American Bass Anglers/MBAA Championship  

 “Weekend Warriors” Marching

Toward Military Bass Title  

 Ray Scott, “Mr. Bass,” Will Be Guest Speaker for Lake Murray National Championship  

LAKE MURRAY, South Carolina – (August 25, 2000) – Suffice to label them as “weekend warriors.”  They march to a different tournament drumbeat – the members of the Military Bass Anglers Association (MBAA).

“If you’re a professional fisherman or a guide, our tournament trail is off-limits.  Our tournament format is setup for the weekend, the recreational bass angler,” explains Morris Sheehan, president of the American Bass Angler/MBAA organization based in Athens, Alabama.

Celebrating its 25^th anniversary, the MBAA’s National Championship is scheduled for September 13-15 on bass-rich Lake Murray, South Carolina near Columbia.  The event will be the deciding tournament in the American Bass Angler-of-the-Year race.

“Our tournament trail and organization is growing in popularity with 29 states and 53 districts involved,” said Sheehan, who will extend invitations to over 500 fishermen to compete in the championship.

A former MBAA Angler-of-the-Year himself in 1997, Sheehan purchased the organization and set out to ramp up the tournament format and membership, now with over 24,000 anglers.

Started as a free-time, extra-curricular activity on a U. S. Army military base in 1975, the MBAA is the “largest tournament trail in the U.S.” claims Sheehan with 305 events scheduled over the 2000 season.

Most are one-day tournaments.  Anglers are paired with another contestant by a draw.  Scoring for the Angler-of-the-Year race is based on four, one-day events, a two-day district fish-off and the national championship.

“Our Angler-of-the-Year race will go right down to the final weigh-in at Lake Murray, “opines Sheehan, who will name the overall point champion at a special Awards Night banquet on Friday, September 15.

Special guest speaker for the MBAA Championship Awards will be Ray Scott, founder of the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S.), and the man credited with turning bass fishing into a big time professional sport.

“We’re excited about having Ray Scott as our special speaker.  He’s the hero of a lot of these want-a-bees who never-will-be pros.  But, these fishermen are the life blood of the fishing industry, the anglers who support the sport,” said Sheehan.

Ray Scott of Pintlala, Alabama organized the first major bass tournament – the All-American Invitational – at Beaver Lake, Arkansas in 1967.  His B.A.S.S. organization grew to over 650,000 members worldwide.  Scott, in 1998, left to form Ray Scott Outdoors™, a marketing-consulting firm for the fishing-marine industry.  Scott is national spokesman for Triton Boats, Mercury Outboards, MotorGuide trolling motors and SOSPENDERS, the inflatable life vest manufactured by Sporting Lives. 

Scott will appear at the MBAA Championship as a guest of Triton Boats of Ashland City, Tennessee.  Triton is the tournament’s official sponsor and will present two fully rigged Triton boats at the awards banquet, set for 6 p.m. at the National Guard Armory in Newberry, South Carolina.

Tournament weigh-ins will begin at 3 p.m., September 13-15, 2000 at the P & L Landing, 1858 Holland Landing Road, Prosperity, SC  29127.  David Hagood of Athens, Alabama is the tournament weighmaster.  Morris, who retired from military duty in 1986, serves as president of the American Bass Angler/MBAA and can be reached at The Boat House, 901 Southeast Jefferson Street, Athens, AL  35611.  He is, also, manager of the marine dealership.  

“These weekend club fishermen are the grassroots guys of the future of bass fishing,” adds Ray Scott.  “Because of their duties to job and family, not many will make it onto the national bass fishing stage, but they’re some that will.  They’re the guys and gals that share the dream, much like my hopes over 33-years ago at Beaver Lake.”

Scott said, “Bass fishing is one sport where everyone starts the tournament equal.  It’s you against the bass.  But, somewhere out there in an MBAA tournament there is a future world champion.  I’d bet my cowboy hat on it.”

Scott’s belief is not without a legacy.  Davy Hite of Prosperity and the 1999 BASS Masters Classic world champion got his tournament start by fishing MBAA tournaments as a member of the South Carolina National Guard.