THE TIME WAS in the 1960s, the golden years of outdoor magazines like Field & Stream, Outdoor Life and Sports Afield. “The Big Three” ruled the newsstands and magazine racks. The odds were stacked against a lowly start-up publication like Bassmaster Magazine surviving in the dog-eat-dog world of publishing. But, we did it! You are holding the 500th issue, a collector’s treasure.
The backstory of how Bassmaster became known as “The Bible Of Bass Fishing” is almost as biblical as the story of David defeating the giant Goliath. By late 1968 Ray Scott’s fledgling Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S.) emblem was being worn by over 2,000 card-carrying members. The Society was on the march, but Ray needed help to keep up the pace.
“I had too many oars in the pond,” admitted Scott. “Just the B.A.S.S. tournaments were a time-consuming task.
