Season at a Glance: 1980 BASS Master Trail – Part Two

In the first part of the 1980 BASS Master Season at a Glance, we looked at the vast format change within the organization.  Today in the 1980 BASS Master Trail – Part Two, we’ll continue to look at those changes and give the tournament reports for the remaining four events held.

The biggest of the changes was the split up of the trail into two separate Divisions, East and West.  Each division had three Classic qualifying events with the final qualifier being the BASS Champs event where the top 90 from each division would fish against each other to determine the final 20 Classic contestants from each division.  This change automatically increased the Classic field from the historic 24 entrants (plus one angler from the Federation) to 40.

Another notable change that took place that we didn’t mention in Part One was the increase in entry fees from $250 per event to $300 per event.  That may not seem like much of an increase but this was during the days of double digit inflation and high gas prices.  One would hope this would increase the payout but in actuality, the payout dropped.  The drop in payout was reflected in the 1st-place prize money, which had been $9,000 cash and a $5,500 Ranger Boat.  In 1980, this dropped to $5,000 cash and a $5,500 Ranger Boat.  That’s a significant drop in prize money.

The rule we should go over is in Rule #8 – Horsepower Restrictions.  I’m not sure if this was a new rule or the rule had been changed but the rule for 1980, as stated in the September/October 1979 BASSMaster Magazine, would be:

“All outboard motor boats used in tournament competition must have a U.S. Coast Guard horsepower capacity rating plate attached to the boat by the manufacturer.  Your outboard motor horsepower must not exceed the rating stated on this plate or the maximum 150 HP limit set by B.A.S.S.  This rating must comply with the U.S. Coast Guard Rating effective November 1, 1972.”

This rule would come back to bite one angler in particular.

There was also some confusion in the tournament schedule between a number of different B.A.S.S. publications, namely the venue of the first Western Division tournament.  In the insert placed in all the late 1979 magazines as well as the 1979 BASS Masters Classic Press Guide, the venue for the Mississippi Invitational would be held on Ross Barnett Reservoir.  But the February 1980 BASSMaster Magazine announced it would be held on Sardis Lake.  The event ended up being held on Sardis and as we’ll see in a moment, I’m sure the entire field would have chosen the Rez.

Let’s get on to the tournament reports.

Mississippi Invitational – Sardis Lake Western Division

“The fish were suspended just under the water in the very center of the bushes,” Martin said. “If you didn’t hit the middle, you spooked them.”

Martin would dangle his jig in the center of the brush and wait for the faintest of strikes to come.

Martin weighed in 16-06 the first day and never relinquished the lead over the next two days, finishing with a total of 10 bass that weighed 29-03.  One of the worst 3-day weights ever recorded.

In second place was Mr. Consistency, Arkansas pro Ricky Green.  Green had found the same fish as Martin and also used a jig to fool 10 bass over the 3-day event.  But, Green utilized a completely different technique to coax his fish into the boat.  Here’s what was written in the July/August 1980 BASSMaster Magazine tournament report.

“Green fished a jig and Uncle Josh pork frog chunk in the fashion of a spinnerbait, swimming it into brush on the edges of flooded creek banks.”

This is one of the first times I have seen the mention of swimming a jig.

Green weighed in 20-07 for his ten fish that he caught the first two days.  He said the water was too muddy the final day and that the fish weren’t able to see the jig.

Tournament veteran Marvin Baker finished in the third spot with 20-04 (6 fish), with local Sardis, MS angler Charlie Andrews finishing in 4th place with 17-04 (6 fish).  Dave Gliebe, who apparently had moved from California to Louisiana, rounded out the top 5 with 15-07 (7 fish).  Baker and Gliebe caught their fish flipping while Andrews caught his fish throwing a spinnerbait.

Overall the event hosted 225 anglers, nearly half of which blanked all three days.  The total fish count for three days was 262 with one limit caught.

The Top-40 and Box Score are presented in the table below.

Missouri Invitational – Lake of the Ozarks Western Division

The second event of the Western Division would be held on Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks.  Finally conditions would take a turn for the better with respect to active fish.  But the Missouri Conservation Department threw a little twist into this event.  Missouri had a 15-inch size limit on the lake, upping the B.A.S.S. size limit from 14 inches.  Also counter to B.A.S.S. regulations was the 6-bass limit imposed by the state.  Due to this regulation, Harold Sharp dropped the daily bag limit to five fish per angler.

The first day saw Florida angler Bill O’Connor come in with a 5-bass limit weighing 27-01, or better than a 5-pound average.  The only problem would be O’Connor would have a hard time duplicating the limit.

There is little written in the July/August issue of BASSMaster Magazine about the event other than the size of the fish caught overall.  Guido Hibdon, though, on the final day was reported to have brought in a limit of fish for 20-10, and beat O’Connor with 56-04 (14 fish) compared to O’Connor’s total of 55-00 (11 fish).  Hibdon’s average over the event was slightly over 4 pounder per bass where O’Connor’s average was 5 pound per bass.  Those are some huge numbers for average weight.

Kevin Johnson of Kansas placed third with 50-13 ((13 fish), Ronald Williams of Missouri took the 4th spot with 47-06 (13 fish), and J. W. Cheatham rounded out the top-5 with 45-10 (13 fish).

Overall, a full field of 252 anglers weighed in 1037 bass for a total weight of 3377-13.  That’s over a 3-pound average per fish.

To see the Top-40 and the complete Box Score, please look at the table below.

North Carolina Invitational – Albermarle Sound Eastern Division

Chapman’s fish, on the other hand, all 21 of them, were weighed in live.  The result was a total weight of 60-10 over three days of competition and the win.

The next person to get stung by the rules was Edmond Grady of North Carolina.  Grady weighed in 19 fish over the course of the event, 10 which were weighed alive, and finished with 59-07, one ounce behind Dyer.  But that one ounce was not what kept him from his 3rd-place finish.  Grady hadn’t paid much attention to Rule #8, the one discussed at the start f this article.  Grady’s outboard motor was bigger than the 150 horsepower limit allowed on all tournament boats.  Because of his mistake, he was disqualified from the event.

So, into third was Randy Fite with 55-07 (20 fish), Larry Nixon placed fourth with 51-05 (21 fish) and Don Hildebrand rounded out the top 5 with 49-02 (16 fish).

Overall the full field of anglers weighed 2,043 bass of which 1,570 were released alive.  This amounted to a 77% live release rate compared to the 97% release rate from the first four events of the season.

For the Top-40 and the entire Box Score, please look down below at the table.

Texas Invitational – Toledo Bend Western Division

Bob LaRoux was only able to bring in three fish the final day, bringing his total to 51-11 and fourth place.  Ron Shearer rounded out the Top 5 with 14 fish that weighed 33-13.

Nixon gave a little insight on why the weights dropped dramatically from fourth place to fifth place.

“From now through September, the local angler will always have the advantage on Toledo Bend.  There’s no way a guy who hasn’t fished this lake much can find our worm holes.  Big bass will be in the very center of the bushes along the drop-offs 10-20 feet deep, and those bushes won’t always show up on depthfinders.”

Boy how things have changed since the advent of today’s electronics.

According to BASSMaster Magazine, Nixon was in the lead for the AOY by 48-01, over Roland Martin.  With only the BASS Champs event left in the season, Nixon was in the driver’s seat for the AOY award.  Next time I will try to have the AOY results prior to the BASS Champs event and then will cover the event itself.

To see the Top-40 for the Toledo Bend event as well as the Box Score, please refer to the table below.

This is the second part in a five-part series on the 1980 BASS Master Trail.  Click the link to read Part One.  Part Three will cover the BASS Champs event, Part Four the Federation Championship, Part Five, the Classic Contenders, and Part Six will cover the 1980 BASS Masters Classic.