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John W. Anderson II
1923 - 2008
2006 Inductee
Soon after John W. Anderson II was born, his family moved from Pennsylvania to Michigan. And it was in a Michigan lake, on a bamboo fishing pole and a worm, that young Jack landed his first catch. That 4-½ pound smallmouth bass turned out to be the first of many trophies for a man who became well-known for his consummate big-game angling skill. In the early 1930s the Anderson clan moved to Bermuda, where Jack received a formalBritish education. Upon graduation he enrolled at Yale University, but less than a year later, in the summer of 1942, he left college to enlist in the U.S. Army Air Force. Jack Anderson distinguished himself during the war. Recruited from the ranks by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), he served in the European theater of operations in 1944 and 1945. He was released from the U.S. forces as a first lieutenant in September 1945 and returned to Yale, graduating in 1947. Anderson quickly put his degree in International Relations to use at the family's steel tubing firm, Bundy Corporation. Over the next 45 years he channeled the firm into a multinational force. While doing so he traveled to -- and fished -- all parts of the globe. Angling flourished after World War II and Jack Anderson was in the forefront of this growth. He was a regular in the Bahamas from 1947, where he often went bonefishing in the morning for the bait he would use to entice blue marlin in the afternoon. In 1978 and 1983, off Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, Anderson made two remarkable catches: a 1,318 lb black marlin landed in 57 minutes and a 1,307 lb fish taken in 47 minutes. Jack Anderson is one of only two anglers to accomplish such a feat. He's caught Atlantic blue marlin and bluefin tuna over 800 lb and Pacific blue marlin over 900 lb. In fact, Jack has made 10-to-1 catches of black marlin, blue marlin, striped marlin and Pacific sailfish, something that few anglers achieve with even a single species. Jack’s father, Wendell Anderson Sr., possessed a love of sport fishing and of scientific inquiry, and he satisfied both passions by funding two marine expeditions for Yale University’s Bingham Oceanographic Laboratory and Peabody Museum. The first, in 1948, traveled to New Zealand; the second, five years later, explored Ecuador and Peru. Jack shared his father’s interests. With his knowledgeable, scientific approach to big-game angling and fascination with marine life and the world’s oceans, Jack was a naturalparticipant in the expeditions. Also present were ichthyologists, oceanographers, technicians and other qualified personnel, including the Andersons’ fishing captain Bill Fagen, all of whom spent several months fishing and collecting specimens in these exotic locales. The 1948 New Zealand trip was a coming home of sorts for Jack’s father, who had first visited the Bay of Islands and sampled its splendid striped marlin fishing as early as 1937. In 1956, Jack Anderson fished the first of five International Tuna Cup Matches in Wedgeport, Nova Scotia. Selected for the United States Tuna Team by event organizer Kip Farrington, Jack was part of the winning US team in 1965. He served as captain in 1966, and though the U.S. placed third that year Anderson captured, after a lengthy battle, the first tuna ever taken by an American team captain. Limited to five years of fishing by ITCM tournament rules, he continued his association with the Match until 1975, on the Board of Directors and as Chairman of the Match Committee. Jack Anderson has been an IGFA Trustee for 30 years, a Vice Chairman for 20. He served alongside Elwood Harry, Bill Carpenter, and Mike Lerner. In the mid-1990s he became Chairmanof the Campaign Cabinet created for the newly-proposed IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame & Museum. As such he provided invaluable guidance and played an extremely pivotal role in fundraising, design decisions and, ultimately, in making the 60-year dream of a permanent home for the International Game Fish Association a reality. For his masterful angling accomplishments and his immeasurable contributions to this organization, IGFA takes great pleasure in honoring Jack Anderson.

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C. Alma Baker
1857 - 1941
2006 Inductee
Born in New Zealand in 1857, Charles Alma Baker spent much of his life in Malaya where he owned tin mines and rubber plantations. He had always enjoyed fishing on his British estate and Malaya’s Kinta River. But on a voyage from Sydney to London in 1919, Baker visited the Tuna Club on Catalina Island. He was captivated by the abundance of tuna, broadbill and marlin, and it was here he became a devotee of big-game fishing. Back in New Zealand, recreational angling was in its infancy, for it wasn’t until 1915 that the first striped marlin had been caught on rod and reel. Soon after World War I, however, anglers began spending time and money looking for the best fishing grounds. These early sportsmen caught fish the hard way, with long and delicate rods, small reels mounted below the rods, lines that broke at 60 pounds, and no fishing harnesses. C. Alma Baker was one of these pioneers, and his visit to the Bay of Islands in April 1923 changed New Zealand game fishing. Introducing Catalina techniques and a shorter rod with a top-mounted reel, Baker caught an impressive number of fish, and spoke enthusiastically to all about the tourism potential of this “regal sport”. The idea that the area could become a sportfishing mecca caught on quickly and the country’s Tourist and Publicity Department began working on promoting the opportunities. But more was needed. At the Tuna Club Baker had become friendly with Zane Grey. He knew Grey’s reputation, and also knew he was the perfect person to bring recognition to New Zealand. Grey was intrigued by Baker’s glowing accounts of this new fishing world, and by his invitation to visit. In January 1926 Grey arrived with a secretary, cameraman, and three truckloads of gear, planning to record his fishing experiences in writing and on film. By the end of the visit, Zane Grey and hi s captain Laurie Mitchell had left their mark, setting marlin records, introducing new techniques, and offending the locals with criticisms of their methods. Tales of the Angler’s Eldorado New Zealand was published later that year. Filled with Grey’s prose and exciting action photos, it immediately created the hoped-for influx of international fishermen to the area. For 20 years Baker fished on the launch Reliance with Capt. Stan Adamson. A month after his 80 th birthday, Baker finally realized his lifelong dream of catching a big fish when he landed an 850 lb black marlin, largest of the 1937 season and third heaviest ever caught at the Bay of Islands. Elated, Baker wrote a Rough Guide to New Zealand Big Game Fishing which was featured in the 1937 Hardy Brother s catalog. Filled with his achievements and theories about technique and tackle, it was the pinnacle of Baker’s angling career. In 1938 he privately reissued, in book form, his “rough guide for the uninitiated to these renowned fishing waters”. Fascinated by the design and manufacture of fishing tackle, Baker worked together with Hardy on a number of projects. His most significant contribution was the Alma, the first two-speed reel, which was launched in 1925 in a 4- ¾” size. Over the next few years additional sizes were added but the market for the reel remained small and specialized, and the last of 96 Alma reels was produced in 1936. C. Alma Baker was quiet and reserved. Though he was private about his achievements, he was truly proud of receiving the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) for raising funds to buy aircraft during the First World War. He also contributed to the World War II effort, personally financing six aircraft. And he was deeply dedicated to game fishing. Baker recognized the enormous potential of the sport and brought Zane Grey to New Zealand, generating international attention and creating a new tourist industry. He was a vice president of the Bay of Islands Swordfish and Mako Shark Club and a life member of the Tuna Club. His Rough Guide remains highly sought-after, and his two-speed Alma reel continues to be prized by collectors. For these lasting contributions to recreational angling, Charles Alma Baker is celebrated.

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Henry Chee
1910 – 1965
2008 Inductee

Henry Chee began carrying anglers to sea in the 1930s.  He was one of two skippers in Kona during the early days of the sport, when conditions were primitive and tackle a handicap.  Caring for linen line was a full-time job, and communication between boat and shore was by carrier pigeon.  Marlin fishing required supreme effort and sacrifice.  But catching marlin in Hawaii is what Henry Chee did, and he did it better than anyone.

Born in Honolulu in 1910, Henry and his wife Ellen moved to Kona in 1931, where he was hired by Charles Finlayson for his sportfishing business and soon began running the Malia.  The venture thrived until the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.  Recreational angling came to a standstill, and Henry found himself operating tugboats in Honolulu Harbor for the Defense Department.

After the war he returned to Kona, which was becoming a popular big-game destination. In the 1942 book Pacific Game Fishing, Kip Farrington had sung the area’s praises, even recommending "two very good sport fishing cruisers, owned by Charley Finlayson."  By the mid-1950s Kona’s charter fleet had grown to seven boats and their skippers were known as the "Magnificent Seven."  Henry quickly established his pre-eminence, capturing nearly half the fleet’s total marlin catch year after year. He had several fish close to the grander mark, topped by Jack Whaling’s 1,095 lb All-Tackle Pacific blue marlin caught in 1964.  There was no doubt Henry Chee knew how to find big fish.  And that lure helped, too.

Plastic was new in 1949 and Henry was one of the first to experiment with it.  Intrigued when he came upon a screwdriver embedded in resin hardened in a jar, and using the family kitchen as his laboratory, Henry borrowed bar glasses for molds; inserted copper tubing, doll eyes and shell (for color and reflection); poured in fiberglass resin; boiled the glass on the stove; and removed the hardened blank. He turned it on a lathe and hand-cut the attack angle with a miter box -- all by eye so no two of his "straight runners" were exactly alike. Skirts were made from red inner tubes, fish skins and oilcloth tablecloths. Each lure was tested in the most scientific way:  if it caught fish, he kept it; if it didn’t, he didn’t.  Henry Chee had created the offshore trolling lure as we know it today.

Eventually his secret got out and copies began appearing, some taking on strange shapes and sizes. But the current models are nearly identical to Henry’s original, with straight-sides, center-pull, and flat-face bevel. While these “Chees” were attracting international attention, Henry was building upon his reputation.  The Honolulu Advertiser frequently ran photos of him with his anglers and their record catches.  Notable figures came to fish with Henry – Arthur Godfrey, Lucille Ball, Roy Rogers – but President Franklin Roosevelt missed his chance when he couldn’t be transferred from his warship to the Malia.

Henry Chee was a student of fishing his entire life.  He spent hours absorbing the knowledge of elderly Hawaiians.  He traveled daily to the best fishing spots, observing changes and collecting data.  He compared moon and tide information and made notes of currents and weather patterns.  His research on fish behavior enabled him to get more bites, and he was as effective with live bait as he was with lures, knowing precisely when to make a change.

Just one day after arriving in Kona in 1955, Peter Fithian met Henry. They became good friends, fished together often, and determined that a tournament was needed to bring international attention to the area.  In 1959 the first Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament was held.  Anglers from around the world participated and took local lures and techniques home.  Chee fished the first six tournaments, and the HIBT’s Henry Chee Award continues to honor his life and accomplishments.

Kindly and self-effacing, Henry was the most unassuming of Kona’s skippers.  In photos he is usually barefoot, in white t-shirt and rolled-up jeans. He raised orchids, took local Boy Scouts on outings, and worked tirelessly to get a marina for Kona’s captains. He was just 55 years old when he died from a stroke after hauling a 335 lb marlin onboard his beloved Malia.  It was an untimely passing of the man who developed marlin fishing on the Kona coast and taught everyone how to do it.  “Henry Chee always knew where he was going,” said Phil Parker, one of the "Magnificent Seven" skippers. “The rest of us were only guessing.”

The IGFA is honored to induct Captain Henry Chee into the Fishing Hall of Fame.

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Homer Circle
1914 –
2007 Inductee

No one knows bass better than Homer Circle.  He started fishing -- with an old bamboo pole and ripe mulberries – when he was 12 years old.  Though he fished mostly to bring food home, it was fun and bass were fascinating.  The more he learned about bass, the more he realized they weren’t easy to catch, and the more his obsession grew. 

After graduation in 1932, Circle began buying, stocking and selling fishing tackle in a sporting goods store.  The job couldn’t have been more perfect:  he learned about the companies and their products and met the best fishermen in town.  Eight years later the editor of the local Springfield, Ohio Daily News approached him about writing a daily sports column and a weekly fishing column.  Homer jumped at the chance and never forgot the editor’s advice on his first day:  “Write the words the way you talk so people can stroll through and [don’t] have to climb over big words.” 

Five years later, on a fishing trip to Michigan with his “child-bride” Gayle, Circle stopped at the James Heddon Sons Fishing Tackle Company.  He arrived with a plug he had made, the “Walnut Crab,” hoping for a sale.  Heddon didn’t buy the lure but they wisely hired Circle as vice president of advertising and public relations.  For 15 years Circle traveled the country testing Heddon products, attending trade shows, and learning the secrets of the top bass anglers.  He had a special aptitude for design and helped develop the first high-vibration-type lure that emitted a pulse. Fishermen began catching more bass with the “Sonic” lure than they ever dreamed possible, and it became the first lure to sell more than a million in a year. 

Homer possesses a natural storytelling ability.  He tells stories the way they really happen; his advice is uncomplicated yet masterful.  And so his return to writing was inevitable.  In 1964 he became Sports Afield’s Special Features Editor and in 1968 was named Angling Editor.  When Sports Afield ceased publication in 2002, Uncle Homer became the new bass columnist for Outdoor Life magazine. 

Circle’s knowledge and personality transferred easily to other mediums.  He was the host of three television shows (The Fisherman, Sports Afield and The Outdoorsman).  And when Glen Lau decided to making a documentary about bass in 1971, he asked Homer to be his fisherman.  Bigmouth appeared two years later and immediately was hailed as the most significant film ever produced about largemouth.  To this day, Circle insists he learned more about bass during the 14 months of filming than he had in 45 years of fishing.  The film was a turning point in Circle’s career, and he returned to bass fishing with a deeper understanding of his longtime adversary and concern for its survival.  When Lau began planning Bigmouth Forever in the mid-1990s, there was never any doubt that Homer would be in that film, too.

Homer Circle has given much to the sport of fishing and his accomplishments and awards – in journalism, fishing, and service to the industry – are numerous. 
A former Arkansas Game and Fish Commissioner, he is past president of the Outdoor Writers Association and recipient of all three of their prestigious awards.
He’s appeared in 50 films, authored seven books, is a member of three Halls of Fame, and the recipient of the American Sportfishing Association’s 1996 Lifetime Achievement Award.

But for Homer, more important than accolades is knowing that what he’s given his readers and viewers has deepened their outdoor enjoyment, taken them on wonderful journeys, and provided them with valuable information about the sport he loves.  He insists he’s the luckiest guy in the world because he got paid to fish and write about it, and his enthusiasm for both has never waned. 

Honest, compassionate, wise, caring and sincere, Uncle Homer is a welcome member of every fisherman’s family.  Ray Scott has said, “People trust Homer.   He gives it to you straight.”  And in the words of Glen Lau, “I don’t know a better human being.”

For dedicating more than 80 years of his life to bass, to fishing, and to sharing his wisdom with all of us, IGFA salutes everyone’s favorite uncle, Homer Circle.

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William G. "Bill" Dance
1940 -
2006 Inductee
For more than 30 years Bill Dance has been sharing his fishing knowledge with others. As a boy in Tennessee he was introduced to the joys of the sport by his grandfather. In the mid-1960s, Bill worked a regular job but dreamed of the fishing business, and his skills were already creating a sensation in local fishing circles. This dream became reality in 1967. When Ray Scott began searching for 100 top-notch anglers to participate in his first bass tournament, the name of one young fisherman -- Bill Dance -- kept popping up. Bill accepted Scott's invitation to fish the All-American Bass Invitational on Arkansas’ Beaver Lake, and within two minutes of lines in the water, Bill caught the first bass in the first-ever bass tournament. This was the dawning of professional bass fishing and Bill Dance’s dominance of the B.A.S.S. tournament trail. It was now possible to fish for a living and Bill made the most of it, setting records along the way. In the 14 years he fished the tour, he won 23 national titles. Of his 78 total B.A.S.S. entries, he finished in the money 64 times. In 1968 he won three B.A.S.S. events; in 1969 he won two. In 1970 he won three more, and the first of three B.A.S.S. “Angler of the Year” titles. The sport of bass fishing was less than a decade old but Bill Dance was already a legend, the personification of the word professional. In 1970 Bill quit his sales job and became a full-time pro (the first, along with John Powell). Tournaments were already having a profound influence on bass fishermen: anglers wanted to see their favorite pros, try out their techniques, and fish with their equipment and gear. Dance began working for plastic worm innovator Nick Creme, teaching seminars and entertaining vendors. The job even came with a company car. Clearly, sponsorship relationships between pros and tackle companies had been set in motion. In 1980 Bill Dance retired from the tournament circuit. He was just too busy. One thing keeping him busy was Bill Dance Outdoors, his television show launched in 1968. In the early days Dance was producing, shooting and editing the shows, lining up guests, doing promotional work, handling sponsor commitments and hundreds of outdoor shows a year, while fishing an increasing number of tournaments. But stressed or not, Bill was a natural on TV and Bill Dance Outdoors was an immediate success. Now in its 38 th year, carried on the Outdoor Life Network (OLN) since January 2004, the series has aired more than 2,000 shows, making Dance one of fishing’s most recognizable icons. With his love of the sport and his irrefutable skills, he is the perfect fishing buddy. Dressed in jeans, sneakers, polo shirt, and his trademark University of Tennessee baseball cap and sunglasses, Bill Dance is an idol to millions of anglers. Dance shares his expertise in additional ways: he's the author of seven books; his articles have appeared in most major outdoor magazines including Sports Afield,Field & Stream, Bassmasters and Outdoor Life; and he's a monthly columnist for Mid-South Hunting and Fishing News. He’s also produced more than 36 educational videos on a variety of fishing-related subjects, including three hilarious out-take or blooper shows. The recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the 1978 Congressional National Water Safety Award, Dance is an inductee in the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame (1986) and the Professional Bass Fishing Hall of Fame (2001). Described as off-beat, humble and charming, Bill is as good with people as he is with fish. He'll tell you that fishing has been his life, that it's afforded him the opportunity to meet the greatest people: other fishermen. He'll tell you that fishing is a spiritual thing that brings the people who do it closer together. And he'll also tell you that his biggest thrill was being present when all of his children caught their first fish. For his unprecedented achievements, his remarkable aptitude for education and entertainment, and for the passion and enthusiasm he continues to share as one of sport fishing’s most outstanding ambassadors, IGFA salutes Bill Dance.

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Roy B. Dean
1895 – 1990
2008 Inductee

On January 1, 1921, Dr. Roy B. Dean crossed the U.S. border into Mexico. He remained there 60 years, establishing a dental practice and becoming the first to specialize in orthodontics in Latin America.  Dean and his wife Dita Lou also pioneered the waters off both Mexican coasts, becoming staunch and vocal advocates of the excellent angling opportunities in their adopted country.
One of Dean’s dental school instructors was Tuna Club member Dr. George Chuck, who introduced Dean to light-tackle angling.  Doc embraced the sport, and it was his enthusiasm for light-tackle sailfishing in particular that led to the formation of the Sailfish and Tarpon Club of Mexico in 1943.  Three years later this club became the first organization to sponsor the tagging of sailfish. With tags supplied by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and later by Pan American World Airways in cooperation with the IGFA, more than 2,000 fish were tagged and released.  Though fisheries experts denied it, Doc had long suspected there were white marlin in the Mexican Caribbean.  Based on his research he determined they would be found in the deep, rough waters off Cozumel.  In May 1962, Doc and Dita made a trip east, where Doc captured the first white marlin on rod and reel in Mexican waters.  The couple frequently returned to the Yucatan to fish; however, more often than not if was for the bonefish and permit which had captured their fancy.
In the process of establishing the Sailfish and Tarpon Club, Doc had contacted the fledgling IGFA for assistance and information.  His frequent correspondence with Francesca LaMonte was filled with valuable insights about Mexico’s abundant sport fish, and Pacific billfish migration data that was shared with U.S. fisheries agencies, and it led to his appointment as an International Committee member in 1944.  Roy Dean served the IGFA for 45 years, and according to E. K. Harry was an “invaluable diplomat.”  From the many contacts he made as Mexico’s representative came the idea of an international fishing tournament.  Fishing “rodeos” were popular in Mexico at the time, but Doc envisioned something different:  a competition between IGFA club members using light tackle, abiding by IGFA rules, and releasing fish.  When the promoter refused to let Dean’s four-man team compete in the rodeo, the men fished their own tournament -- as one-man teams.  Doc won, and his Sailfish and Tarpon Club claimed the first plaque on the “Big Belt” trophy, an ornate leather fighting belt Doc had designed as a rodeo prize.
It was March 1946, and this was the first event of the International Light Tackle Tournament Association and the first international billfish tournament fished under IGFA rules.  Long before people realized that billfish stocks could be overfished, Doc’s conservation ethic was an integral part of ILTTA’s philosophy.  ILTTA tournaments became the first all-release billfish events, and the organization’s high standards were the basis for many prestigious tournaments that followed, such as the Masters and the HIBT.  In November 1946 Doc’s Sailfish and Tarpon Club hosted the first invitational tournament, the following year it was held in Panama, and in 1948 the Miami Rod and Reel Club served as host.  By this time the International Light Tackle Tournament Association had a governing body and a format:  three-person teams from IGFA member clubs fishing separately according to IGFA rules, changing boats and partners each day, using hooks and line provided by the host club, and releasing all fish.  Doc insisted on good sportsmanship and the highest ethical standards; teams competed for the honor of having their club’s name engraved on the coveted Belt, and there were no cash prizes.
Roy Dean died Nov. 27, 1990, the day before the start of the 50th ILTTA Tournament.   He dedicated his life to the sport and to conserving the resource he so loved.  With Dita at his side he fished every inch of Mexican coastline and beyond, often under hazardous and primitive conditions, always promoting the catch-and-release ethic.  Doc often remarked, “I would rather make a friend than catch a fish,” and his legacy of good will and sharing is reflected in the ILTTA members who have continued, over the past 60 years, to open new fishing grounds, teach locals how to rig baits and catch fish, and help countries establish sportfishing industries.
ILTTA’s first Big Belt trophy has been on permanent display at the IGFA since being retired after the 50th ILTTA Tournament.  It is only fitting that Roy B. Dean now assumes his own place of honor in the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame.

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Jimmy Houston
1944 –
2008 Inductee

Jimmy Houston is not only an accomplished tournament angler, he is also one of the best known, most recognizable and highly regarded personalities on television. Both on the screen and on the Trail he catches bass – lots of them.

Jimmy can’t remember a time when he didn’t fish. As a young boy he fished the lakes of Oklahoma with his father, grandfather and two uncles. They fished for all species but from the beginning bass were his favorite.  In 1966, when he was a senior in college, he won his first professional competition, the Oklahoma State Championship. Two years later the "Cookson Kid" entered the B.A.S.S. tournament at Lake Eufala, Alabama, finishing sixth and proving he could compete with the best.

Since that victory he's participated in 15 Bassmaster Classics, won 10 national tournaments, and placed among the top money winners in more than 100 national fishing events. Though earning the title "Angler of the Year" wasn’t one of his goals early on, Houston soon realized he had the talent, skill and drive to achieve it. The pursuit almost became an obsession, but in 1976 he achieved that B.A.S.S. honor and 10 years later, in 1986, he became "Angler of the Year" for the second time.

As Jimmy's tournament appearances, records and achievements began to grow, so did the number of fans who came to watch him weigh-in his fish, tell a story or joke, offer an opinion, or dispense fishing advice. Thousands were attracted by his skill and his personality, and those very same qualities made him a natural for TV.  Jimmy Houston Outdoors debuted in 1976 and today remains one of the most popular outdoor television programs.  Described as the "Huck Finn of Fishing," Jimmy’s laugh and signature haircut are familiar to his loyal viewers who have been watching him for more than 30 years. Whether he’s fishing in Mexico for largemouths, in South America for peacock bass, or on Oklahoma’s Lake Tenkiller for crappie, his fans feel as if they're right there in the boat with him.  And, according to Jimmy, that's the main reason for his television success:  he's perceived as a friend with whom folks would enjoy spending a day hunting or fishing.

Jimmy shares his knowledge in writing too, and he approaches that format in the same way.  "If you fish till you’re a hundred," he tells his viewers and readers, "you should still be learning on the last day on the water."  He has authored numerous articles for outdoor magazines and five books, including the successful Caught Me a Big 'Un, published in 1996.  Houston's number one rule of fishing is: "If it’s important to a bass, I make it important to me."  On paper he offers tips, tells tales, and shares secrets of tournament fishermen, a topic he definitely knows something about.  But Jimmy reminds readers they don't have to catch a lunker to have fun; he has fun fishing every time he goes out on the water, and he wants to share that message with others.  Always upbeat and positive, his words are instructive, insightful and entertaining.  He's certain that if people get excited about fishing, the sport will survive.

Houston continues to be a huge crowd favorite at tournaments and is recognized as one of the hardest working pros in the country, making more than 100 personal appearances a year.  He represents Oklahoma Tourism as well as many of America's top outdoors companies.  In 1990 he was inducted into the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame and in 2002 into the Professional Bass Fishing Hall of Fame.  Together with his wife Chris, a bass fishing champion in her own right and the first, and to date only, woman inducted into the Professional Bass Fishing Hall of Fame, he's been successful in business too, with boat dealerships, travel and production companies, and the Jimmy Houston Outdoors Store, a combination gas station, supermarket and retail shop.

Jimmy has been described as "a Type-A personality [with] the energy of a ping-pong ball, the personality of a circus clown, the business mind of Donald Trump, and the compassion of a neighborhood minister." For more than 30 years this bass legend has been entertaining and educating folks about the outdoors, with a love and enthusiasm for the sport that hasn't diminished.  In recognition, the IGFA warmly welcomes Jimmy Houston to the Fishing Hall of Fame.

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Ruben Jaen C.
1926 –
2007 Inductee

Ruben Jaen is a renowned cardiovascular surgeon and a legend in big-game angling.  A man of science, he has applied the same research skills, dedication and enthusiasm to the sport of fishing as he has to his specialty of medicine.

As a surgeon Jaen has pioneered procedures, including in 1957 the replacement of the carotid artery with a plastic prosthesis, served as chairman of cardiovascular surgery at Central University of Venezuela, authored six books and hundreds of papers, and received numerous awards for his medical accomplishments. 

He began fishing for peacock bass, payara, tarpon and snook at the age of 12.  Offshore fishing in Venezuela was rare at the time because the available boats couldn’t handle the rough seas.  By the age of 22, Jaen had discovered billfishing.  But he and other early anglers lost more fish than they caught, even though they were using the same baits, hooks and leaders as Zane Grey, Kip Farrington, and their other heroes.  They soon realized that conditions in Venezuela were much different than those described in their favorite books.

While tarpon fishing in Cuba in 1956, friends persuaded Ruben to try a lighter leader, insisting the fish were spooked by thick line.  When he returned home, Jaen and Freddy Benarroch began experimenting with #4 wire for white marlin and sailfish.  Two years later they put their ‘Venezuelan rig” to the test on the international circuit with spectacular results.  Before long they were out-fishing many of America’s best at their own game.  Jaen described these techniques in his 1964 book, Fishing in the Caribbean, and they were quickly adopted by anglers around the world.  In 1966 the Venezuelans convinced the International Light Tackle Tournament Association (ILTTA) to bring its 20-lb competition to their country.  When a then-record 281 billfish were caught over three days in La Guaira, a new angling hotspot was born.

Fishing in the Caribbean also contained Jaen’s theories about swordfishing.  Since trolling for broadbills hadn’t been successful, he proposed the Cuban method of drifting at night with baits at 200’ depths.  Venezuelan anglers remained unconvinced until 1976, when two swordfish over 300 pounds were caught off south Florida using that technique.  On July 22, 1978, Jaen landed the first two broadbills on rod and reel in Caribbean waters.  In 1992 he introduced deep-dropping for swordfishing during daytime hours.

Jaen had always dreamed of catching a thousand-pound marlin, and when he landed a 1,018 pound bluefin tuna at Prince Edward Island in 1979 his search began in earnest.  He made four trips around the world, then found the fish he had been looking for just three miles off La Guaira on December 30, 1994.  At 1,056 pounds it was only the second thousand-pound marlin caught on rod and reel in Venezuelan waters, and Jaen became the only angler to catch granders for both Atlantic species that grow that large.

With few exceptions Ruben Jaen has released all the billfish he’s caught over the last 60 years.  Since 1953 he has kept records of the fishing off La Guaira, documenting years of feast and years of famine due to natural cycles and commercial pressures.  Armed with that data, Ruben spearheaded a 10-year campaign that in 1986 resulted in the creation of a 5,000-square-mile protected zone for the La Guaira Bank.  The banning of commercial fishing and the safeguarding of this important billfish breeding area may be Ruben Jaen’s greatest legacy.

Jaen’s relationship with the IGFA began in the late 1940s when he met Francesca LaMonte.  In 1978 he was appointed an International Representative, the first South American member of the Board of Trustees in 1989, and Trustee Emeritus in 2005.  In 2003 Jaen received IGFA’s Gil Keech Heavy Tackle Award and that same year became the first recreational angler inducted into the Venezuelan All-Sports Hall of Fame.  He was a member of the winning team at 12 international tournaments and held an IGFA 50-lb line class world record for blue marlin (804 pounds).

This true sport-fishing pioneer developed and perfected angling techniques, set numerous records, propelled La Guaira into the international spotlight, and brought about billfish conservation in Venezuela.  For his incomparable achievements, the IGFA pays tribute to Ruben Jaen.

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John C. Johnston
1918 -
2002 Inductee
John Johnston’s significant contributions to recreational angling can be divided into two parts: his fishing achievements and his administrative achievements. As an angler, he is reputed to be the only person, living or dead, to have caught four different species of game fish over 1,000 pounds. His four granders include a 1,212 pound black marlin off the Great Barrier Reef; a 1,076 pound bluefin tuna off Prince Edward Island, Canada; a 1,595 pound great white shark off Kangaroo Island, South Australia; and a 1,378 pound tiger shark off Moreton Island, Australia. What may be the highlight of Johnston’s Great Barrier Reef fishing came in November 1981. In one afternoon he tagged and released seven black marlin, four of them estimated at over 1,000 pounds and the biggest estimated to be in the 1,300 to 1,400 pound range. Though he spent more than 30 consecutive seasons fishing heavy tackle on the Great Barrier Reef, Johnston is a highly skilled angler on tackle of all weights, has fished most of the world’s big game hotspots, and held an IGFA world record for a 142 pound dogtooth tuna on 30 pound line for 15 years. Johnston participated in two Wedgeport, Nova Scotia, International Tuna Cup Matches and fished the renowned Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament (HIBT) from 1972 to 1999, a member of the victorious 1990 and 1996 Australian teams. John Johnston’s contributions to leading recreational fishing organizations are equally impressive. He is Past President and Life Member of both the Game Fishing Association of Australia and the Game Fishing Club of South Australia, Founding Chairman of the South Australian Recreational Fishing Advisory Council, and Governor of the Pacific Gamefish Research Foundation. John Johnston has devoted much of his time and energies to IGFA as well, serving as Australian Representative from 1979 to 1990 and as a member of the IGFA Board of Trustees for 12 years, from 1990 to 2002. “Johnno,” as he is affectionately known to friends and fishing companions, is admired and respected by all who have had the privilege of knowing him. His irrepressible sense of humor, passion for game fishing, and lifelong dedication to the sport of recreational angling in Australia and around the world have placed John Johnston in a class by himself.

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Gary Loomis
1941 –
2007 Inductee

Gary Loomis could not find a fishing rod he was happy with, so he created a company to build the very best one possible – for himself.  Before long, the name G.Loomis had become synonymous with some of the finest fishing rods in the sport.  And they were available to everyone.

It began with Gary’s love of angling.  Born and raised in Centralia, Washington, he fished the rivers of the Cascade Mountains frequently.  A self-proclaimed “steelhead bum,” he studied the species exhaustively and continually refined his angling techniques.  After high school, Gary spent four years in the Navy as a machinist, and the next ten years working for a machine shop that manufactured specialized equipment for lumber mills.  In 1974 Gary began working for Lamiglas rods, in charge of their rod blank production facility.  It was during his early years at Lamiglas that Loomis pioneered carbon-fiber technology.  In 1980 he started Loomis Composites which launched his own career in the fishing industry, and a year later helped establish Loomis Franklin, a Taiwanese company that became the world’s largest producer of graphite fishing rods.

Gary’s devotion to steelheading was absolute and he remained totally absorbed with the notion of a perfect rod.  With carbon-fiber technology already under his belt he began thinking about a special graphite.  Existing rods simply didn’t work the way he thought they should and it became clear that manufacturing his own rod blanks was a necessity.  In 1982 G.Loomis was established.  Every piece of the new company’s manufacturing equipment was designed and built by Gary.  He continued to spearhead technological improvements and advances and was responsible for creating IMX and GLX, two new materials that provided the lightness and sensitivity he had been seeking for his designs.  When Gary succeeded in turning out a rod that met his own standards he had created, in the process, one of the best fishing tools ever manufactured.  As the G.Loomis line of high-performance graphite rods raised the bar on tackle technology, the company emerged as an industry leader with a pre-eminent worldwide reputation.  Part of Shimano since 1995, G.Loomis recently celebrated its 25th anniversary and continues to carry on the same commitment to excellence and enthusiasm of its founder.

By 1995 Gary Loomis had spent a major portion of his life fishing the rivers of his home state, and he knew it was time to give something back to his favorite waters.  That something was Fish First, a nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring dwindling salmon and steelhead runs to Washington’s Lewis River system.  Fish First’s mission is:  “To restore native Pacific Ocean salmon and steelhead runs to levels sufficient enough to support responsible harvest by commercial, tribal and noncommercial fishermen.”  With Loomis at the helm, Fish First has become a working model for river basin stewardship and has earned national recognition for its efforts.  Insuring the future of the nation’s migratory fishes remains paramount to Gary, and he continues to speak out about the issues of over-harvest and the importance of supporting conservation groups.  “We will lose the fish,” he says, “and [our generation] will be blamed for not saving them.”

Gary Loomis is a life-long fishing advocate.  His contributions to recreational angling, to the fishing industry, and to conservation are legion, and his ingenuity and visionary rod-making techniques are highly regarded.  He is the recipient of numerous honors, including the 2005 American Sportfishing Association’s prestigious Future of Fishing Award, which honors individuals for their novel approaches to increasing fishing participation.

In eighth grade, Gary was given a class assignment:  What do you want to be when you grow up, and why?  At that very young age, Gary chose “fisheries” as his future career, “because I like working outdoors and working with fish and trying to improve fish life.”  When asked to describe the responsibilities of his chosen vocation, Gary wrote:  “One of the duties [is] preserving the wild life of fish by planting fish where they are needed and will do the most good.”

Though more than fifty years have passed since those words were written, his passion for our native fish, and for recreational angling, has not diminished.  For that, the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame recognizes Gary Loomis.

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Henry Lyman
1915 - 2004
2003 Inductee
Hal Lyman is perhaps best known as the man responsible for the growth and popularity of salt water fishing in the U.S., which he promoted through Salt Water Sportsman magazine. His illustrious career in the publishing industry began simply enough as a reporter for the Cape Cod Colonial newspaper in Hyannis, Massachusetts, and then for the Berkshire Eagle in Pittsfield, following his graduation from Harvard University in 1937. But World War II soon intervened and Lyman spent six years serving aboard Navy destroyers. Released from active duty in 1946, he soon purchased Salt Water Sportsman. Originally launched by Ollie Rodman, Tap Tapply and Hugh Grey in 1939, the regional weekly cost five cents and covered the summer saltwater fishing conditions in New England. Lyman started as editor, then took over as publisher several years later, the title he held for a half-century. When he was again activated for military service during the Korean War, a young ex-GI with a love of surf fishing, Frank Woolner, agreed to become Salt Water Sportsman’s editor. Eighteen months later, in 1953, Lyman retired from the military with the rank of Commander and returned to the magazine. As the years passed Salt Water Sportsman evolved into a monthly publication with coverage expanded from the Maritimes to the Bahamas, then to the Gulf of Mexico, then to the Pacific. Hal Lyman and Frank Woolner had fulfilled the weekly’s original slogan; they had indeed created “The Voice of the Coastal Sport Fisherman.” Always believing that fishing and conservation should go hand-in-hand, Hal Lyman promoted marine conservation long before it became popular by printing some of the earliest pieces about the subject on Salt Water Sportsman’s pages. He was always interested in helping the good, young writers and many of today’s well-known fishing authors and personalities credit Lyman for giving them their first break. Fishing is not only Hal Lyman’s business, it is also his hobby. He caught his first saltwater fish at the age of 6. Since then he has fished the world for everything from giant bluefin tuna to peacock bass, salmon and striped bass. He is the author of nine books -- seven on saltwater angling (five with Woolner) and two on bluefishing, a subject on which Lyman is considered an authority -- and has written hundreds of magazine articles and editorials for a variety of periodicals and technical journals. Known for his quiet, reserved but effective activism, Hal Lyman has been responsible for substantive changes to both commercial and recreational fishing practices while serving on many private and government boards, panels and committees, including the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, National Coalition for Marine Conservation, Atlantic Salmon Federation, New England Fishery Management Council, and the Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee for the U.S. Department of Commerce. As Publisher Emeritus of Salt Water Sportsman, Hal Lyman continues to go into the office weekly, and he has remained an ardent sportsman and conservationist. Accepting the 1996 John Rybovich Lifetime Achievement Award from The Billfish Foundation and Power & Motoryacht magazine for his dedication to conserving marine resources, Lyman stated, “It’s so important - even more than it was in my time. We’ve got to keep getting people involved in protecting our oceans. Our lives really depend on it.” In recognition of his lifelong devotion to conservation and responsible fishery management, his development and leadership of Salt Water Sportsman magazine, and his countless other accomplishments on behalf of the world’s sportsmen, Hal Lyman will be remembered.

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Hidenori Onishi
1934 - 1998
2006 Inductee
Hidenori Onishi was a conservationist, a well-respected fisherman, and an influential leader in recreational angling. As a child, Onishi fished in Japan's countryside. After graduating from Keio University with a degree in economics and attending graduate school at the University of Minnesota, he returned to Japan where he established a successful real estate business. And he also returned to fishing, though some 30 years later it was the sea that lured him. The Japanese take their big-game fishing very seriously, and "Hank" Onishi became one of its most zealous enthusiasts. In 1978 he competed in his first Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament (HIBT), where he landed a 593 lb Pacific blue marlin and earned the award for individual high scorer. When Onishi revisited the Tournament in the early 1980s, he brought with him a prototype of the sportfishing bird. The technique was immediately embraced, and fishing with teasers was quickly adopted by offshore trollers throughout the world. Hank Onishi was a pioneer at home as well, the first person to troll Japanese waters for pelagic species in his private fishing boat. But Hidenori Onishi is best known as the long-time Chairman of the Japan Game Fish Association (JGFA). Impressed with the IGFA rules used in the 1978 HIBT, and with the organization itself, he envisioned a similar body in Japan to promote the sport and the angling opportunities in the country. Just one year later, with the cooperation and guidance of Hawaii's Peter Fithian, Onishi, Ryuzo Nishikawa and Junzo Okada founded the Japan Game Fish Association in the heart of Tokyo. The organization’s mission, according to their first announcement, was “to promote the development and raise the level of salt water sports fishing in Japan … [and to] encourage the preservation and conservation of oceanic sportsfish by conducting and sponsoring … research …” From the beginning, the JGFA kept records of catches made in Japan using the same system as the IGFA. But they did much, much more. Chairman Onishi was a formidable and vocal proponent of marine conservation, and of tag-and-release fishing in particular. In October 1985 JGFA began a tag-and-release program that to date has resulted in the successful tagging of more than 100,000 game fish of 65 species, and the re-capture of more than 1,000 of those tagged fish. The organization has always worked closely with the Fisheries Agency of Japan (in 1994 Onishi was selected to serve on their Ocean Utilization Council) and with Japanese commercial fishing interests, recognizing that coexistence is essential to the future of recreational angling in the country. And he was extremely optimistic about the future: “Nowadays, our younger big-game anglers are more interested in the sport itself and in the ethics of the sport," he said in 1992. "Their view is that unless it’s really an exceptional catch, there’s no justification for killing a fish simply for the sake of establishing a record – and, of course, they’re absolutely right.” Hidenori Onishi became an IGFA Trustee in 1989. The first person from Asia selected to serve on the Board, he traveled throughout that continent promoting recreational angling, and in 1990 helped establish -- and served as director of -- the Asia Game Fishing Federation. In 1992 he became chairman of the newly-established Japan Pleasure Boat Fishing Federation, and in 1996 he was honored with IGFA's prestigious E. K. Harry Fellowship Award. Hidenori Onishi dedicated his life to the Japan Game Fish Association and served as its distinguished chairman until his death in 1998. That year, membership reached 3,500 (from 80 original members). In a letter that appeared in the 1992 JGFA Yearbook, IGFA President Elwood K. Harry offered his praise: “JGFA has developed into a model fishing organization for other countries ... to study ... on how sport fishermen can band together not only to serve anglers, but to develop fishery management and conservation programs so vital for the future of sport fishing.” For his deep personal commitment to game fish resources, for his ferventdedication to both JGFA and IGFA, and for his enduring love of the sport, Hidenori Onishi will be remembered.

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Kathryn J. Rybovich
1917 –
2008 Inductee

In an era when lady anglers were considered distractions and often found themselves relegated to shore, Kay Rybovich helped make it possible for women to participate in the male-dominated angling world and prove they were worthy adversaries.  It was a radical concept.

Kathryn Jordan, daughter of a Scandinavian sea captain, moved to Palm Beach, Florida from New Jersey in 1924.  She met John Rybovich, Jr. at a Palm Beach Yacht Club function in 1941, and John invited her on a fishing date.  Kay was thrilled when she caught her first sailfish, and anxious to show it off … and John released it.  Billfish conservation was one of her husband-to-be’s passions, and it became one of hers as well.  During the 1940s and 1950s they spent many Sunday afternoons trolling for sailfish off Palm Beach, but of the hundreds of sails she caught she brought in only two.  One of them topped the West Palm Beach Fishing Club’s summer contest and earned Kay a gold button; although the fish had a curved bill it measured eight feet, six-and-a-half inches, an inch and three-quarters longer than Bob Kleiser’s standing record.

In January 1955 during the Palm Beach International Sailfish Tournament, Kay, Anne “Denny” Crowninshield and Ginny Sherwood experienced an epiphany.  They had grown weary of being excluded from the major tournaments, of being relegated to “ladies’ day” when they were permitted to take the boats out provided the competitors (i.e., the men) were assured of three good days of fishing.  Clearly it was time for their own group and their own tournaments. Sixteen women attended the first meeting of the International Women’s Fishing Association in April 1955, and two months later membership had grown to 100.

Helen Lerner and Chisie Farrington had been demonstrating their angling prowess for years, yet most men still doubted women had the strength, stamina and skill to handle big fish.  It wasn’t long before the IWFA ladies set the record straight.   Receiving a last-minute invitation in 1956 to fish the prestigious Hemingway Marlin Tournament, Kay, Denny and Ginny traveled to Cuba, the first female team to compete in an international event. They were indeed an oddity -- until they walked away with second place.  At the 1957 Hemingway the IWFA team had even more impressive results:  they won, besting 194 of the world’s top big-game anglers by releasing four blue marlin.  

In less than two years the IWFA had become a force and membership invitations were quickly accepted by women around the world.  While the members enjoyed challenging the men they were anxious to organize their own events, and in January 1956 the first IWFA tournament was held.  Alternating between Palm Beach and Mexico, anglers were introduced to different techniques and different species, and before long events were being held worldwide.

Kay Rybovich instilled her personal conservation ethic in the IWFA and members promoted catch-and-release from the beginning, at a time when most anglers were bringing everything back to the dock.  In 1965 the IWFA Scholarship Trust was established to further the group’s dedication to advancing fisheries science and research, and in 2004 the Kay Rybovich Trophy was created in recognition of Kay’s contributions. 

A master bridge player, patron of the arts, and passionate fundraiser, Kay Rybovich is vivacious and charming.  Recognized as the “power behind the throne,” she worked tirelessly both out of the limelight and together with John, and the couple’s legacy of conservation continues to this day with projects such as the Rybovich Endowment Reef, created off Singer Island in 2007. 

Though she no longer fishes, Kay takes part in many IWFA meetings and events.  She is extremely proud of the organization and of the members who have kept it going.  Attracted to the group for the fishing, camaraderie and the opportunity to make a difference, the women of the IWFA have been leaving their mark on the sport fishing world for more than 53 years.

The year the IWFA was founded there was an article in The New York Times that began with the headline: “Women Anglers Organize.  Militant Group in Fight Against Tournament Ban.”  The piece described “an extremely militant organization” formed “in bitter opposition [to] various national and international angling tournaments in which only the stronger sex may compete.”  There is little doubt that article brought smiles to the faces of the IWFA founders.  The IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame takes great pleasure in recognizing one of them, Kay Rybovich.

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Julio Sanchez
1899 - 1985
2001 Inductee
Julio Sanchez made a lasting mark on sportfishing in an era when game fish were plentiful and good tackle was not. He was born in Cuba in 1899 and raised on his father's sugar plantation, where at a young age he hunted game and fished for tarpon in the Rio Encantado. After earning a civil and electrical engineering degree at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Sanchez began making fundamental changes to his family's plantation, to many of Cuba's farm and flood control programs, and to the theories, techniques and equipment of big-game fishing. As unofficial field tester for Tycoon Rods, he proposed lengthening the rod butt, thus enabling the angler to increase his leverage, his pull, and his odds for landing the big ones. As a result of his input, ball bearing roller guides were added to Tycoon Tackle's famous Bimini King rod, a favorite of big-game fishermen. Sanchez was the first to increase the thickness of the reel spool when synthetic fishing line began replacing linen; designed the first footrest for a fighting chair, allowing anglers to remove their feet from the transom; created a fishing harness that was a precursor of the bucket seat; and devised a fishing technique for landing bluefin tuna unscathed by sharks which is still in practice today. Sanchez, together with Ernest Hemingway, pioneered big-game fishing in the Bahamas; was a founding member of the Miami Beach Rod and Reel Club in 1930; won the first Cat Cay Tuna Tournament in 1939 with a total bluefin catch of 4,177 pounds; and participated in six International Tuna Cup Matches at Wedgeport, Nova Scotia, leading the Cuban Team to victory in 1938 and 1947. A modest man known for his propriety, fairness and sense of humor, Julio Sanchez will be remembered for his ingenuity and for exemplifying the very ideals of sport fishing: sportsmanship, good will and mutual understanding between countries.

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Milton C. Shedd
1922 - 2002
2006 Inductee
In a life that spanned almost 80 years, Milt Shedd spent more than 3,500 days on the water, redefining game fishing and creating a legacy that embraced the seas. By the age of four, Milt had begun his love affair with the ocean which grew into a passion for sport fishing. Considered one of California’s top anglers, he was known for his inquisitive mind and natural instincts. In the early 1950s, aboard the Five Bells, he helped pioneer billfishing in Cabo San Lucas. When Milt discovered mackerel in a striped marlin’s stomach, he decided it made perfect sense to fish for billfish using the fish they fed on. This was radical thinking: every West Coast angler knew you trolled for marlin with rigged flying fish. Shedd was the first to cast to marlin using live bait and the results confirmed his theory: he showed up at the dock with five marlin, half a day’ s catch for the entire Long Beach fleet. Milt Shedd had legendary eyes: when the water was calm he could spot a finning billfish three miles away in the binoculars. Just a few anglers have caught a marlin and swordfish in California waters in the same day and Milt was one of them. He fished with long rods that gave him that extra distance, rods that by 1960 were known as “Miltie Sticks”. In 1964, Shedd and three friend s came up with an idea for an underwater restaurant. Before long, however, that was replaced by a new idea: a marine park. Milt had the vision and the integrity, and it was he who sold this new concept to investors. San Diego’s SeaWorld opened in 1964 and drew more than 400,000 visitors that year. A public offering and more parks followed. Milt served as Board Chairman until 1985, firmly establishing SeaWorld as an entertainment and environmental mecca. Shedd was also responsible for funding the Hubbs/SeaWorld Research Institute. Its groundbreaking work with marine mammals and sport fishes has made it one of the country’s premier research centers. In 1973 when Milt Shedd bought the 16-year-old AFTCO Manufacturing Company the product line consisted of four items. But after a lifetime on the water Milt had lots of ideas. One of the best was the Unibutt. Florida’s Frank Johnson, Jim Easton’s aluminum company, and AFTCO worked together on what is now the industry standard aluminum rod butt. With its innovation, uncompromising quality, and strong conservation ethic, AFTCO has been an industry leader for almost 50 years, one of the most recognized and highly- regarded tackle manufacturers in the world. Milt relished scientific adventures. He didn’t just donate money -- he was hands-on. In the early 1960s he organized one of the first tagging programs on the West Coast, which resulted in the tag-and-release of several thousand tuna and marlin. In 1977, he and Dr. Frank Carey of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution spent two months in Baja California aboard Shedd’s 67’ Sea World. During this expedition Shedd became the first to implant sonic tags in swordfish. Shedd was the visionary behind California’s white seabass hatchery, which continues to help restore this once-depleted fishery. In October 2004 the one-millionth tagged seabass was released in what has become the U.S.’s largest marine fish enhancement program. Milt Shedd’s contributions are immeasurable. A reconnaissance officer during World War II, he was awarded Silver and Bronze Stars and the Purple Heart. In 1995 he received the Billfish Foundation’s first annual John Rybovich Award for Lifetime Achievement. Additional commendations and awards have come from NOAA, UCLA, United Anglers of Southern California, San Diego Oceans Foundation, and the California Outdoor Writers Association. Often referred to as the “Walt Disney of the Sea,” Milt will no doubt be remembered for founding SeaWorld and the Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute, developing early tagging programs, and fathering the white seabass program. He was a great innovator, a successful businessman, and he was responsible for fishing techniques and tackle used by anglers today. But most of all, Milt Shedd was passionate about the oceans. The goal he set forth for Hubbs characterized his own life’s mission as well: “To return to the sea some measure of the benefits derived from it.” He lived his life doing just that. And for this, IGFA pays tribute to Milt Shedd.

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Donald J. Tyson
1930 -
2005 Inductee
A giant in both business and billfishing, Don Tyson’s entire fishing career has been a crusade for conservation. Almost 70 years have passed since his father drove a truckload of Arkansas chickens to Chicago because he heard they were bringing a better price in northern markets. From his $235 profit he wired home $220 – to pay debts and buy more chickens. This was the first long-haul trip from Arkansas to the more lucrative Chicago poultry markets, and John Tyson was the pioneer. The Tyson Feed and Hatchery began in 1947 and five years later Don Tyson joined his father in the business. In 1966 he became president, and the following year he took over control of the company after losing his parents in anaccident. By 1994 Tyson Foods had become the 110 th largest manufacturing company on the Fortune 500 list, and today the company is the top provider of protein products on the planet. Don Tyson started big-game fishing to see places his father only dreamed of. “My dad worked all his life and had never taken off any time before he was killed. I made myself a deal that I would start taking off one week per month when I was 40 years old, and I pretty much did it.” He caught his first billfish in Bimini in the mid-1960s, a 400 lb blue marlin. But Tyson soon realized that these beautiful creatures were meant to swim in oceans, not hang on docks, and he began releasing his catches. His skippers and deckhands, who had been selling each billfish for $50, were horrified by this turn of events. Tyson solved the problem by giving them $100 a fish to let them go. Since that first fishing trip to the Bahamas Don Tyson’s been everywhere, and his vessels are as recognizable as he is. Horizons, his 103-ft supply boat, carries 33,000 gallons of fuel and 90 days worth of supplies, making trips to remote locales, from Bali to Ghana, possible. And in the fall of 2005, his famous 65-ft Tyson’s Pride is scheduled to be replaced by a new 72-ft Merritt. Tyson is serious and passionate about his fishing, and is considered a superb angler. Though estimates on the number of marlin he has personally caught and released range from 400 to 700, you won’t hear these figures from him. He doesn’t keep track and he doesn’t fish for records; he simply wants to get the fish in quickly, tag and release, because “the fun is just catching them and turning them loose for someone else to enjoy.” Don Tyson has given generously of his time and finances to many organizations. His devotion to conservation and growingconcern about the future of the world’s fisheries led to the creation of The Billfish Foundation in 1985. Tyson, Mel Immergut and Win Rockefeller decided something needed to be done to ensure that billfish stocks would survive for future generations. Immediately they began working on two goals: getting anglers to consistently think and practice tag-and-release and convincing billfish tournaments to not kill every fish. Over the past 20 years, the organization has made great strides in both. An IGFA Trustee Emeritus, Don Tyson was Building Committee Co-Chairman for the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame & Museum. The single largest contributor to the Museum, he personally donated $20 million, ensuring that the 63,000 square foot building and headquarters for the International Game Fish Association became a reality. Tyson envisioned – and helped make a reality -- a state-of-the-art facility that would preserve the sport he loves, inspire new generations of anglers, and instill in the thousands of school-age children who visit annually, the visitors he’s most excited about, the joys of fishing and a respect for our resources. At the grand opening in January 1999, the Board of Trustees dedicated the Museum to Donald J. Tyson in appreciation for his leadership, vision and commitment. It is with great pleasure that IGFA adds to its list of Hall of Fame honorees the name of Don Tyson, a very private philanthropist and a very public conservationist, who is dedicated to the cause of conserving the world’s great fish for future generations.

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Karl Wickstrom
1935 –
2008 Inductee

As an award-winning investigative reporter for the Miami Herald during the 1960s, Karl Wickstrom took on crime and corruption.  As a legislative aide in Tallahassee, he helped draft law-enforcement reform legislation.  That same crusader mentality and zeal served him well when he decided to challenge the status quo to improve the lot of fishermen in the state of Florida.
Wickstrom spent his early years surrounded by people determined to make a difference. His father was a columnist for a local Illinois newspaper and later bought a weekly paper in Zephyrhills, Florida. While Karl studied journalism at the University of Florida he spent summers learning the newspaper business and refining his writing.  It was in Tallahassee in 1967 that Wickstrom got the fishing bug.  He also sensed an opportunity, and when the Florida Senate session ended he moved back to Miami and started publishing magazines.
Aloft, the in-flight magazine for National Airlines, was the first product of Wickstrom Publishers.  Soon Karl noticed another unfilled niche:  statewide saltwater fishing.  In 1969 the first issue of Florida and Tropic Sportsman was published and mailed free to 112,000 registered boaters.  From the beginning Karl enjoyed every aspect – the writing, designing, photography (including more than 20 covers), even ad sales. Quickly the magazine’s name was shortened to Florida Sportsman and just as quickly it became a success, partly because of the state’s fast-growing population, partly because Karl insisted on good writing (and had people like Vic Dunaway onboard at the outset), and partly because he brought his newspaper journalistic ethics to the magazine.  Florida Sportsman was more than just entertainment.  Stories were about fishing, hunting and conservation, and his editorials became powerful vehicles for targeting commercial fishing interests and those exerting improper influence on marine laws and regulations.  By the 1980s Florida’s fisheries were in dire shape due to commercial dominance and excessive netting.  Wickstrom went directly to the people in the pages of Florida Sportsman and his articles, editorials and concerns about the situation struck a chord with his readers.
Karl Wickstrom may be best known for his initiation of Florida’s constitutional net ban amendment of 1995.  In his “Openers” column in early 1991 he first suggested a ban on destructive gill nets in coastal waters, and included a coupon readers could return if they agreed.  He was overwhelmed – and heartened – by the response and support, and the "Save Our Sealife" campaign was born.  Though thousands of individual volunteers and groups devoted countless hours to the initiative, Wickstrom is recognized as the person who did most to achieve the ban.  The campaign needed 429,428 validated signatures to get the amendment on the ballot; it collected 520,000.  In November 1994 an overwhelming 72 percent of Florida voters – close to three million – said "yes" to the constitutional amendment, and on July 1, 1995 the gill and entanglement net ban took effect. The net ban not only revitalized inshore fishing for millions of residents and tourists, but it also showed many frustrated with government’s inability to act on abuses that they could "fight city hall" and win.  Over the past 13 years there have been lawsuits and attempts to create enforcement loopholes, yet the mandate of voters – Florida Constitution Article X, Section 16(1):  "No gill or entangling nets shall be used in any Florida waters" – has been upheld.
Karl Wickstrom spearheaded other important changes in regulations and policies, from the appointing of suitable representatives to the Fresh Water Management Commission and the defeat of the Cross-Florida Barge Canal, to the passage of the "polluter pays" law for the Everglades and the 1999 merger of saltwater fishing, freshwater fishing and hunting into one state agency, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.  He was instrumental in the start-up of the Florida Conservation Association (now CCA Florida) in 1985.  And in 1995 his achievements were recognized when he was designated the American Sportfishing Association’s "Man of the Year" and a recipient of an IGFA Conservation Award.
Karl remains editor-in-chief of Florida Sportsman, and the monthly magazine remains synonymous with quality journalism, education, entertainment and conservation.  With the help of his three sons, Florida Sportsman has expanded into TV, books, DVDs, and a website.  Karl may now spend more time on his boat and in his garden, and giving thought to inscribing the number 429,428 on his tombstone in the very distant future, but he hasn’t stopped caring about and fighting for recreational fishermen, something he’s done for 40 years.  For that, the IGFA salutes Karl Wickstrom.

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Peter B. Wright
1944 –
2007 Inductee

Peter B. Wright is a world-renowned angler, captain, journalist, scientist, conservationist, and consultant.  And he’s made a living as a model, marine biologist, mortgage banker, high school teacher, and real estate developer. 

But he is best known for his ability to catch big fish, for he is the man who has caught more marlin over 1,000 pounds than anyone in history.  In a career spanning five decades Wright has captured 77 granders and released countless others.  Included in that elite group are a 1,442-pound black marlin from 1973 that remains the largest ever weighed in Australia, and the IGFA women’s 80-pound black marlin record of 1,323 pounds, still standing after 30 years.  Wright set a Bahamas bluefin tuna record of 972 pounds, and in 1995 guided Stewart Campbell to 73 bluefin that were tagged and released off Cape Hatteras, the most in a single day.

Born in Paterson, NJ, Peter grew up in Fort Lauderdale, and while still in grade school began working on charter boats out of Hillsboro Inlet.  At the age of 11 he gaffed his first blue marlin; by the next year he was fishing with noted Captain Johnny Whitmer.  Throughout high school and college he spent summers and weekends on the Miss Jeanne, fishing Bimini and Cat Cay tournaments with great success.

In 1965 Peter graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in biology (and second-place in springboard in the SEC championship).  Two years into his graduate work at the University of Miami’s Institute of Marine Science he joined Dr. Gilbert Voss’ Antarctic Research Program and spent two months collecting squid and octopus specimens.

While awaiting his return trip stateside, Peter traveled the South Pacific.  Sixteen months later he was still there.  In Sydney, Australia he found modeling work, and then hitchhiked 1,000 miles to Cairns, home of former Fort Lauderdale skipper George Bransford.  Bransford needed a mate for his new boat and Peter, hoping to get a glimpse of a thousand-pound marlin, signed on, spending the first few months assisting with the boat’s construction.  Sea Baby II’s first big fish in 1968 – and Peter’s first big black marlin ever – weighed 879 pounds, and that year he wired and gaffed two granders.    

Since 1968 Wright has fished every season in Cairns.  He started out crewing, earning a reputation as one of the most skillful wiremen in the world.  In 1970 he had the chance to captain, and from the start he had a huge advantage over local skippers.  They had not fished for giant bluefin in the Bahamas during the sport’s heyday.  Wright had, and it taught him invaluable heavy-tackle and boat-handling skills.  He ran the first boat in Cairns to have a tuna tower, transom door, two-speed Fin-Nor reels and curved-butt rods.  His tackle and techniques weren’t new; Peter simply borrowed them from the only other fishery that had needed them. 

Sea Baby II, Kingfish, Hooker, Restless, Makaira and Duyfken are just some of the famous boats identified with Peter B. Wright.  In 1975 he went to Kona, and together with Jeff Fay operated the Humdinger for five years.  When Wright found his dead baits weren’t faring well against Hawaiian lures, he began fast trolling using baits soaked in formaldehyde.  The Humdinger immediately became competitive, and further design modifications led to soft trolling lures and to Mold Craft’s “Softhead” series. 

From his science training, time on the water, and constant research, Peter Wright has accumulated an astonishing amount of knowledge that he’s always willing to share.  For more than 13 years he wrote the “Sportfishing” column for Motor Boating and Sailing magazine, and since 2002 has been editor-at-large for Marlin.  He’s passionate about billfish and tuna management and tag-and-release, and was instrumental in the implementation of archival pop-off tags and circle hooks.  He is a recipient of IGFA’s Gil Keech Heavy Tackle Award and in September 2007 was inducted into the Cairns Black Marlin Hall of Fame.

When asked about retirement, Peter insists it won’t happen until he ”falls dead out of the tuna tower”.  He plans to continue to “seize the day” and do the things he does best:  sharing his wisdom and guiding anglers to the fish of their dreams.

In recognition of his remarkable achievements and a life dedicated to angling, IGFA is proud to add the name of Peter B. Wright to the Fishing Hall of Fame.

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Joan Salvato Wulff
1926 –
2007 Inductee      
No other person has impacted fly fishing or influenced generations of anglers more than Joan Salvato Wulff.
At the age of 10 Joan borrowed her father’s fly rod and promptly lost the tip in a pond.  Far from being angry, Jimmy Salvato began taking her to his casting club. Though competitive casting was big in the 1930s, few females were interested in the physical sport.  But Joan was, and Jimmy encouraged her.  She won her first title at 11; at 12 she caught her first trout on fly and started dancing lessons.  A year later she was competing in regional tournaments and teaching tap dancing.  At 16 Joan won the Women’s Dry Fly Accuracy event, the first of an extra-ordinary 17 national casting titles she would capture between 1943 and 1960.
Joan just wanted to dance and fly cast.  But it was 1943 and women were expected to make sensible career choices, so she began working as a secretary for $25 a week.  In the fall of 1944 Joan and her former teacher opened a dance school and soon had 200 students.  Joan, not yet 18, was earning $150 a week for three days’ work and had time to travel to tournaments.
In 1948 noted fly fisher Charles Ritz invited her to the first post-war events in Europe.  Competing against professionals and amateurs of both sexes, Joan won the baitcasting title in London, a remarkable achievement for any 21-year-old.  In 1951 she added five more national titles and, casting 131 feet against all-male competition, became the first woman in history to win the Fisherman’s Distance Event.
Joan Salvato was now the best female fly caster in America and was determined to make angling her career.  She became an audience favorite at shows, trick-casting in evening gowns and high heels.  Ashaway Line & Twine Company appointed her their "goodwill ambassador," and in 1959 she signed with Garcia Corporation, the first woman offered a salaried contract by a tackle manufacturer. In 1960 Joan stopped competing, but not before making an astounding 161-foot cast at one of her last events. Though designated "unofficial" (too few females had participated), it was a new women’s record. 
By the mid-1960s Joan was based in Florida, where she spread the Garcia word, won tournaments (Key Colony Beach Sailfish and Gold Cup), and spent time with her growing family.  In 1966 Garcia sent her to Newfoundland to fish for bluefin with Lee Wulff, someone who lived the life Joan dreamed about.  They married, and for 25 years were America’s most famous fishing couple.  At shows, club dinners, and clinics Lee talked about conservation and Joan demonstrated impeccable form with the Fly-O, an indoor practice rod with yarn, invented by Lee.  When Joan was scheduled, men brought their wives, and women soon realized they could be part of this sport.  The introduction of flyweight waders and graphite rods helped, too, and were a cause for celebration after the years Joan had spent campaigning for women’s clothing and gear.
In 1979, the Joan and Lee Wulff Fishing School opened its doors along the Beaverkill River.  Above all, Joan is devoted to teaching, and the school has become a world-renowned institution.  Convinced by Lee that she should share her knowledge through writing as well, she had a monthly column – a first for any writer -- in Outdoor Life by 1980, and in 1981 her casting columns began running in Rod & Reel, where they continued for 22 years.  A book was next, but before she put anything on paper she began dissecting her own performance, figuring out what her hands and arms were doing, and where the line was going.  The sport had no “vocabulary” so she created one to name the moves, the strokes, the parts of the cast.  It took two years, but when Fly Casting Techniques appeared in 1987, with the lexicon and set of mechanics Joan had pioneered, it was revolutionary: the first book to explain casting factually, in perfect English.
Joan continues to speak out on conservation, to write, and to teach. She is a founder of the Catskill Fly Fishing Center, Trustee of the Atlantic Salmon Federation and the International Game Fish Association, advisor to the Federation of Fly Fishers, and consultant for the R. L. Winston Rod Company.
Though she’s regularly celebrated for her promotion of fly fishing to women, Joan is an inspiration to all anglers, a combination of mastery, grace, enthusiasm and devotion to the sport that captivated her many years ago.  The IGFA is very pleased to honor Joan Salvato Wulff, a woman who was born to fly cast ... and to teach others how.

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Philip G. Wylie
1902 - 1971
2002 Inductee
Writer, social critic and IGFA Vice President Philip Wylie was always ready to do battle for anything he thought right. His body of work includes hundreds of short stories, articles, serials, syndicated newspaper columns, and books. He attended Princeton University, worked for The New Yorker, wrote Hollywood movie scripts (including The Invisible Man in 1933), was a Director of the Lerner Marine Laboratory in Bimini from its founding, and an advisor to the Joint Committee for Atomic Energy. Wylie’s best known non-fiction work is considered by many the best known book of its time. A Generation of Vipers, a scathing denunciation of the American value system, appeared in 1943 when such loud criticism was not widespread. Vipers aroused much interest, much controversy, and Philip Wylie became famous. “Without criticism, progress is impossible,” Wylie said, and throughout his life he remained a consistent critic of society, one who has both enthralled and irritated countless generations of American readers. But Philip Wylie also was the writer who introduced deep-sea angling to a majority of Americans with his Crunch and Des series. Wylie loved to fish, first as a boy in freshwater streams and later in the Gulf Stream. It is surely his love of saltwater angling, of Miami, and of the people in the charter fishing business that were his inspirations for this series. The main characters are Captain Crunch Adams and mate Des (short for Desperate) Smith, who run their charter boat “Poseidon” out of Miami’s Gulf Stream Dock. Though Wylie admitted the fictional Crunch and Des were partially modeled after Harold Schmidt and John Smedburg, with whom Wylie often fished out of Miami’s Pier 5, all of his characters really were composites of many people he knew. Crunch and Des was wildly popular. From 1939 to 1959 forty-nine stories appeared in The Saturday Evening Post, twenty more were published elsewhere, and all later appeared in hard cover. Wylie became nationally famous with their publication and with the syndicated television series in 1956. Every aspect of the stories is textbook-accurate: the fishing boats, the gear, the behavior of the fish, the mechanics of fishing. Readers loved - and continue to love - the Crunch and Des stories, where good people are rewarded for their virtue (usually with a marlin or swordfish) and nasty people get their just deserts. A longtime ecologist and conservation leader, Philip Wylie was writing and speaking about the desecration of Florida’s environment, particularly the Everglades and Biscayne Bay, in the 1940s. In 1941 he was appointed IGFA Field Representative and Vice President and for many years, together with Michael Lerner, was responsible for writing and re-writing IGFA rules and reviewing world record claims. Keeping the sport honest was his personal concern, and he addressed this topic often. Indeed, much of the world learned about IGFA through such Wylie pieces as Big Fish and High Seas (Esquire, November 1952): “That’s the story of IGFA. Its worth to human relations the world over cannot be exaggerated. Its value as an umpire in a great sport is deeply appreciated by many and should be understood by all … An Australian dreamed it up … An American made it a fact, surpassing the dream. And everybody who wets a line … whatever his nationality, his bait or the fish … has reason to rejoice in the result.” For the significant contributions he made to American literature and society, to IGFA, and to the sport of fishing, and for always calling them as he saw them, Philip Wylie will be remembered.

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