In today’s Throwback Thursday historical photo, we’re featuring one of the many BASS Masters Classic competitors that might have been lost to history, if it weren’t for Ray Scott placing writers with the competitors. These anglers may not have done well for a variety of reasons but the fact the writers were there, we sometimes get the story from behind the scenes.
Such is the case in today’s post, when in 1974, Carl Malz, managing editor at Fishing Facts magazine got paired with J.D. Skinner on the first day of competition in that year’s Classic. Below are some excerpts from Carl’s write-up that appeared in the magazine in February, 1975.
FIRST DAY COMPETITION
“My partner for the first day of actual competition was J. D. Skinner of Birmingham, Alabama. J. D. is a veteran of the tournament trail, but this was his first Classic. As the starting gun sounded, I held on to my hat and off we raced. It appeared that J. D. Skinner knew EXACTLY where he wanted to go. As I later found out, J.D. had discovered a good concentration of fish during the practice round. Enough fish, he estimated, to give him an excellent shot at first place honors in the tournament.
“J. D. Skinner headed directly for the area which had been good to him on practice day. He had found some bass lurking among isolated fallen trees and stumps way up on a large flat in 1½ to 2 ft. of water. Now these bass weren’t what you would call ‘hawgs’ by any means. But they were ‘big enough’ to pile up plenty of points and walk off with that first-place trophy. J. D. had selected areas where the fallen logs or brush piles were scattered widely, rather than a large concentration of timber.
“On practice day he had discovered one lone ‘straggler’ fish hiding near each of the scattered pieces of timber. His strategy was to go from fallen tree, to fallen bush, and pick up a fish or two on each of them. And I believe he would have, but for the events which followed.
“J. D. had picked up 4 bass (2 ‘keepers’ over 12 inches) which were hiding among the first two fallen trees he checked. Then it happened. We developed mechanical difficulties which prevented us from fishing correctly for the next few hours. J. D. was a bit ‘bothered’ and I don’t blame him. Tournament fishermen work hard to reach the Classic. You could be the best fisherman in the world, but mechanical problems can end the competition before it ever begins. Tom Mann, veteran tournament angler, ran into two days in a row of mechanical failures which almost eliminated him from the competition. Even so, he finished in 15th place.
“J. D. Skinner and I had to sit things out for several hours and by that time fishing success had fallen off for many of the pros. I felt sorry for J. D. because he felt he had a run at first place. As it turned out, he finished in 7th place in the tournament.”
If you’re a historian of the sport, the name J.D. Skinner might ring a bell with you. He fished 35 Bassmaster events between 1969 and 1981, with the 1974 season his first fulltime attempt. In those 35 events, Skinner placed in the top-10 eleven times and also had 18 top-20 finishes. In the 1974 AOY race, he placed 9th. He was also a veteran of the other tournament trails of the day that included American Bass Fisherman, Project Sports INC, and American Angler.
