Five men – among them a pioneer of professional fishing, a current champion angler, an industry leader and two veteran outdoors writers -- have been selected as the eighth class to be inducted into the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame on Feb. 16, before the kickoff of the 28th Bassmaster Classic.
They include early veteran BASS competitor John Powell of Montgomery, Alabama; modern day Classic champion Woo Daves of Spring Grove, Virginia; FLW fishing circuit innovator Irwin Jacobs of Minneapolis, Minnesota; prolific fishing writer Tim Tucker of Cross Creek, Florida, and writer/editor/photojournalist/broadcaster Steve Price of Benton, Louisiana were selected by Hall of Fame members from a long list of nominees.
Powell and Tucker will be inducted posthumously.
Induction ceremonies for The Class of 2010 will be Tuesday night, Feb. 16, at the Bassmaster Classic in Birmingham, Ala., in the Sheraton Civic Center Hotel. Five-time Bassmaster Angler of the Year and future hall of famer Kevin VanDam will be the keynote speaker at the banquet.
“We're thrilled to honor such a diverse class and highlight the outstanding accomplishments of these men,” said Sammy Lee, president of the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame. “This group has established themselves over the years on the water with rods and lures, with key decisions in the board room and to readers on the pages of magazines, newspapers and the Internet to help build our sport to what it is today.”
Tickets for the 2010 Hall of Fame induction banquet are $35 per person and $1,000 for a corporate table. They may be purchased through www.bassfishinghof.com or by calling 1-888-690-2277. The new inductees will join 35 other men and women honored for their contributions to the sport.
“Numerous people have made an impact over the years to help improve and grow the sport of bass fishing we love so dearly,” Lee said. “We applaud these men in the Class of 2010 and our previous honorees for their great innovations, strong dedication and intense passion.”
Nominations for induction are accepted and added to the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame master list, and then considered by the membership. Inductees must receive enough votes to be among the top five and ratified by the Board of Directors. Additional nominees above the top five vote recipients also may be considered by the board for inclusion or special honor.
Established in 1999, the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame, headquartered in Hot Springs, Ark., is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization. It‘s dedicated to promoting the sport of bass fishing through participants and fans and establishing a shrine to the men, women and companies who have supported and elevated this sport to anglers around the world.
