For today’s Throwback Thursday historical photo, we again go back to Bass’N Gal. This time one of their early events from 1979 on the St. Johns River out of Palatka, Florida. In the article it talks about Betty Logan of Georgia and her win on the famed waterway.
Over two days, Logan weighed 12-06 to take the first spot, winning a Venture bass boat rigged with a 90-hp Mercury, Motor-Guide trolling motor, Lowrance electronics, and a Roadmaster trailer. The total package was worth over $7,000. The article didn’t mention anything about cash payouts, other than the total purse for the event was $14,000.
Logan caught all her fish on plastic worms fishing slowly with a 1/16-ounce slip sinker pegged on a slack line. She weighed a limit the first day and had a one-ounce lead going into the final round.
On the second day things didn’t pan out how she’d hoped, though. Moving into a canal at the back of Dead Lake, Logan caught two fish right off the bat on her light worm. She was on her way to a quick limit, she thought.
Then as happens in Florida, a lady came out of her house, walked down here dock, and declared all the fish in the canal, her fish. The home owner claimed she owned all the property around the canal and that the fish were hers and her tenants, who rented the houses around the canal from her.
Logan wasn’t going to be out thought on this deal. She quickly asked how much she rented the houses for and the gruff old lady said, $30 per month. Logan pulled $30 out of her pocket and said, “I’d like to rent one beginning immediately for 30 days.”
She thought she’d made a deal until the old lady opened her mouth and told her she better not do that.
In the end, I’m not sure if she caught anymore fish that day, but from her final weight, I think this was the only two fish she weighed that second day. Still it was good enough for the win.
