Williams enjoyed success on all levels , including wins at the BFL and Series levels .
Williams embraces his wife of 53 years , Gracie , and expresses his thanks for her “ unwavering support ” through the years .
Williams had no idea that he was embarking on a journey that would see him become the first African American to qualify for the Bassmaster Classic in 1983 and , in September 2024 , the first African American to be inducted into the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame .
Navigating an uncertain landscape
In March of 1970 , Williams returned from a tour of duty in Vietnam . After three long years in the military without touching a rod , he immediately hopped on a boat to go crappie fishing with a friend and felt the excitement course through his veins as his love for the sport came rushing back .
That was it for Williams . He bought a little boat with a 50-horsepower outboard and spent the next three years bass fishing every chance he could get . In 1973 , he strolled into a Woolco department store and bought a Raycraft bass boat for $ 529 .
“ I couldn ’ t get that boat on the water fast enough ,” Williams said . “ I brought it back home , took the motor off the little runabout boat I had and put it on the bass boat . We picked the boat up from Woolco at 9 a . m . and were out on Ross Barnett Reservoir by 2 p . m . that afternoon .”
Williams fished his first local bass tournament in 1975 , during the beginning of the post-Civil Rights Movement era . Although racial desegregation had been mandated by federal law and court rulings in the 1950s and ‘ 60s , the process of integration was extremely slow and , in many cases , painful . Barriers between races continued to exist across the South , especially in Jackson .
“ I went into a store and saw an application for the Have a Heart Bass
PHOTO BY JEFF SCHROEDER
Williams shows off his trophy after winning $ 20,000 cash and a new Ranger 519VS Comanche bass boat in 2003 as the winner of the FLW EverStart Series Central Division season opener on Sam Rayburn Reservoir .
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2024 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM 39