This is a special day, it being New Year’s, so I felt it appropriate to post a special video. It’s not often you get to see video of the first days of competitive bass fishing – and I mean the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. Yeah, there’s coverage on the Bassmaster.com website of the 1971 Classic – and it’s an amazing look back in time – but how many of you have seen video from 1968, 1969 and even 1970? Well, today, thanks to Bobby Murray and Carlisle Tire, we have something special to share with you.
Bobby Murray was kind enough to invite Mike Quinn of Carlisle Tire to his house in Arkansas to talk the old days of competitive bass fishing. During that visit, Bobby showed Mike some old 8mm film footage of some early Bassmaster events. Quinn, with the permission of Murray, had the film digitized and ran it in the Carlisle Tire booth at the Hartwell Classic in 2015.
Mike Quinn, a fan of the Bass Fishing Archives, was able to get us a copy of the video and along with permission from Murray, we have it here for you to see. The video, again shot on old 8mm film, isn’t what one would consider high definition by today’s standards. What is lacks in quality, though, it more than makes up in regards to historical value.
The video is a compilation of several Murray’s videos spliced together and narrated by Murray himself. In the video you’ll see young Bobby and Billy Murray, a rookie Roland Martin, Rip Nunnery and his record catch and a host of others.
You’ll also see the results of what the Lowrance depth finder did for the savvy angler back in the day when bass fishing was considered a bank-beaters’ sport. Remember, these were the days before catch and release and livewells. All fish were put on a stringer, brought into weigh-in and then donated to a local cause.
The video is amazing and tells a story not many have heard. I would like to thank Bobby Murray and Mike Quinn for the use of the video. It’s pieces like this that really allow us to share what it was like back in those early days of the sport.
