The Big Contest
It has been just about 100 years since Ans B. Decker and William Jamison conducted what many believe to be the first, formal bass fishing contest in June of 1910. It was billed as the “World's Championship Bass Fishing Contest.” The story of the events leading up to this contest, as well as the advertising war following it, have been well documented by researcher Jerry Martin in the June 2009 issue of the NFLCC Magazine. The two ads presented here give a good taste of the conflicting results in which both men claimed victory. It was great stuff for the sporting magazines of the day who were able to sell many ads to both parties countering the advertisements of the other. These two full page ads were laid out facing each other in the August 1910 issue of Field & Stream.
-- Bill Sonnett
