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Article: Boat builder boosts bass fishing; Wood's firm helped fuel growth of tourneys.(SPORTS)
- Article from:
- Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
- Article date:
- June 26, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Star Tribune Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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All Forrest Wood wanted to do was build a boat.
Almost 30 years later, Wood is known as the father of the modern bass boat and a pioneer in bass-fishing tournaments.
Wood's namesake bass tournament, the Forrest Wood Open, began Wednesday on Lake Minnetonka. The $1 million tournament, the richest in sportfishing history, is part of the Wal-Mart FLW (Forrest L. Wood) Tour.
"I just kind of stumbled into it," said Wood, 65, the founder of the Ranger boat company. "It was just some people trying to get along. In 1968, our first year, we built six boats."
Little did he know that his dream to put a boat on the water would become an important ...