A Gathering Of Eagles, Page 51

A Gathering Of Eagles, Page 51

to pay at a future date’. It was obvious that an organization that looked out for the fisher- men’s right was needed. I called a constitutional convention at the Dunes Hotel in Las Vegas, and after many hours of discussion, the PROFESSIONAL BASS ANGLERS ASSOCIATION was born. Many big names in the tournament fishing world attended, including Tom Mann, Jimmy Houston, Rick Clunn, Tommy Mar- tin and most of the big names on the West Coast. Fred Ward was named President, Rick Clunn was Vice President and Gary Klein was Secretary/Treasurer. However, the organization soon fizzled because of lack of participa- tion but in its short life helped change policies and payouts. Television helped spread the world of bass fishing to people across the nation and The Fred Ward Fishing Net- work started with a show taped at Lake Powell. The story line of each show would be taking kids fishing. We lined up one or two youngsters 10 to 14 years old. With all the Humminbird, Ranger, Minn Kota, Mercury, Evinrude, etc. people I knew, sponsors came easily. Our first show was with an Indian boy who hooked a giant striper. We had lots of taped footage but the giant fish broke off right at the boat. The next show was taped with twin girls and was called “Sugar & Spice”. I took the crew to Florida and filmed the next seven shows. Our show was aired the first year in Phoenix on Channel 3, and in Tucson, El Paso, Bakersfield and Fresno. The second year it was aired on SPN on satellite. I have co-starred with many of the big time TV fishermen on their shows as men- tioned earlier. I appeared with Roland Martin on his syndicated TV Show 15 times. I was a guest on 6 shows with Orlando Wilson and also appeared on Hank Parker’s show twice, did one show with Jimmy Houston, two with Steve Bartkowski, four with Allen Warren, three with Ron Shearer, six with Bob Dillow, and two with Steve Quinn of In Fisherman. After owning several Ranger boats and seeing lots of other boats, I decided to try my hand at designing and manufacturing boats as I had some pretty good ideas. I

Fred Ward showed that he still had what it takes with his signature win at the Lake Powell Bassmaster Invitational. Fred appeared on many other bass pros’ shows, including Jimmy Houston and Roland Martin.

found a hull design that I liked and modi- fied it a lot and began to work on a com- pletely new deck design with everything built in. We were working on the mold and had opened a tackle store and had several boats for sale. Then just before our grand opening, two days before Christmas, the neighbor digging in the parking lot next door caused a natural gas leak under the floor of our building. Seven boats, our boat mold, tools, and fishing tackle were destroyed when the gas leaked into our building and exploded. Unfortunately we were way under insured, but the gas company was at fault, as they did not look further for cracked pipes so did not get all repaired. It took most of the next year before Southwest Gas paid the balance of their responsibility. New molds were made for 18’ and 20’ models and over the next two years Western Boat Sales sold 72 Organizer boats. Even though we were still selling boats, we moved the factory to Missouri and decided to move to Florida. I guided for Roland Martin’s Marina and Lana worked in the store. Fishing on Lake Okeechobee

was great and I had the fun of guiding some celebrities, including Bobby Bear and Travis Tritt. I also had a great time working for and fishing with my good buddy Roland Martin and we went on to develop some lures together, including the Helicopter that sold millions, although Roland and I only got less the half we were owed. Lately I have designed the “Money” line of baits for Pradco. Fishing was great down in Mexico and Roland had wanted to film an episode there. I helped make the arrangements and we stayed at Billy Chapman Sr.’s lodge in Baccaburito near Lake Baccarac. The fish- ing was beyond belief and catching 7, 8, 9 and 10-pound fish was as easy as picking grapes. We did two very good shows on Lake Baccarac. One evening Billy Chap- man made an offer to me to start a book- ing service and after the shows aired the phone rang off the wall. The following year we made another agreement to bring four American guides with their own boats to guide on Lake Baccarac along with the Mexican pangas — Pat Donoho, Bob Porter, Mark Kile and myself. Later, again with the aid of Roland Martin, I subse- quently started an operation at El Salto that was very successful In all these adventures I have had a partner that has stood by my side and was very instru- mental in all of my accomplishments. Many, many thanks to my precious wife, Lana.

July 2011 _ SILVER EAGLES 51