In this photo taken on June 11, 2010, Ray Scott, right, talks with cousins Adrian, opposite, and Grant Upton and the other members of their fishing group at Scott's Trophy Bass Retreat in Montgomery, Ala. (AP Photo/John Zenor)
In this photo taken on June 11, 2010, Ray Scott, right, talks with cousins Adrian, opposite, and Grant Upton and the other members of their fishing group at Scott's Trophy Bass Retreat in Montgomery, Ala. (AP Photo/John Zenor)
First Lady Barbara Bush, center, holds a mounted large-mouth bass as she and fishing partner Ray Scott attempt to make the President think she caught the fish, Jan. 1, 1990, Pintlala, Ala. She and President Bush were in Pintlala on New Years Day for a bass fishing trip. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
First Lady Barbara Bush, center, holds a mounted large-mouth bass as she and fishing partner Ray Scott attempt to make the President think she caught the fish, Jan. 1, 1990, Pintlala, Ala. She and President Bush were in Pintlala on New Years Day for a bass fishing trip. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
President George Bush uses a one-handed casting method during a New Year's Day bass fishing trip to Pintlala, Ala., with angler Ray Scott, Jan. 2, 1990. Bush caught eight fish, Barbara Bush caught ten. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
President George Bush uses a one-handed casting method during a New Year's Day bass fishing trip to Pintlala, Ala., with angler Ray Scott, Jan. 2, 1990. Bush caught eight fish, Barbara Bush caught ten. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
Local bass fishing legend Ray Scott, who was a longtime friend of President George H.W. Bush, has died at 88.
The announcement was made by Bassmaster magazine, which says Scott died just before midnight Sunday night peacefully in his sleep of natural causes.
Scott founded the first national professional bass fishing circuit, the Bassmaster Tournament Trail, in 1967, and then the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society – B.A.S.S. – which would grow to become the world’s largest fishing organization.
President and Mrs. Bush would visit Scott to fish with him in Pintlala during their time in the White House. Scott first met Mr. Bush in 1980 when Bush ran against Reagan for president, before eventually becoming vice president.
Throughout his life, Scott received national recognition for his work in the outdoors and his promotion of bass fishing.
Alabama News Network profiled Scott in 2016 when he put his 200+ acre Legacy Lakes fishing compound in Montgomery County up for sale for $3.4 million. He told us about his longtime friendship with Mr. Bush, who wanted him to be his Alabama campaign chairman in his run for president. That led to other notable jobs with the Bush presidential campaign throughout the years.
“Good guy,” Scott said about the president. “I liked every bit of him. We clicked and I found out he liked to fish and that was natural for me and we could politic while we were visiting.”
The Bush family even had their own cabin at Legacy Lakes. When President Bush died, Scott remembered his friend.
Bassmaster magazine says funeral arrangements haven’t yet been made.
