Big O

article by Dan Chason

In 1994 I was on Toledo Bend Reservoir filming a fishing show for “Dan Chason Outdoors”.  Little did I know that this day would be one that I would remember for a very long time.  We had fished on the south end of the lake as I had a tournament coming up and knew that the jig bite should be on.  That year, the best grass was on the south end as winter high waters had destroyed my honey holes on the north end which was usually my favorite.  I was coming out of Housen Bay when I saw a Ranger boat that looked like it may have arrived on the Mayflower.  When I tell you it was original, she was original from the trolling motor to the outboard.  The wind was high and the water was rolling.  I could see someone from a distance trying to tie off to a tree and it was obvious the boat was not under power.  I pulled up closer and saw one occupant and he was in about the same shape as his boat.  He was every bit of 80 years old, lean and weathered, wearing the full old man coveralls topped with a orange deer hunting hat.  

I got close enough to him to ask if his boat was broken down and he replied that it was and thought he had gotten water in his gas. I asked him where he launched and he pointed across the lake and replied “at my camp.” So my cameraman and I threw him a line and about an hour and a half later, arrived at his camp.  We were all soaked to the skin from the waves so the elderly man invited us into the camp and dry off and get some warm coffee.  When I say camp, I’m talking a portable building that was no more than a one room bedroom/kitchen/bathroom.  When I walked in it was like walking into a shrine to bass fishing.  There were personal pictures of this man on the lake with the likes of Bill Dance, Roland Martin, Rayo Breckinridge, Bobby Murray, John Foxx, Ray Scott and even Forrest Woods.  I tried to compose myself as I knew these people and had idolized them for years as my fishing heroes.  

The elderly man introduced himself as Ocey Tenison.  I had never heard of Ocey Tenison but soon found out that he was one of the original fisherman of BASS and had guided professionally for years on Lake Ochechobee.  There were hundreds of photos and there were memories in scrapbooks that showed a life spent on the water and fishing against the best of the best.  One thing that caught my eye was a shadow box and I recognized the lure in it as a Big O crankbait.

The Big O was one of the first crankbaits ever invented made completely from balsa wood.  In 1973 Bass Master Classic Champion (2 times) Bobby Murray took the model and went plastic with it and introduced the lure to Cotton Cordell. Within 13 months it sold 1.3 million lures. This was unheard of at the time.  The inventor, Fred Young invented the lure and would hand carve and sign each one for the astronomic fee of $10 in those days.  The name came from his big brother, Otis who was a large man which landed the perfect name, Big O.  The lure today is still a staple with Cotton Cordell lures.

As I looked at this lure in the shadow box, I commented on the fact that my grandfather loved a Big O crankbait.  Mr. Ocey laughed and said, “Well it was probably one I carved.” I’m sure the look on my face made him explain further that prior to the Big O being sold to Cotton Cordell, the only way you could get one was if you knew Bobby Murray who got his lures from the inventor, Fred Young.  Sure enough Mr. Ocey (being friends and fishing against Bobby) landed his prize of one Big O hand carved crankbait.  Like many at the time, he took the lure and began to carve his own.  Mr. Ocey said that everyone called his a Big O as they looked identical.  Mr. Ocey told me “I called mine the Sweet O but basically it was the same bait.

  Big O’s were notorious for catching fish.  They were so notorious that Mr. Ocey would rent them out on Florida lakes for $25.  His biggest customer at the time was none other than Roland Martin.  Mr. Ocey said that he could carve enough of them to make a good side living and pay entry fees for tournaments.  After they went to Cotton Cordell and came out in plastic, folks starting buying the cheaper models but in all reality the original still can’t be beat.

  We said our goodbyes and every time I went to Toledo Bend, I would stop by and drink coffee with Mr. Ocey.  One day we came by and he asked me how long I was in town.  It was a two day tournament and he asked me to come by on Sunday before I left and I did.  Mr. Ocey walked in his camp, retrieved a box and laid a hand carved, hand painted Big O crankbait that he had made for me that weekend..  I asked him to sign it and thanked him for the gift.  That crankbait sits in a shadow box to this day and is one of my most prized possessions.  A piece of the past that I look back and remember my Pop hurling it cast after cast.  But most of all I remember a sweet old man who took the time to teach me the importance of friendship.

I was fishing Toledo Bend a few years later and went by to see Mr. Ocey.  There was a “For Sale” sign in the yard and a neighbor told me that he had passed away.  I was instantly sad and regretted not knowing so that I could at least pay my respects to him.  I’m sure today, many have forgotten him and many class fishermen who paved the road we now travel.  I’ll never forget Ocey Tenison as he put a mark on my heart that I’m reminded of every time I look at his incredible gift and the payback for my one gesture of kindness.