There was a time when tournament casters were celebrities. Eddie Wood was just such a caster, casting from one end of the country to the other. Here he is covered by the Aiken (South Carolina) Standard and Review for April 18, 1955. A National Champion in multiple events, he had a long and successful demonstration career.
Eddie Wood will appear at the Holley Hardware company here on Friday, April 15, at 3 p. m through the courtesy of B. F. Gladdjng company, leading manufacturer of fishing lines and Orchard Industries, Inc., leading manufacturer of fishing rods, who are sponsoring a nation-wide educational program for anglers. Fishermen are invited to drop in and compare notes on their equipment and some of the many shortcuts to good casting which Wood will demonstrate in bait, fly and spinning.
Wood has been fortunate enough in the past to win several casting championships, including the National Professional and Dry Fly championship; the National Professional All Around Flv championship; a member of the All-American Casting Team, as well as winning Southern All Around Casting championships, Mid-West championships and others.
He has fished in all sections of the country, as well as Canada and Mexico, and every summer spends several months in Canada on canoe trips back in the brush. He has done exhibition casting in all the leading sportsmen shows around the country, including New York, Chicago, Dallas, Minneapolis, etc. and will be glad to answer any questions on spinning, fly or bait casting and the, use of the equipment in fishing.
Several valuable prizes will be given away after this demonstration. Be sure and register at Holey Hardware company before Friday, April 15. Registrants will not have to be present to win.
-- Dr. Todd
Were there any photos in that article? I see a broken link at the top. Eddie was a cousin of my father's and the founder of "Ed Wood Bait" company initially in Wayne, MI and later in Elkhart, Indiana. I'm trying to nail him down to a specific family member now that I'm doing the family tree but the name Ed shows up many times in my family and dad wasn't sure how remote of a cousin Eddie was. (Dad was a kid when Eddie was doing the casting demonstrations at fishing trade shows)
ReplyDeleteI popped the $20 to a news archive site and found there are literally hundreds of similar articles, press release type stuff as well as some feature photos of Eddie! I still think he's the Edward George Wood (son of Theodore, brother to my ancestor Webster Abial Wood). Many folks collect the Ed Wood 'Crab Crawler' and 'Sun Spot Spoon' (the latter eventually sold to and produced by South Bend tackle) lures he manufactured out of Wayne. Come to find out there are also many rods made as 'Eddie Wood" special editions.
ReplyDeleteI may have to chase some of those down eventually!