Driscoll Named to Legends of the Outdoors Hall of Fame

July 30, 2024

Driscoll Named to Legends of the Outdoors Hall of Fame

Phillip Gentry

 

On Saturday, August 17, The Legends of the Outdoors Hall of Fame will induct eight new members to its prestigious list of outdoorsmen and women who have helped influence and shape the Great Outdoors and the outdoor industry. According to Legends of The Outdoors Hall of Fame Founder, Garry Mason, this year’s roster of inductees has left a significant mark on the outdoor world.

“The Legends of the Outdoors Hall of Fame has been established to recognize those outdoor sportsmen and sportswomen who, through countless hours of hard work and devotion to the outdoors, in both hunting and fishing, have played an integral part in setting the standards and guidelines for the rest of the outdoor world to follow,” said Mason.

Included in this year’s list of new inductees is B’n’M pro-staff manager Kent Driscoll. Driscoll joins a growing list of the B’n’M family, including president Jack Wells, noted Reelfoot Lake guide Billy Blakely, Florida fishing guide Sam Heaton, and National Crappie Tournament Champion Ronnie Capps and Steve Coleman in receiving the honor.

Driscoll’s passion for crappie tournament fishing grew when he met long time fishing partner John Harrison.

Driscoll said being named to the list is a dream come true for him and shed some light on the path that led him to be nominated for the award.

“I guess it all started as a child,” said Driscoll. “I spent my summers staying with my grandparents in Oklahoma. My grandmother was a bill collector for the local electrical co-op and knew practically everyone in Osage County. More importantly, she had permission to fish from everyone who owned a farm pond in the area so we fished five days a week.”

Driscoll said even at the age of 10, crappie fishing was his favorite as his grandmother would ask him what he wanted to fish for and he also picked crappie.

“I loved cane pole, minnow fishing and my very first crappie pole was a B’n’M 10-foot, retractable cane pole,” he said. “I called it my boom stick because I could reach way out there into the pond and catch those crappie from every stick up and brushpile I could see.”

Driscoll said he became intrigued with spider rigging, which later led to his involvement with Jack Wells and the B’n’M Fishing family.

After high school, Driscoll attended college at Ole Miss, right in the heart of some of the best crappie fishing lakes in the country and spent as much time as he could between classes and studying fishing for crappie.

“After I graduated from Ole Miss, I moved to Jackson, Mississippi and met a neighbor who was a member of the Magnolia Crappie Club and I joined the club and began fishing local tournaments,” he said. “I became real interested in spider rigging which was a pretty new technique to crappie fishing at the time.”

In 2000, Driscoll’s job took him to Memphis, Tennessee where he met John Harrison. The two would become long-time tournament fishing partners and even better friends. Later in 2003, Driscoll met B’n’M President Jack Wells and embarked on a plan to create a pro staff to promote both the brand and the sport of crappie fishing.

“That has to be one of my proudest accomplishments,” said Driscoll. “To work with Jack and the whole B’n’M family and enlist anglers and sportsmen to help show not just what B’n’M fishing tackle can do, but how to do it.”

Driscoll said he is proud to be associated with a company that started out with brooms and mops, and then cane poles, to a prominent fishing tackle company known across the globe.

“B’n’M represents the four things that I have tried to build my career in the outdoor industry on,” said Driscoll. “Faith, family, great products and great customer service. It’s all about caring and hardwork and dedication.”

Introducing youngsters and helping other people learn to catch fish has been a passion for Driscoll.

He said as he became more entrenched in the outdoor industry, he also sought out other companies with the same core values, companies like Crappie Magnet, Cornfield Crappie Gear, Driftmaster Rod holders and War Eagle and Sea Ark Boats.

“I’ve been blessed to be associated with this industry and the people in it who treat it as a passion and not just a way to make a living,” he said. “To me these folks are more like family and I’ve done my best to help share my knowledge and my experience with everyone who was willing to listen.”

The Legends of The Outdoors Hall of Fame Induction ceremony will be held in Springfield, MO, at the John A. & Genny Morris Conservation Center on Saturday, August 17th. Doors will open at 9am and the event will start at 10:30. There will be a luncheon and entertainment included. Tickets are available. For more information visit legendsoftheoutdoors.com.

 

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