Lifetime Achievement Award, Boating Hall of Fame, Pro Bass Fishing Hall of Fame, Horatio Alger Award, BASS Outstanding Achievement Award, Living Legends Award, Sport Fisherman of the Year, International Fishing Hall of Fame...

HOT SPRINGS, Arkansas – Not many men can lay claim to having discovered a new world, a new pathway or a new industry, but like Christopher Columbus, Lewis and Clark and Bill Gates – Montgomery, Alabama native Ray W. Scott, Jr., surely pioneered the path for the growth of professional bass fishing.

“Ray Scott is the godfather of modern-day bass fishing.  As the founder of the Bass Angler Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S.) in 1968, Ray has been the single biggest influence on the growth of bass fishing in the world over the past three decades,” says Bill Fletcher of the newly formed Professional Bass Fishing Hall of Fame.

Scott of Pintlala, Alabama and seven other bass fishing greats were honored at the Hot Springs Civic and Convention Center as inductees into the PBF Hall of Fame on May 26^th.  Professional fishermen Rick Clunn, Bill Dance, Roland Martin, Bobby Murray and Larry Nixon, along with bass boat builder Forrest Wood and outdoor writer Homer Circle were enshrined as charter members.

“The Professional Bass Fishing Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization founded for the purpose of recognizing and honoring bass anglers who have achieved excellence in their profession,” said Fletcher, president of the Board of Directors.

When the projected $20 million attraction is completed, the Hall of Fame not only will recognize the legends of pro bass angling as well as fishing industry leaders, but provide a library for bass fishing research, an educational museum, aquarium and theater.  A feasibility study predicts a five-year economic impact of $50.6 million for the Hot Springs area, and an annual attendance of over 150,000 visitors.

It was Ray Scott, who laid the foundation for such a bass fishing shrine, when he introduced the world to cast-for-cash bass competition in 1967.

An avid angler, the 34-year old Scott had a vision – a “brainstorm in a rainstorm” – while on a fishing trip to Jackson , Mississippi .  Chased off a local lake by bad weather, Scott watched a professional basketball game on television and fretted over the fact his favorite sport received little, if any, recognition by the sports world and press.

In June 1967, Scott’s vision took root in the All-American Invitational Bass Tournament on Beaver Lake , Arkansas .  With his salesmanship determination and way with words, Scott got 106 fishermen from 13 states to accept his invitation to compete and pay a $100 entry fee.  An ante – at the time – in big dollars.

Scott pulled the tournament off, while at the same time keeping his full-time job as an insurance executive in Montgomery .  With a leap of faith, Scott quit the company – moved two doors down the hallway – and plunged into the bass tournament business.

From his original four names on a 4 x 5 file card, Scott parlayed his “dream” of bass fishing into a worldwide Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S.) with a membership of over 600,000 anglers.

“Rarely has one individual had such an impact on an industry,” said master of ceremonies Sammy Lee in his introduction of Scott to a crowd of over 450 attending the inaugural ceremonies.

Field and Stream magazine named Ray Scott as “one of the 20 most influential outdoor Americans of the 20^th century,” a place of honor alongside Theodore Roosevelt, Rachel Carson and Aldo Leopold.

“Over three decades, Ray Scott transformed bass fishing from a sleepy weekend past time into a super-charged sport,” noted Lee of Birmingham, Alabama and a vice president of the PBFHOF Board.

“To his credit, Ray Scott launched the Bassmaster Tournament Trail, formed anglers into bass clubs and organized a conservation and political force to protect the environment and further bass fishing interests.  We’re honored to present Ray Scott as the first inductee enshrined in the Professional Bass Fishing Hall of Fame,” said Lee.

As the innovator of play-for-pay bass fishing, Scott wrote the “rules” for bass tournament competition.  For the most part, his first set of rules are the standards by which all bass tournaments are conducted today.

“If there’s one permanent legacy Ray Scott will leave to bass fishing, it surely is the ‘Don’t Kill Your Catch’ effort he started in 1972,” added Bill Fletcher.  “The Catch-and-

Release tournament program changed the future of bass fishing.  Today, most bass weighed-in during tournaments are released alive,” Fletcher said.

Never one to be far from the action, Scott is still active in the bass fishing arena.  Such as recently hosting the Eagles of Angling Senior Bass Tournament at his 55-acre lake near Pintlala to raise $132,000 for the Pintlala Elementary School Teacher’s Fund.

“His original idea of a fishing organization, dedicated to the black bass alone, has exploded into a major sport, pumping millions of dollars each year into the U.S. economy,” said Fletcher, “and making it possible for the bass angler’s dream to come true:  Fish for a Living.”

The Arkansas Legislature has funded $300,000 toward the project to hire an executive director and retain an architect to design the Hall of Fame.

“We’re guessing about four years, from now, before we have a building,” Fletcher said.  The temporary home of the PBF Hall of Fame will be the Mid-America Museum in Hot Springs .  The Hall of Fame directors have secured a 25-acre site on the south side of Lake Catherine just below Carpenter Dam, according to Bill Fletcher.

For a supporting membership application, contact:  Professional Bass Fishing Hall of Fame, 928 Airport Road, Hot Springs National Park, AR  71913 or checkout their website at www.probassfishinghof.com.