When ICAST starts this week it will be my 37th tackle show.
Cotton Cordell, at Bobby Murray's insistence, pulled me out of the shipping department and took me to that first show in 1979 to work the Doll Tackle booth, a company Cordell had just acquired.
Naturally I was excited beyond words, even though I had never been to a show. Never worked in sales. The show was in Dallas, and I had never been to Texas, or very many places for that matter. But Murray, who had just won his second Bassmaster Classic the year before, thought I might make a salesman.
I was awestruck at seeing Dick Kotis of Arbogast, Tom Mann, Bill Norman, Jim Bagley and Ron Weber, who had talked Rapala into letting him distribute their lures in the U.S.
I worked the Doll Tackle booth by myself because everyone else was in the Cordell booth. My first day in the booth, the Sears buyers walked in and they had a very tall man with them who turned out to be Ted Williams. Since there were no cell phones I had to wait until that night to call my dad and tell him I had met Ted Williams.
It was also the year Shakespeare had introduced the Ugly Stick. The Lew’s rod and reel brand was also new. If you had a Speed Stick or a Speed Spool you were in “tall cotton,” as Bill Norman always said.
In the evenings I went out to eat with Cotton Cordell and Bobby Murray and one of our reps, Dennis Demo, who was Bill Dance’s team tournament partner. I basically shut my mouth and just listened to the stories and jokes. I remember Cotton would not buy alcohol for the reps or anyone else so they snuck around to have a drink.
Bill Humphreys of Louisiana also represented Cotton Cordell’s line, even though he owned the H&H Lure Company. He still owns his company by the way. Bill taught me how to eat oysters without having to have a cracker with them.
So many things have changed, but I still get excited to go to ICAST. Over time some changes have been good and some were bad.
The saddest part to me is none of these original lure pioneers except for Humphreys are still alive. Even the ones who sold their businesses have been forgotten, and their contributions are no longer recognized. It pains me to think all the younger fisherman don't even know these men existed. If they know them at all, it’s only as a brand name that might have been made up by some marketing agency.
So who are the heroes and legends now? It is the professional fishermen like Bill Dance, Jimmy Houston and Roland Martin. All of them are still promoting fishing and do a great job with their television shows. And it is also Rick Clunn, Kevin VanDam, Chris Lane and Aaron Martens that the younger guys look up to. That’s all great, but I hope at some point all the originals who started this business become more than a label on a lure card.
This past year my mentor and teacher Cotton Cordell passed away. How sad that the young guys today didn't get a chance to know him. I feel the same way about Bill Norman, Jim Bagley, Tom Mann, Jack Smithwick and so many others.
So I will go to ICAST this year excited to attend but with a touch of sadness that these true pioneers and innovators won’t be there. I wish all the young guys in the business would take some time to read and learn from the vast knowledge these man had.
Ultimately, my greatest wish is that the young guys and corporate types in this industry would have the same passion for the sport of fishing that drove these men to do what they did.
There are a bunch of very talented company executives and sales and marketing people in our industry, but I wish there were more fishing people.
What do I mean by “fishing people?” At my second or third ICAST show, a young man came into the Cotton Cordell booth saying he wanted to have his picture taken with Cotton. He had been in the other booths as well, getting pictures with the men whose lures bore their name. These were celebrities to him. That man’s name was Johnny Morris. It is no wonder a man who honored and revered these men also built the empire of Bass Pro Shops. That is what I mean by the term fishing people.
I believe I can say with confidence these early lure makers helped get tournament fishing off the ground as much as Ray Scott. I know Ray would agree because we have talked about that very thing.
So, as you go down the aisle at your favorite tackle store, look at the names on the package. Take a minute to feel grateful for what all these men did for the sport and for the many ways they made fishing so much more enjoyable and productive.
Editor’s note: Bobby Dennis is sales manager for Luck-E-Strike Lures and has held similar positions for Cotton Cordell Lures and Norman Lures over the years. On the eve of ICAST 2015, he reflects on his nearly four decades of participating in fishing tackle trade shows.