In today’s Throwback Thursday historical photo, we venture back to 1976 and a very young (30 years old) Woo Daves who was hoping to qualify for his second consecutive Classic with just one tour event left. The main problem – his workplace, where he was a dock hand at a trucking company, didn’t like him missing work, which he would have to do to make the long trip to Bull Shoals Lake, Ark. His other option was to qualify through the B.A.S.S. Chapter Championship fishing for the state of Virginia.
As it turned out, he fished both, but still failed to qualify. It would not be until 1978 that he would again qualify for a BASS Masters Classic.
A lengthy article on Woo in the local paper that detailed his dilemma also had some interesting quotes from Woo on professional bass fishing in general. Here are a few of those quotes.
> “You will not be able to make a living fishing tournaments until they start paying a minimum of $1,000 through 35th place.”
> “Fishing is a confidence game. You do what you do best and have confidence in what you’re doing.”
> “I fish only for those fish which want to bite.”
> He uses spinning tackle most of the time.
> “There are too many techniques used by fishermen to keep them all in your head at one time. They get in the way of my concentration. So, I just do the things that work best for me.”
Looking back on history, it turned out that Woo ended up having a great career in the sport after all, fishing over 300 B.A.S.S. events, and making 17 Classics, winning one along with 4 other tour events (2 Opens; 2 Invitationals). He cashed checks in 136 of those events, ultimately pocketing over $676,000 in winnings, and becoming a fan favorite along the way.
