Last week we posted a 1976 Bagley’s ad from American Bass Fisherman magazine. That ad was different than most Bagley’s ads in that it used an angler as the subject and the subject was Howard Cotton had just won the American Bass Fisherman World Championship Open on Bagley’s baits. Well, today in 1975 World Championship Open, we’re going to talk about that event and what I believe was the richest event in bass fishing history at that time.
As we stated in last week’s post, Howard Cotton was a well-known and successful guide on Santee-Cooper and was fishing his second professional tournament. He’d fished two Evinrude events at the time, but those were fun, sponsored events for Evinrude owners. At the 1973 and ’74 events, he placed 2nd and 1st, respectively. So, Cotton was no slouch.
For this event, as had happened the previous two years, a cold front had hit just before the event, knocking the fish for a loop. It’d be a tough event for all the anglers, but as it always happens, someone gets on the fish that win.
In this case, it was two anglers that went neck to neck the final day, and of course, only one could win.
As reported last week, Howard won the event by fishing Bagley’s crankbaits, an old Bagley’s rigged worm, and a prototype crankbait out of South Carolina. From the tournament report, it sounded like the prototype was the key, but he burned it out in practice and had a hard time keeping it tuned on the actual days it counted.
Howard was in first place with a limit of eight bass the first day that tipped the scales at 20-10. Following Cotton were Charlie Richards, Troy Pickett, Bill O’Connor, Al St. Romain, and Glin Wells.
As usual, the second day was rougher than the first. But Cotton weighed in seven small bass for 9-09, beating Tom Mann by a mere ounce.
With the win Cotton won $20,000 cash and a $5,000 rigged Stryker bass boat. For second place, Mann won $10,000 cash. Rounding out the top 10 was Glin Wells ($8,000), Doug Dowdy ($7,000), and Dick Busby ($6,000). These are stout payouts for the year 1975.
Look at the top anglers and see the list of participants. For people under 40, the names probably won’t mean much to you. But for those of us who have followed the sport since the early 1970s, there are several familiar names.
On that list is a name you all should recognize, Guy Eaker. Eaker got his start in professional bass fishing on the ABF trail as well as other trails like Project Sports INC, National Bass, and American Angler. Eaker caught big fish for the event, a fish that weighed over 9 pounds. In the picture shown you can read on his shirt Cherryville Bassmasters. Obviously, that’s the club he belonged to at the time. Eaker also guided on Santee-Cooper at the time.
I have included all the pages dedicated to this event below. It’s interesting to go back and read about these events and compare them to the events of today. These are the anglers who paved the way for all of us.
As for Howard Cotton, last week someone who knew him responded to our Facebook post and said that Cotton had been killed in a car wreck coming home from a tournament not long after this event. Who knows what history he would have made if not for his untimely death.
