Explaining why they would not pay him for an endorsement, a major tackle company as recently as 1996 told Marshall he wasn't exactly Bill Dance. Fishing promotion is a classic game of economics. Crappie fishermen are more apt to fish from a flat-bottom aluminum boat with a cane pole for tackle and a bucket of minnows for bait. An expensive crappie lure is a 50-cent jig. Bass fishermen catch and release.
Crappie fishermen catch and eat.
The National Geographic Society published a book about Florida tournament pro Shaw Grigsby's insightful approach to bass fishing. When Marshall paid his way to a 1988 fishing tackle retailer's show in Las Vegas, nobody knew who he was. Manufacturers kept mistaking him for bass pro Woo Daves, who shares Marshall's bowling-ball physique. Joe Hall was one fishing-tackle manufacturer who immediately recognized Marshall's potential. Hall owns Blakemore Lures and saw in Marshall a unique talent.