Searching the newspaper archives you never know what you’ll come across. More than not, we search for one thing only to have something else just as cool come up. That was the case with today’s post, Lake Eufaula June 1968.
While doing some research on Ray Scott and B.A.S.S., the lead-in image came up in one of my searches. It’s a picture of legendary worm fisherman and early bass pro. John Powell right after he won the 1968 BASS Master event on Alabama’s Lake Eufaula. This event was only the fifth event in Bassmaster history and one that I feel a little connected to.
I never knew John Powell, but I knew of him growing up. What I remember most about this event, which I didn’t find out about until a decade later, was seeing the picture of Rhodney Honeycutt and John Powell with their first day’s catch.
Honeycutt only weighed three fish that day to Powell’s full limit of 15 bass for 42 pounds, but 15-year-old Rhodney caught big bass of the day, weighing 9-06. At the time I read this report, which was in the Fall 1968 issue of BASSMaster Magazine, I was also 15 years old. That picture motivated me to fish harder.
But let’s get back to the event itself.
After the first day, 24-year-old Jimmy Houston was leading the event with 11 bass that tipped the scales at 54-06. Powell was in fourth with a limit of 15 bass that went 42-05.
Day two wasn’t reported in any of the newspaper clippings I found or in BASSMaster Magazine, except for Powell’s second-day weight and his standing. He weighed another limit that day of 34 pounds and moved from fourth to third place.
The final day saw Powell bring in a 54-pound limit which brought his total up to 132-02. This was a record weight for a BASSMaster event, but it wasn’t the only record broken that week.
The total weight for the three-day event was 3,172 pounds caught by 107 anglers, a record. More than 300 bass caught weighed over five pounds and several fish reported over nine pounds.
Although Rhodney Honeycutt didn’t place in the money overall, he did win big fish for the event.
The 1968 Lake Eufaula event would only be the beginning of broken B.A.S.S. records. The following year, Blake Honeycutt, Rhodney’s dad, would set the all-time Bassmaster record for a 3-day, 15-fish daily limit event with 138-06 (34 bass). At that same event, Rip Nunnery would set the record for a 1-day, 15 fish daily limit with 98-15.
As I alluded to in the beginning, this event is personal to me. In 1978 I was working at a tackle shop in southern California. Rip Nunnery was a customer of ours but also supplied us with leadhead jigs, spinnerbaits, and other tackle through his company Bandit Bass Lures. It was here that I learned about Rip’s 1969 record and the event on the whole. It was also here that I got to read all the early BASSMaster Magazines that had these tournament results in them. The shop, Bob’s Fishing Tackle, still exists to this day and Rip’s 15-fish limit still hangs on the wall with a picture of Rip, Bill Dance, and Ray Scott with the fish.
That was 1978.
Fast forward to March 2022 and the passing of Blake Honeycutt. I was at the Classic in Greenville, SC when I found out the bad news.
One morning I had breakfast with Bob Cobb and Ray Scott’s manager, Jim Keintz. After a few minutes talking with them, Bob reached into his pocket and handed me an envelope. He told me it was from Rhodney Honeycutt and that I would know what to do with it.
I got home that night and opened the envelope to find a pen drive and a note from Rhodney. I had never met Rhodney, but I plugged the drive into the computer to find video of the first ever tournament held in the Carolinas in 1970. Rhodney fished it and came in second place.
Before I did anything I felt I needed to talk with Rhodney. His number was on the note in the envelope, so I called it. I explained to him who I was, told him about the site, and that Bob had given me the video. Rhodney agreed to let me post it on the site.
Since that discussion I have become good friends with Rhodney. Strange how things work out in life. A kid who was 15 years old in 1968 inspired a 14-year-old kid a continent and a decade apart. Then almost 45 years after that we became friends.
I have compiled some of the newspaper clippings as well as the writeup from the Fall 1968 issue of BASSMaster Magazine below. I hope you enjoy reading them.
Great post, Terry. You unearthed some really interesting newspaper finds and intertwined your connection with the legendary Blake Honeycutt’s son, Rhodney. Lake Eufaula was a truly special place in the late 60’s and early 70’s, and some of the early B.A.S.S. events held there were incredible. It is hard to comprehend just how good the bass fishing was and the number of huge bass that came from this fabled reservoir. I’ll never forget seeing the incredible 25 bass stringer weighing 155 pounds that Tom Mann and David Lockhart caught in July 1972. What a haul. The photo of them holding up that catch made such an impression on me at the time, and one I will never forget.