies.  As a result of Jacobs’ efforts, more than 50 leading consumer brands, including brands owned by global powerhouses BP, General Motors, Kellogg’s, and Procter & Gamble, now sponsor FLW Outdoors tournaments.

In 2007, FLW Outdoors made history by awarding the sport’s first $1 million check to Arkansas angler Scott Suggs when he won the Forrest Wood Cup championship.

Among his personal accomplishments, Jacobs underwrote and served as chairman of the 1991 International Summer Special Olympics Games, which were held in Minneapolis/St. Paul.  Jacobs has personally funded the building, furnishing and overall operations of Dells Place, a group home for developmentally challenged individuals; Functional Industries, an occupational workshop for physically and mentally disabled individuals; and The Art Center of Minnesota.  Additionally, Jacobs supports several other local and nonprofit organizations benefiting the arts, disabled, developmentally challenged and homeless.

Powell grew up on a “rawhide” farm in Elmore County, AL, northeast of Montgomery. He fished commercially until joining the Army Air Corps in 1947. After a 22-year service in the Air Force, Powell continued his love of fishing to a new tournament circuit organization established in his hometown, the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society.

He was a longtime friend of B.A.S.S. founder Ray Scott and borrowed a V-hull plywood boat to fish the second Bassmaster tournament, on Smith Lake in Alabama in 1967. Scott loaned him a canoe-like Chrysler boat to fish additional events, which he used to win the first tournament on Lake Eufaula with a stunning catch of 132 pounds. After a tour in Vietnam, he retired from service and began fishing professionally, becoming the first to win consecutive tournaments, in 1971 on Sam Rayburn and Table Rock lakes. Powell qualified for six Bassmaster Classic championships.

He was an early innovator of shallow-water fishing with plastic worms, which were gaining popularity in the 1970s after Mann’s Bait Company hit the market with the Jelly Worm. Powell regularly told anglers in the boat with him to set the hook quickly when they felt a bite instead of waiting. But he was known for his patience and adept casting skills. Powell died in 2007.

    Steve Price has been a full-time writer and photojournalist since 1973 and a writer/photographer for Bassmaster since 1974.  During his writing career, Price has sold more than 3,000 magazine articles, primarily about bass fishing, to such publications as: Field & Stream; Outdoor Life; Sports Afield; National Geographic; Rand McNally; Southern Living and many more.

    Price served as Outdoor Editor for Southern Living magazine, which had a circulation of 3 million, from 1975-78. He was a syndicated newspaper columnist for 10 years (1986-96), a radio program producer/host (1990-1994) and is the author of five books about bass fishing.

    His photography has been recognized both nationally and internationally and Steve Price has been a semi-finalist and finalist in the worldwide “Wildlife Photographer of the Year” competition sponsored by British Petroleum (nearly 20,000 entries annually).  His photography has been used in books and promotions worldwide and by organizations such as: National Geographic Society; Reader’s Digest; Associated Press; Game Conservation International; Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation; General Motors; Toyota and the Brunswick Corp., among others. 

    In addition, Mr. Price has attended every Bassmaster Classic since 1976 as a press writer/photographer, having written about and photographed the legends of bass fishing during this time.

Back to Home Page

Tim
Tucker

One of the country’s most influential and widely published outdoor writers, Tim Tucker was a longtime senior writer for Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times magazines, and his work also appeared in Field & Stream, Outdoor Life, In-Fisherman and a host of other publications.

In addition to his syndicated columns in 33 newspapers, Tucker authored eight books and co-hosted radio programs over the years. He won more than 100 awards for his writing and photography during his 25-year career as an outdoor journalist. His articles and photographs helped launch the careers several of today’s most successful professional anglers.

Tucker died in an automobile accident in Gainesville, Fla., in July 2007. He was a member and past president of the Southeastern Outdoor Writers Association, remaining active in the organization as a board member and advisor. The father of twins, Rachel and Kyle, he was a popular Little League baseball coach at the time of his death.

Tucker was posthumously awarded the BASS Outstanding Achievement Award at the 2008 Bassmaster Classic in Greenville, S.C., which was accepted by his wife, Darlene, and their children.

2010 BASS Master Classic winner, Kevin Van Dam, talks about his support of the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame!