Horatio Alger Award
Honors Ray Scott 

My greatest asset was poverty.  
I couldn't take chances. I couldn't afford
to mess up."
- Ray Scott,
Founder, Bass Anglers Sportsman Society

WASHINGTON, D.C. - He's been compared to Will Rogers and Sam Walton. Part showman. Part entrepreneur. But, one things for certain, Ray Scott's an all-American original. He's turned bass angling into fishing for a living.

With his own passion for bass fishing and the God-given gift for marketing, Scott in 1968 founded the world's largest fishing organization - B.A.S.S. (the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society) and created the biggest event in fishing, the BASS Masters Classic world championship of professional fishing.

On April 3-5, 2003, the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans will honor Ray Scott's accomplishments. The award recognizes that any American can overcome humble beginnings and adversity to achieve personal and professional success.

"Ray Scott and all the members of the Horatio Alger Association continue the tradition of proving that hard work, determination and positive thinking are the keys to success and achieving the American dream," concluded Walter Scott, Jr., president of the Horatio Alger Association.

Scott of Pintlala, Alabama will be one of 10 successful Americans honored this year by the prestigious organization during the 56th Annual Induction Ceremony here in the nation's capitol. Since 1947, the honor has been bestowed on 575 prominent members, including Secretary of State Colin Powell, Reverend Billy Graham, former U. S. Senator Robert J. Dole, boxing legend George Foreman, entrepreneur H. Wayne Huizenga and celebrity TV star Oprah Winfrey.

In Ray W. Scott, Jr.'s case, rarely has one individual had such an impact on an industry. Field & Stream magazine named Scott as "one of the twenty most influential outdoor Americans of the 20th Century." He was given a place of honor alongside Theodore Roosevelt and Rachel Carson.

Over three decades (1967-1998), Scott transformed bass fishing from a sleepy weekend recreation into what is today a multi-billion dollar industry; built a worldwide organization of over 600,000 B.A.S.S. members; formed anglers into bass clubs and organized a conservation and political force to protect the environment and further the sport of bass fishing.

The oldest of three children born in 1933 to Ray W. Scott, Sr. and Mattie Scott, Ray Jr. was raised in Montgomery, Alabama during the Great Depression era. Originally, the Scott clan had been cattle farmers in Kentucky, but in 1923 the Scotts fell on difficult times when an outbreak of hoof and mouth disease forced the government to destroy the herd.

The family moved to Alabama, where they found work on a dairy farm. When Ray Scott was one year old, his parents moved out of his grandmother's home into a small one bedroom, rented duplex. Three of Ray's Father's younger teenage brothers came to live with them when Scott was five-years old.

"There were seven of us in that one-bedroom apartment," recalls Ray Scott. "But, I don't remember feeling crowded. We were happy, and lived a good, wholesome life. There wasn't much extra money but everyone worked to make ends meet, but we did it together. We didn't have to look far for someone to play with."

Scott's father had an entrepreneurial spirit. Despite the Depression, he reasoned: "Nobody has any money. But, everybody has a nickel."

With that in mind, Ray Sr. started a pushcart ice cream business in 1933. For a nickel ice cream bar, he made a two-cent profit. Eventually, the business increased to 18 pushers and carts.

At an early age, Scott exhibited his father's entrepreneurial trait, starting a sandwich concession in his third-grade class. "I'd told my mother I was trying to gain weight, and she sent extra sandwiches in my lunch," said Scott, who profited a nickel a sandwich.

At age 14, Ray Scott decided he would some day become an insurance salesman. Jim Malloy, his Sunday school teacher, and an insurance agent, impressed the youthful Scott with his style and being a "real slick dude, a real go-getter."

Scott's career path followed one-year at Howard College in Birmingham, Alabama and a two-year hitch in the U. S. Army before enrolling on the G.I. Bill at Auburn University and a degree in business administration.

During his senior year, Proctor & Gamble recruited Scott, promising a car and a salary of $375 a month as a salesman in their food division. He'd been working three part-time jobs, and "I thought I'd never be able to spend that much money."

But, shortly before graduation, two insurance salesmen approached Scott. "I was impressed with their pitch and their policy," says Scott, "I told them I didn't want to buy, but I wanted to meet their boss. I believed I could make more money peddling insurance than a grocery salesman."

He signed on with Mutual of New York (MONY) and sold more than $1,000,000 of insurance his first 12 months. The turning point in Ray Scott's life came in 1961, when he met insurance guru Ralph Lindop and learned his sales philosophy, the "Cycle of Success."

Scott built on the sales presentation, which stressed honesty, service and full knowledge of the product, and the power of prospecting. Scott created his own "Wheel of Fortune" sales philosophy that became the basis for his success in building the B.A.S.S. empire and the Bassmaster Tournament Trail.

His first fish, caught on a family vacation to Panama City, Florida at age six, hooked Ray Scott for life. In high school he organized "The Bluegill Fishing Society," and charged 25 cents for membership.

Ray Scott's love for fishing and his natural born salesmanship would result in a super-successful relationship.

But, when he announced his idea for a big-time bass fishing tournament - the All-American Invitational in 1967 at Beaver Lake, Arkansas - his family and friends appeared dumbfounded. And, when he quit the insurance business, they wondered out loud if he'd gone off the deep end.

And, Ray Scott had his moments when he also wondered if he had done the right thing. On approaching the Chamber of Commerce at Springdale, Arkansas, where he intended to hold the tournament, doors where shut in his face.

"It was a tough sell," said Scott. "They were, apparently, afraid I'd take the fishermen's money and run."

But, Scott had impressed a local physician and one interested in promoting the development of Beaver Lake. Dr. Stanley Applegate wrote Scott a check for $2,500 with a stipulation: "If you make it," said Dr. Applegate, "You can pay me back. If you don't, just promise you'll never tell my wife."

But, Ray Scott didn't fail. "I started off with four names on a file card and built on it. The way I did with my 'Wheel of Fortune' in the insurance business." His referral technique resulted in 106 anglers from 13 states coming to Beaver Lake and paying $100 each to fish.

The next year in 1968, Scott launched the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society and signed up over 2,000 members. "Three years later we had 65,000 fishermen wearing the B.A.S.S. patch," said Scott.

But, Scott's vision for B.A.S.S. was more than a tournament organization. He pioneered the "Don't Kill Your Catch" philosophy and advent of the idea of "Catch and Release" tournament fishing so the bass populations would survive.

The "Bass Boss" championed the need for boating safety. He required contestants to wear life jackets in B.A.S.S. competitions and also required the use of a "kill-switch" to cut the boat's engine if the driver was thrown from the boat.

In 1968, Scott organized a program to start local bass clubs. They have grown to more than 3,000 Chapters nation wide. Battling water pollution with a "Peg A Polluter" campaign, he enlisted his bass clubs in the fight for improving the water quality in the nation's lakes and streams.

In 1981, Ray Scott detailed his success formula for his "Wheel of Fortune" in a book titled: "From A Fishing Hole to a Pot of Gold," his trek from humble beginnings to fame and fortune.

"My greatest asset was poverty," said Scott. "I couldn't take wild chances. I couldn't afford to mess up. I had to take it a step at a time."

With his induction into the Horatio Alger Association, Ray W. Scott, Jr.'s rags-to-riches success story will be truly recognized and the sport of bass fishing better fulfilled for his accomplishments and contributions.