JImmy Houston would win the Bassmaster AOY in only his second year as a full-time pro. Photo February 1977 issue of Bassmaster Magazine.

By the halfway point of the ’76 season, there had been two rookies win events, Jimmy Houston had secured his first Bassmaster win and Roland Martin and Tom Mann were out of the AOY hunt for the first time since its inception. The 1976 Bassmaster Trail Part Two will cover the second half of the season, the coveted AOY race and a few surprises regarding who and who did not make the 1976 Bassmaster Classic.

The Bassmaster AOY race was headed by two-year pro Jimmy Houston with Bill Dance in a close second. Tommy Martin, Don Mann and Roger Moore rounded out the top 5.

The second half of the season would take the anglers to two familiar waters, Buggs Island and Bull Shoals, along with a body of water B.A.S.S. had never ventured to before, Cordell Hull in Tennessee. In the July/August 1976 issue of Bassmaster Magazine, Bob Burnette wrote a piece about Hull – a newly impounded reservoir in the central part of the state. The lake had only been formed four years prior, was riverine and offered nearly 400 miles of shoreline. It was formed by the Cumberland River and the Obey River directly below famed Dale Hollow. This event should be about as even a playing field as any in the past since the inception of B.A.S.S.

 

Buggs Island – Rookies Make it Three

For the third time in four events a rookie took the top honors on the Bassmaster Trail. This time Virginia club angler Jimmy Hawkins outdistanced a tough field of anglers including a top 10 that was filled with stars.

The first two days it looked like Bassmaster veteran John Powell would walk away with the title. But on the last day of the event, he could only muster up five bass and he dropped to the fifth spot. Hawkins caught one of eight three-day 24-bass limits to help him win the event with 50-08. He reported catching his fish on crankbaits, a Balsa B in chartreuse, on rocky banks with dirty water above Buffalo Creek.

Gary Wade of North Carolina took the second spot with 22 fish that went 49-03. He reported catching his fish in clear water less then 2-feet deep with black (blue tail) and motor-oil colored Mister Twister worms.

Not present in the top 50 for the first three events, Roland Martin finally cashed a check at Buggs Island, taking home 3rd place. It was the first event of the 1976 season where he received AOY points. He would have to have a stellar season to garner enough points to make his 6th-consecutive Bassmaster Classic at the end of the year.

Below are the final standings for the Virginia Invitational as well as the Top 35 for the AOY race.

Jimmy Hawkins posing with his 1st-place trophy from Buggs Island. Photo September/October 1976 issue of Bassmaster Magazine.
Bass Master Virginia Invitational Buggs Island Scorecard – June 9-11, 1976
Place
Angler, State
Points
Weight, lbs-ozs
1
Jimmy Hawkins, VA
50
50-08
2
Gary Wade, NC
49
49-03
3
Roland Martin, OK
48
48-04
4
Bo Dowden, LA
47
47-10
5
John Powell, AL
46
44-13
6
Rayo Breckenridge, AR
45
43-07
7
Lloyd McEntire, IN
44
43-07
8
Paul Chamblee, NC
43
43-04
9
Doug Odom, SC
42
42-12
10
Bill Horne, NC
41
42-10
11
Bill Ward, MO
40
42-05
12
James Parker, NC
39
41-08
13
Ricky Green, AR
38
41-07
14
Tommy Martin, TX
37
40-14
15
Don SHealy, NC
36
40-12
16
Phil Greene, LA
35
40-10
17
Roger Moore, MO
34
40-01
18
H J Stevens, AR
33
40-00
19
Jerry Rhyne, NC
32
39-11
20
Wayne McKinney, VA
31
39-08
21
Junie Copley, VA
30
38-15
22
Hurley Board, NC
29
38-11
23
Asa Godsey, VA
28
38-11
24
Cecil Lemons, VA
27
37-02
25
Larry Inman, NC
26
36-11
26
Sam Rush, VA
25
36-09
27
Bill Dance, TN
24
36-07
28
Greg South, VA
23
36-06
29
Woo Daves, VA
22
35-15
30
Manuel Spencer, FL
21
35-09
31
Tom Mann, AL
20
35-06
32
Glin Wells TN
19
35-04
33
Dwight Howell, NC
18
34-14
34
Lynwood Merricks, VA
17
34-09
35
Billy Primos, MS
16
34-04
36
Bob Bowman, VA
15
34-01
37
Robert Blankenship, VA
14
33-15
38
Richard Showman, MD
13
33-02
39
Billy Westmorland, TN
12
33-02
40
Jimmy Houston, OK
11
32-06
41
Wendell Mann, NC
10
32-00
42
Bobby Wilson, SC
9
31-15
43
Jack Chancellor, AL
8
31-13
44
Doyle Jordan, TX
7
31-02
45
F B McRoy, VA
6
31-00
46
Dave Gliebe, CA
5
30-13
47
Jon Butler, TN
4
30-11
48
John Pryor, OK
3
30-10
49
James Thomas, AL
2
30-10
50
Jerry Williams, AR
1
30-09
1976 Bass Master Top-35 Angler of the Year Race After Four Events
Place
Angler, State
Points
1
Bill Dance, TN
148
2
Jimmy Houston, OK
148
3
Tommy Martin, TX
134
4
Bill Ward, MO
127
5
Roger Moore, MO
126
6
Bo Dowden, LA
114
7
Gary Wade, NC
102
8
Ricky Green, AR
101
9
Don Mann, AL
95
10
Lloyd McEntire, IN
92
11
Doug Odom, SC
91
12
Bobby Wilson, SC
89
13
Billy Westmorland, TN
87
14
Jack Hains, LA
82
15
John Powell, AL
81
16
Willard Moore, LA
81
17
Rayo Breckenridge, AR
78
18
Jerry Rhyne, NC
73
19
Manuel Spencer, FL
71
20
Jack Chancellor, AL
70
21
Glin Wells, TN
67
22
Dave HIlton, TN
64
23
James Bryce, TX
62
24
Billy Primos, MS
61
25
Tom Mann, AL
59
26
Marvin Baker, TX
58
27
Al Lindner, MN
56
28
Jerry Rhoton, OK
55
29
Woo Daves, VA
55
30
Sonny Viola, LA
54
31
H J Stevens, AR
52
32
Wesley Fredieu, LA
51
33
Jim McKay, MS
50
34
Jimmy Hawkins, VA
50
35
Phil Greene. LA
49

 

Cordell Hull – The Dead Sea

When B.A.S.S. announced they were heading to Tennessee’s Cordell Hull Reservoir on the ’76 Trail, anglers, especially Billy Westmorland, were excited about the chance to fish the new “hot” reservoir. Reports of hot summer action in the cold water had dreams of daily limits and lots of topwater action. It’s often funny the fish never get these memos.

Cordell Hull would become the third-worst tournament in Bassmaster history behind the 1973 Trail’s events at Keowee and Watts Bar. Heavy unseasonal rains had the water high and the water in Dale Hollow, above Cordell Hull, was streaming through the reservoir lowering water temperatures that mimicked late winter or early spring. As Bob Cobb stated in the November/December issue of Bassmaster Magazine, “It isn’t enough to say the Cordell Hull’s largemouth’s lips were sealed. They were welded shut.”

Over the three days of competition anglers brought 669 bass in that weighed 1090-01. Pretty bad for a summer tournament on a new lake.

Wade Reed takes the honors of having the second-worst winning weight at the 1976 event on Cordell Hull Reservoir in TN. Photo November/December issue of Bassmaster Magazine.

As with every tournament, though, someone finds enough fish to be the winner and in this case, it was rookie Wade Reed of Zwolle, LA who found the winning fish. Reed, who fished is first Bassmaster event on his home lake of Toledo Bend earlier in the season, found the winning area thanks to his 13-year-old son and the winning bait thanks to his wife.

Here are some of the notes from the tournament interview:

“My 13-year-old son, Kent, was fishing the practice with me and noticed some geese around an island. He wanted to see the Canadians closer. Honestly, I don’t think I’d [have] gone to the spot.

“I caught all the 14 bass during the tournament in that same area.”

“I’d ran short of small 1/4-ounce spinnerbaits and sent my wife to the store. She spotted the white lure with one gold blade and one silver blade on a junk lure table in a discount store.”

Over the course of three days Reed weighed in a total of 23-13, the second lowest weight to ever win a Bassmaster tournament behind Roland Martin’s win at Watts Barr in 1973. Another interesting fact about Reed was he qualified for the Classic with his win at Cordell Hull but also qualified on points by the end of the year. In the four events he fished he made the top 50 each time (32nd at Toledo Bend, 23rd at Santee-Cooper, 1st at Cordell Hull and 38th at Bull Shoals) garnering enough points to finish 21st in the 1976 AOY standings. He went on to fish two events in 1977 and placed 3rd at Toledo Bend and 76th at Greer’s Ferry, AR. He never fished a tournament after that. In all, he fished seven events, including Classic VI and finished in the top 50 in six of them. It’s too bad he didn’t continue – it’s possible he could have become another household name on the Trail.

The second-place angler for the Cordell Hull event was none other than Rick Clunn. Clunn was by all intents and purposes on the best fish, but the water temperature hampered their activity. He weighed in 9 fish the first day for 17-05 and lost three fish he estimated were over 5 pounds each. What was he using? A Lunker Lure buzzbait.

The tournament favorite, Billy Westmoreland weighed in 14 fish for 22-02, good enough for 3rd place and 1975 Bassmaster Classic winner Jack Hains took 4th place with 20-2 (12 fish). Rounding out the top 5 was Bill Wooten with 19-07 (10 fish). For you West Coast trivia freaks, Dave Gliebe took 6th place with 10 bass for 17-09. It was Gliebe’s first year on the Bassmaster Trail.

Big fish honors went to Bill Wooten with a 5-04 largemouth.

I’ve talked with Clunn about this event and his discovery of the Lunker Lure on a few occasions.

Clunn had recently fished an event in Illinois. Prior to that event he’d gone into a local tackle store and saw the Lunker Lure and picked a couple up. He threw the bait in Illinois but didn’t have any success on it.

After that event he headed for Cordell Hull and on his third day of practice, tied it on. He caught two fish in short order. Towards the end of the first day, Clunn caught two five-pound class fish on consecutive casts with his newfound bait. On the next cast, he threw the bait off and had to head back to weigh in. He was leading the event.

The next day he continued with the Lunker Lure. Every fish he weighed in that day came on the buzzer. Unfortunately, at the end of the day he again cast the lure off. He was out of buzz baits.

Clunn’s problem was he was throwing the bait on light line. It didn’t take him long to figure out his mistake and in 1977 would go on a tear with the Harkin’s Lunker Lure.

The top 50 of the event and top 35 for AOY are presented in the tables below.

Bass Master Tennessee Invitational Cordell Hull Lake Scorecard – July 21-23, 1976
Place
Angler, State
Points
Weight, lbs-ozs
1
Wade Reed, LA
50
23-13
2
Rick Clunn, TX
49
23-01
3
Billy Westmorland, TN
48
22-02
4
Jack Hains, LA
47
22-02
5
Bill Wooten, TN
46
19-07
6
Dave Gliebe, CA
45
17-09
7
Charlie Campbell, MO
44
16-08
8
Dick Busby, VA
43
15-15
9
Roger Moore, MO
42
15-14
10
James Bryant, AL
41
15-11
11
Frank Drose, SC
40
15-08
12
Johnny Morris, MO
39
15-08
13
Jim McKay, MS
38
15-03
14
Jerry Rhyne, NC
37
15-01
15
Roland Martin, OK
36
14-10
16
Woo Daves, VA
35
14-09
17
John Rawlings, IN
34
14-09
18
Greg Ward, MO
33
14-00
19
William Law, TN
32
13-11
20
Rayo Breckenridge, AR
31
13-05
21
Doug Odom, SC
30
13-00
22
Paul Chamblee, NC
29
12-14
23
Basil Bacon, MO
28
12-10
24
R Price Nimmo, TN
27
12-06
25
Jack Chancellor, AL
26
12-04
26
Stuart Howard, TN
25
12-03
27
James Bryce, TX
24
11-10
28
Dudley King, TN
23
11-09
29
Charles Stewart, AR
22
11-06
30
Al Lindner, MN
21
11-05
31
Cliff Craft, GA
20
11-01
32
Jim Auston, TN
19
11-00
33
Ricky Green, AR
18
10-07
34
Harvey Mastin, TN
17
10-06
35
Roger Brown, TN
16
10-05
36
Larry Brown, TN
15
10-03
37
Joe Pryor, NC
14
10-00
38
Jimmy Houston, OK
13
9-14
39
Paul Varnadoe, GA
12
9-12
40
J D Skinner, AL
11
9-11
41
Danny McCain, LA
10
9-10
42
Wayne McKinney, VA
9
9-09
43
Tyrone Poynter, TN
8
9-07
44
Manuel Spencer, FL
7
9-06
45
Jim Goforth, VA
6
9-00
46
Joe Landwerlan, IN
5
8-15
47
Marvin Baker, TX
4
8-14
48
Willard Moore, LA
3
8-13
49
Al Dunning, MO
2
8-12
50
Kenneth Hattaway, GA
1
8-11
1976 Bass Master Top-35 Angler of the Year Race After Five Events
Place
Angler, State
Points
1
Roger Moore, MO
168
2
Jimmy Houston, OK
161
3
Bill Dance, TN
148
4
Billy Westmorland, TN
135
5
Tommy Martin, TX
134
6
Jack Hains, LA
129
7
Bill Ward, MO
127
8
Doug Odom, SC
121
9
Ricky Green, AR
119
10
Bo Dowden, LA
114
11
Jerry Rhyne, NC
110
12
Rayo Breckenridge AR
109
13
Gary Wade, NC
102
14
Wade Reed, LA
97
15
Jack Chancellor, AL
96
16
Don Mann, AL
95
17
Lloyd McEntire, IN
92
18
Rick Clunn, TX
91
19
Woo Daves, VA
90
20
Bobby Wilson, SC
89
21
Jim McKay, MS
88
22
Charlie Campbell, MO
86
23
James Bryce, TN
86
24
Roland Martin, OK
84
25
Willard Moore, LA
84
26
John Powell, AL
81
27
Greg Ward, MO
80
28
Manuel Spencer, FL
78
29
Al Lindner, MN
77
30
Paul Chamblee, NC
73
31
Johnny Morris, MO
70
32
Glin Wells, TN
67
33
Dave Hilton, TN
64
34
Marvin Baker, TX
62
35
Billy Primos, MS
61

 

Bull Shoals – Local Garlough Wins

Bull Shoals, the clear-water Arkansas/Missouri impoundment, was going to be won by fishing deep – at least that’s what everyone thought prior to the event. Bill Dance felt so strongly about that he dedicated his entire practice fishing deep water – and he did catch them.

But again, the bass didn’t get the word to move deep and those who committed to the abyss paid dearly for not adjusting.

Local guide and Federation angler Rick Garlough knew what the fish were feeding on and parlayed that knowledge into his first and only Bassmaster win. He buzzed a 1/4-ounce spinnerbait to catch 21 bass over the course of three days for 32-09.

Basil Bacon, who was a Bass Cat Boats promotional representative at the time, weighed in the event’s biggest sack on the second day when he brought 19-12 to the scales. He was in 1st place by over four pounds but couldn’t make the fish eat the final round. And ended up in second with 16 fish for 29-14.

Rick Garlough discusses his win at Bull Shoals as Ray Scott presents his trophy. Photo February 1977 issue of Bassmaster Magazine.

Third-place honors went to Max Atkinson (AR) with 20 fish that weighed 29-02 and Tony D’Ambrose (AR) took 4th place with 24-02 (12 fish). Jack Hains again made the top 5 with 23-06 (13 fish).

Four of the top-5 finishers caught their fish shallow on spinnerbaits, while the other top-5 angler also caught his fish shallow on a crank. So much for the deep bite. Dan Ray (AR) caught the big fish of the event at 8-03.

The Bull Shoals event would mark the fourth event where a rookie won in 1976. Technically, Wade Reed, who won the Cordell Hull event could be considered a rookie, since he’d only fished one other event, Toledo Bend, earlier in the year. I believe this would be a first to happen on the Bassmaster Trail.

The top-50 for the Bull Shoals event is presented below.

Bass Master All-American Bull Shoals Reservoir Scorecard – September 22-24, 1976
Place
Angler, State
Points
Weight, lbs-ozs
1
Rick Garlough, AR
50
32-09
2
Basil Bacon, MO
49
29-14
3
Max Atkinson, AR
48
29-02
4
Tony Dambrose, AR
47
24-02
5
Jack Hains, LA
46
23-06
6
Johnny Morris, MO
45
23-05
7
Dean Beth, MO
44
22-08
8
Greg Ward, MO
43
22-00
9
Charlie Campbell, MO
42
21-12
10
Rick Clunn, TX
41
18-14
11
Steve Monte, AR
40
17-04
12
Dwight Rose, AR
39
17-00
13
Gary Wilson, AR
38
16-11
14
Dee Thomas, CA
37
16-05
15
Jim Nolan, AR
36
16-01
16
Gary Wade, NC
35
15-15
17
Willard Moore, LA
34
15-11
18
Doug Odom, SC
33
15-10
19
Robert Martin, MO
32
15-04
20
Jimmy Houston, OK
31
15-03
21
Dave Gliebe, CA
30
14-00
22
Doug Brown, MO
29
13-08
23
Dan Muckler, MO
28
13-08
24
Jerry McCutchen, MO
27
12-14
25
Lloyd McEntire, IN
26
12-14
26
Dan Ray, AR
25
12-12
27
Paul Chamblee. NC
24
12-10
28
Ricky Green, AR
23
12-07
29
Bill Norman, AR
22
12-05
30
Marvin Baker, TX
21
12-04
31
Bud Schneider, AR
20
12-04
32
Jackie Criger, MO
19
11-10
33
Jack Chancellor, AL
18
11-07
34
Don Mann, AL
17
11-05
35
Bo Dowden, LA
16
11-03
36
Bill Ward, MO
15
11-00
37
Manuel Spencer, FL
14
10-15
38
Wade Reed, LA
13
10-13
39
Wallace Lea, MO
12
10-12
40
Woo Daves, VA
11
10-11
41
Cliff Craft, GA
10
10-08
42
Jim Fudoli, AR
9
10-08
43
Harold Estes, AR
8
10-06
44
William Melvin, IL
7
10-06
45
Wedell Riddle, IN
6
10-05
46
Dick Busby, VA
5
10-01
47
H J Stevens, AR
4
9-15
48
Larry Crisp, MO
3
9-14
49
Roland Martin, OK
2
9-14
50
Harold Allen, TX
1
9-13

Angler of the Year

Being the last event of the season, a lot was riding on who would finish where in the AOY standings. It had been a battle all year between Missouri’s Roger Moore and Oklahoma’s Jimmy Houston – each vying for their first end-of-year trophy. When it was all said and done, it was Houston who would capture the title – in his second year of full-time tournament fishing. For the second straight year, Jack Hains wound up second and Moore slipped to the third spot.

The Classic Qualifiers

The list of Classic qualifiers was a stout list of anglers, many who were multi-time Classic contenders. Here’s a list of multi-Classic Qualifiers:

5-Time Qualifiers

  • Bill Dance
  • Ricky Green
  • Billy Westmorland
  • Johnny Morris

4-Time Qualifier

  • Rayo Breckenridge

3-Time Qualifiers

  • Roger Moore
  • Tommy Martin
  • Rick Clunn
  • Bo Dowden
  • Paul Chamblee

2-Time Qualifiers

  • Jimmy Houston
  • Jack Hains
  • Bill Ward
  • Charlie Campbell
  • Greg Ward
  • Lloyd McEntire
  • Don Mann

Classic VI was also filled with several rookies, some of which would become house-hold names within a few years. The rookies were: Doug Odom, Gary Wade, Willard Moore, Jack Chancellor, Wade Reed, Jerry Rhyne and Basil Bacon.

As for those who missed qualifying for the Classic, the list held some big names at the time. For starters, Roland Martin missed his first Classic since its inception. He finished the year, according to the official B.A.S.S. AOY standings, with 117 points (I calculate he had 116). He attributed his poor performance to starting his TV show, Fishing with Roland Martin and not having the time to concentrate on tournament angling.

Tom Mann was another angler who missed his first Classic since Classic I and four-time Classic contenders John Powell and Glin Wells missed qualifying.

There was a lot of questions with respect to the final AOY standings based on the data given and what I could calculate from the original standings. For example, I had Johnny Morris with a total of 116 points plus 30 extra points for fishing every event – a total of 146. In the AOY standings B.A.S.S. listed him with 130 points plus 30 for a total of 160. This wouldn’t have taken him out of the Classic but would have dropped him from 13th to around 18th.

Other discrepancies I found were Lloyd McEntire, Willard Moore, Don Mann, Rayo Breckenridge, Jerry Rhyne, Basil Bacon and Paul Chamblee. Again, none of the discrepancies would have resulted in a different list of Classic qualifiers but I’m a numbers guy and little things like this bother me.

The final top-35 B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year standings are presented in the table below. The Classic cutoff for 1976 was 24 anglers. Numbers is parenthesis next to an angler’s name represent the number of tournaments they fished in 1976.
Place
Angler, State
Points
1
Jimmy Houston, OK (6)
222
2
Jack Hains, LA (6)
205
3
Roger Moore, MO (6)
198
4
Bill Dance, TN (6)
178
5
Doug Odom, SC (4)
174
6
Ricky Green, AR (6)
172
7
Bill Ward, MO (6)
172
8
Tommy Martin, TX (6)
164
9
Rick Clunn, TX (6)
162
10
Gary Wade, NC (5)
162
11
Bo Dowden, LA (6)
161
12
Billy Westmorland, TN (5)
161
13
Johnny Morris, MO (6)
160
14
Charlie Campbell, MO (5)
153
15
Greg Ward, MO (6)
153
16
Lloyd McEntire, IN (6)
150
17
Willard Moore, LA (6)
149
18
Jack Chancellor, AL (6)
144
19
Don Mann, AL (6)
144
20
Rayo Breckenridge, AR (6)
139
21
Wade Reed, LA (4)
130
22
Jerry Rhyne, NC (4)
130
23
Basil Bacon, MO (5)
124
24
Paul Chamblee, NC (5)
122
25
Woo Daves, VA (4)
121
26
Roland Martin, OK (6)
117
27
Manuel Spencer, FL (5)
117
28
James Bryce, TN (6)
116
29
Jim McKay, MS (5)
113
30
Marvin Baker, TX (6)
112
31
John Powell, AL (6)
111
32
Bobby Wilson, SC (4)
109
33
Dave Gliebe, CA (4)
100
34
Al Lindner, MN (4)
97
35
Glin Wells, TN (6)
97

The next installment of the 1976 Season at a Glance we’ll talk about the 1976 B.A.S.S. Federation Championship followed by a look at the 1976 Classic contenders. To read Part One, please click here.