Ray Scott, Hanging with the Godfather of Bass in Alabama

Alabama. Ray Scott is a big man. He has a big house, a big hat, he catches big bass. Above all he has a huge personality that is infectious. He is a man with a million stories of his long life and as many jokes, all of them funny. He has a big smile, the kind of smile that envelopes his whole body and compels you to smile with him. I spent two days with Ray earlier this week at his home in Alabama. He is the founder of the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S) and has championed the sport through his television programs, tournaments, magazines and books. He has also been a fierce defender of the environment, at one point suing over 200 companies for polluting Alabama waterways. His accomplishments are too big to list all of them here, but what impressed me most was his pride in taking me to the small town of Pintlala where he lives, to have a cup of coffee and a hot dog at Mosleys store.

The name Pintlala derives from the time when native Americans came here to buy a pint of “lala”, their name for fire water. Mosley’s is a gas station, coffee shop and grocery store, the center of this little crossroads that you might drive by without noticing that there was even a town at all. Ray introduced us as “good old boys from the north” asking them not to blame us for our “funny accents.” We all talked for an hour while on tornado watch as rain started to pelt the roof. Rushing in from the storm an old Cajun man appeared with a bag of freshly cooked shrimp, plopped it on the counter, said a quick hello “eat up” disappearing out the door. Ray said ” that happens all the time, this is the center of America.”  It takes a big man to appreciate the importance of small things.

It is not often that a little liberal Jew from Boston gets to hang out with a man like Ray, (let alone spend the night in a bed that George Bush had slept in at his home). Many in my crowd, as I might have had I not met him, would dismiss him as nothing more than the opposition, the other side of a polarized Country. Given the chance to talk honestly with each other I found that our similarities far out weighed our differences. Here is link to Ray Scott out doors, Inc. to find out more about this American legend and how you can visit the Ray Scott trophy Bass retreat. Also check out this link to Alabama Black Belt Adventures for an overview of all that this unique part of the Alabama has to offer.