I bought my first Ranger bass boat in 1973. I was 20 years old and wanted a Ranger because my fishing idol, Blake Honeycutt, ran one. Blake was a legend in North Carolina where I grew up, and I styled my fishing after him. If he ran a Ranger, well, that was good enough for me.
I knew Rangers were great boats — beautiful, fast, stable — but I had no idea how special the company was or how much I would come to love the brand until three years later, in 1976, when I went to Flippin, Arkansas, to buy my second Ranger and to meet Forrest Wood.
I was still just a kid hoping to make a go of life at a new profession called “bass pro,” but Forrest Wood didn’t treat me like a kid with a crazy dream. The founder of Ranger was friendly and warm, humble and respectful. His boats were already becoming legendary. They were the official boat of the Bassmaster Classic beginning in 1972 and would be so for another 30 years after that. I needed a Ranger boat far more than Ranger could have needed me, but that’s not the way Forrest made me feel that day.
Not too long after that, Forrest invited me to join the Ranger pro staff, and when I started my TV show, I didn’t have to call him for support. He was so gracious that he called me and asked to be involved.
The stories of Forrest’s generosity and kindness are the stuff of legend, but a lot of people don’t realize what a terrific angler and competitor Forrest was. If he hadn’t been so focused on making great boats, he could have won Bassmaster Classics.
In 1979, Forrest won the B.A.S.S. New York Invitational on the St. Lawrence River. It was the first time anyone ever won a B.A.S.S. event with nothing but smallmouth bass.
A few months later, during practice for the Bassmaster Classic on Lake Texoma, I ran into Forrest in the Big Mineral Creek area of that fishery. He found the area before I did and had every right to be there and fish there once competition began, but he left it to me. I went on to win that Classic, and it jump-started my career.
If Forrest and I had shared that water, we would have both finished in the middle of the pack. Instead, I was able to grind out a hard-fought win, and I’ll never forget his kindness.
He was like that with everyone. If he saw you on the water and knew you were doing well or that you needed a break, he’d leave a productive area to you. It didn’t matter if you were running one of his Ranger boats or some competitor’s rig. He was just that thoughtful. I’m certain that it cost him some tournament trophies, but he was more interested in relationships than glory.
Forrest loved the competition and camaraderie of the tournament trail, but his real passion was Ranger Boats. That was something he could share with his wife and soul mate, Nina, and with far more fishermen than are entered in any bass tournament.
It’s easy to think that Forrest Wood was the right man at the right time and that he benefitted from coming along when he did, just as Ray Scott was building B.A.S.S. and as so many fishing pioneers were starting their journeys.
All that is true enough, but to know Forrest was to know that he was the right man in any time and any situation. His honesty, integrity, loyalty and fairness could never be out of style. What he and Nina built through Ranger Boats would happen again today because of the great qualities they brought to their business and to their relationships.
But I count myself lucky that it happened when and where it did, because it made it possible for me to meet and know and love this great man.
It hurts very much that he’s gone, but I am more grateful that he was here.
A final thanks to you, Forrest, for all you’ve done in a life well lived.
