A Little Fishing History

I hope that you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed compiling it. This may not make you a better fisherman or put more fish in the boat but it's always nice to know a little more about the sport that we are all a part of. Who knows, maybe you'll be able to win a small wager with this information. Here's today's history lesson. Pay attention, there will be a test later. :)

1770: British reel maker Onesimus Ustonson advertises the first multiplying reels, forerunners of today's baitcasters.

1897: William Shakespeare Jr. patents a levelwind device for baitcasting reels, making their use easier and more popular.

1902: James Heddon receives his Fish-Bait patent for a floating wooden lure carved from a barrel bung, or plug. He was inspired by watching a bass engulf a floating stick he had whittled and tossed into the mill pond on Michigan's Dowagiac Creek.

1909: Ole Evinrude introduces the 1.5-horsepower "coffee grinder," which becomes the first commercially successful outboard.

1910: The Creek Chub Bait Co. offers the Creek Chub Wiggler. This is the first plug with a metal diving lip to make the lure wiggle. A later version, the Wiggle Fish, hooks George Perry's world-record largemouth.

1915: The William J. Jamison Co. introduces the Shannon Twin Spinner, a gaudy lure of red feathers, white bucktail, and two blades attached to a wire weedguard. This is the forerunner of today's spinnerbaits.

1920: When fishing Jordan Lake in Wisconsin and finding no natural frogs to use as bait, Alan P. Jones and Urban Schreiner head to the Oxford butcher shop, pick up some pork back fat, and carve the first pork frogs. Two years later, they form the Uncle Josh Bait Co.

1932: The world record bass was caught near Jacksonville, Georgia on June 2 by George Perry. It weighed 22 pounds 4 ounces and was caught from an oxbow lake off the Ocmulgee River called Montgomery Lake. That is one of the most sough-after records in the fishing world.

1934: Fred Arbogast carves his first Jitterbug.

1934: The Minn Kota electric trolling motor began its life in Fargo, North Dakota. Mr. O.G. Schmidt, inventor of the trolling motor, was known to be a man of many diverse ideas. Prior to the trolling motor, Mr. Schmidt invented, produced and sold a copper soldering torch from his home in Wheatland, North Dakota. Due to its success, manufacturing operations were then moved to Fargo. Because of its proximity to the MINNesota-North DaKOTA border, Mr. Schmidt named the business The Minn Kota Manufacturing Company.

1936: Lauri Rapala invents the Rapala lure. Rapala lures are now sold in 140 countries and are responsible for more world record fish than any other lure.

1937: DuPont files patent for nylon, which later spawns nylon monofilament fishing line.

1938: Spinning reels are introduced in the U.S. and, along with nylon monofilament, make cast-and-retrieve fishing infinitely easier for the average bass angler.

1946: The Spoonplug was invented by Elwood L. "Buck" Perry, then a physics and math teacher in Hickory, N.C.. Perry combined science with a logical approach to fishing to create a "total fishing system." He is credited as being the father of structure fishing and was later inducted into the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame.

1947: Howard Lund turns his creation of a single aluminum duck boat into the Lund Boat Co..

1948: Skeeter builds a boat designed specifically for bass fishing, thus launching a new category of fishing craft.

1949: Fiberglass rods are introduced and quickly replace bamboo.

1949: Louis Spray catches the world record musky on October 20th from the Chippewa Flowage in Wisconsin. The fish weighs in at 69 pounds and 11 ounces.

1949: Nick and Cosma Creme of Akron, Ohio, melt plastic on their kitchen stove, pour it into molds, and create the first modern soft-plastic worm- the Creme Wiggle Worm.

1950: The Dingell-Johnson Fish Restoration Act is passed, placing excise taxes on fishing equipment. In 1984, the Wallop-Breaux amendment passes. To date, this legislation, now called the Sportfish Restoration Act, has put more than $3 billion into state fisheries programs.

1954: The Zero Hour Bomb Co.. (now Zebco) makes cast-and-retrieve fishing virtually foolproof with the introduction of the first closed-face spincasting reel.

1955: Outdoor writer Earl Golding holds what is now widely considered the first ever organized bass tournament, the Texas State Bass Tournament on Lake Whitney, Texas; 73 anglers participate.

1957: Carl Lowrance introduces the first portable sonar units for anglers, capable of detecting both bottom and individual fish.

1960: Mabry Harper catches the world record walleye on August 2nd. This fish weighed in at 25 pounds and was caught on Old Hickory Lake, TN.

1961: G.H. Harris of Jackson, Miss., a skilled tinker, was unsatisfied with the hand-controlled trolling motors of the time and he decided to try and build his own. His idea created an electric trolling motor you control with your foot. Pleased with the results, he sold the idea to an entrepreneurial clock-making company. The new trolling motor was an instant success and MotorGuide was born.

1966: Fishing News by Northwoods Publishing hits the news stands. This newspaper is the predecessor of Fishing Facts Magazine.

1967: Tom Mann introduces the Jelly Worm, which today remains the best selling plastic worm ever.

1967: Ray Scott hosts his first fishing tournament, the All-American Invitational, at Beaver Lake, Arkansas, and announces that bass fishing will become a major-league sport. Bill Dance catches the first fish, a 2-pounder within a minute of the starting gun. Stan Sloan won the grand prize: $2,000 and a trip to Acapulco.

1968: Three walleye fishermen sat down and proposed a business. The trio of young anglers hoped to build this business by marketing a new product that would allow anglers to present their live bait in a more natural and efficient way. Since that day walleye fishing in the U.S. has never been the same, and brothers Al and Ron Lindner along with Nick Adams revolutionized the way we catch fish. That fledgling company, which began in the back of a small shop with three employees, was named the Lindy Tackle Company and its revolutionary product was to be named the Lindy Rig.

1968: Forrest Wood's dream to build a quality fishing boat began. Forrest wanted his boat's strength, integrity, and commitment to be reflected in a single name. A cowboy at heart, he looked to the legendary Western heritage of the original Texas Rangers. Today, the dream he set in motion proudly carries the hard-earned badge and fierce reputation of 'Ranger'. The original 6 Ranger boats were built in 1968 in what is now the Fire House in downtown Flippin, Arkansas.

1970: The National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame opens in Hayward Wisconsin.

1971: John Morris borrows $10,000 from his father and stocks a few shelves of the family liquor store with bass tackle. Three years later, he mails the first Bass Pro Shops catalog.
1972: Within two days of each other, Fenwick and Shakespeare introduce the countries first graphite fishing rods. Graphite quickly replaces fiberglass.

1972: Inspired by trout anglers at o Federation of Fly Fishermen event in Aspen, Colorado, Ray Scott starts the "Don't Kill Your Catch" program. The Florida National of Kissimmee Chain of Lakes becomes the first catch-and-release B.A.S.S. tournament.

1972: Mister Twister adds a new twist to soft-tailed plastic baits with introduction of its Curly Tailed Grub.

1973: Don Butler files patent for the first live wells for bass boats.

1975: Al and Ron Lindner start the In-Fisherman magazine. With a couple of desks and a mailing list, the Lindners began In-Fisherman with the goal of teaching people to fish through advancements in equipment and knowledge. The Brainerd-based In-Fisherman company had grown into one of the nation's largest fishing multi-media communication companies. The company had revenues of $13 million in 1998. The Lindners sold their company to New York publishing giant Primedia in 1998, at which time Ron retired. Al left the company in 2001.

1983: The Manion Walleye Circuit (MWC) is created. It didn't really work out but the sponsors liked the idea and started the Manufacturers Walleye Circuit (keeping the MWC initials) the following year.

1984: The Masters Walleye Circuit (MWC), the longest-running professional walleye tournament circuit in the United States, has its first tournament. Bob "Kaz" Kaczkowski, MWC consultant & emcee remembers being approached about the idea (MWC) at the Great Plains Bass Circuit Championship (now defunct) held on Truman Lake in Missouri in the fall of 1983. So, you could say that professional walleye fishing got started at a bass tournament. The MWC started as a non-profit corporation owned by the circuit sponsors. Bob "Kaz" Kaczkowski was hired as the circuit's executive director. His wife, Beverly joined him as vice-president. These two individuals ran the circuit themselves for 15 years. In 1988 the circuit was renamed the Masters Walleye Circuit, keeping the MWC logo. The Wildlife Forever organization took over the circuit in 2000. Somewhere around 4 million dollars in prize money has been paid out thus far. The North American Fishing Club took over the MWC in 2002.

1985: Blass bass overtake panfish as America's most popular sportfish, according to the 1985 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife Associated Recreation, published by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

1987: Working from his garage, Herb Reed creates a new category of bass lure- the soft stickbait- as his company, Lunker City Fishing Specialties, introduces the Slug-Co.

1989: Competitive walleye fishing and all that's learned from those activities hit the big time with the first PWT tournament.

1990: Berkley introduces Power Worms, with chemical additives designed to make bass hold on to the lure longer.

1990: In-Fisherman enters the professional walleye tournament circuit with the introduction of the Professional Walleye Trail.

1992: Larry Nixon becomes the first pro angler to earn over $1 million in B.A.S.S. events.

1995: Walleye Central is born. It's creator, Scotty Golden started the first internet site dedicated to walleye fishing. This internet site currently averages around 15 million hits a month.

1996: Cable station ESPN combines with Irwin L. Jacobs, Operation Bass Inc., and J.M. Associates to launch the FLW Tour, named after Forest L. Wood of Ranger Boats. A year later, Wal-Mart becomes the primary sponsor, opening the door to other corporations outside the fishing industry, including Coca-Cola, Chevrolet, and General Mills (Wheaties). Close television coverage, large corporate sponsorships, and huge purses (the 1997 tour featured $3.1 million in prizes, by far the most at the time.) make the tour a raving success.

1998: Pro bass fisherman Denny Brauer is pictured on a Wheaties cereal box, the first angler ever featured there. (PETA demands, in vain, that General Mills pull the boxes, arguing that "Anglers have no place next to real sportsman like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods.")

1998: Ted Takasaki becomes walleye fishing's first $100,000 prize winner.

2000: Scott Glorvigen of Grand Rapids, Minn., wins the first-ever Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Championship.

2001: Gary Parsons, Glidden, WI. is awarded a special commemorative plaque for winning the 10,000,000th dollar in PWT history.

2001: Harris Poll identified recreational fishing as America's top outdoor leisure time activity.

2003: WalleyeFIRST releases the first draft of the World Walleye Rankings.

Compiled on 1/07/04 by Dennis "Sunshine" Skurulsky, SunshineFishingAdventures.com, dskurulsky@yahoo.com. Dennis is a guide, tournament fisherman, presenter, and field writer for OutdoorsFirst. His sponsors include: Mercury, Lund, Navionics, Lowrance, TrollMaster, Dave's Ka-Boom Baits, Main Marine & Ski, Amsoil and Vanguard Trailers. Expect to see more articles from him this coming season.