As a tag-on to yesterday’s historical photo, today’s Friday Finale brings a second Bill Dance related ad. According to this ad from 1971, “Bill Dance, all-time winner on the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society’s tournament tour, is pictured on his way to winning the 3rd-annual Rebel Invitational at Ross Barnett Reservoir. Dance made a charge to the championship the final day despite 25-mile-per-hour winds, rain, and 5-to-6 foot swells. He rode to victory in this Ranger boat.”
As you probably can guess, the ad was for Ranger Boats, with the byline, “By bass anglers – For bass anglers.”
Ranger was owned and made by the late Forrest Wood, who was a B.A.S.S. member and tournament fisherman at the time. The ad stated that Ranger Boats were, “the most copied, but never duplicated bass boat on the market,” and as you might guess by the picture, that air of high performance has been a staple of bass boat ads for well over 50 years. Like Stren, Ranger Boats has had a few different owners over the years, but the brand is still around, and still very popular.
