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Hall of Fame
Nominations for the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame To nominate a candidate for the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame, please send a detailed submission letter to Rob Kramer, IGFA President. This letter should describe the nominee’s significant and lasting contributions to the sport of recreational angling. Nominated individuals can be anglers, captains, scientists, conservationists, writers, or fishing industry leaders. Supporting documentation included with the letter -- newspaper articles, biographical information, photographs, etc. – is extremely helpful, and all materials sent will be retained in the E. K. Harry Library archives. Once a person has been nominated, he or she will remain in consideration. Each year the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame Nominating Committee reviews the information submitted for all potential honorees. Their selections are then submitted to the IGFA Board of Trustees for final approval. Hall of Fame Inductees' BiosSir Garrick Agnew 1930 - 1987 2003 Inductee Born and educated in Perth, Australia, Sir Garrick Agnew honed his impressive post-graduate business skills at Harvard University’s School of Business Administration. Returning to Australia, he created a firm of ore brokers, ship charterers and operators, which later became Agnew Clough Limited. Sir Garrick was instrumental in the establishment of one of Australia’s four major iron ore producers in 1970, pioneered the solar salt industry in Australia, and formed (and later became Chairman of) Australian Bank Limited. He was a board member of Quantas Airways and the Australian Industries Development Corporation. For his remarkable contribution to Australian business he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II (dubbed by Prince Charles) in 1983. His sporting accomplishments are equally impressive. Sir Garrick was a member of both the 1948 and 1953 Australian Olympic swimming teams, winning a bronze medal, and he won a gold medal in the 400-meter freestyle event at the 1950 Commonwealth (then called “Empire”) Games. He also held the world record for the 1500-meter freestyle. And when he took up the sport of big game fishing, Sir Garrick Agnew did so with the same intensity that he put into competitive swimming and his business endeavors. He was Western Australia’s billfishing pioneer: in 1968, he caught the first black marlin, and later the first blue and striped marlin under IGFA rules, and the second sailfish in Western Australian waters (the first sailfish was captured just one day before!). In his boat “Pannawonica” he traveled an estimated 350,000 nautical miles pursuing big fish, especially marlin, while at the same time opening up new fishing areas and developing new techniques. Each year from 1972 to 1985, he took “Pannawonica” from Fremantle to Cairns (a distance of 3,150 nautical miles), spending a month fishing the Great Barrier Reef and catching a total of 428 black marlin there during those 13 years. In his lifetime, he caught 22 marlin over 1,000 pounds; three weighed over 1,300 pounds and the largest, caught in 1973, weighed 1,417 pounds. Sir Garrick Agnew is quite possibly the only person in the world to have accomplished this amazing feat, and as word of his fishing successes spread, big game anglers from all over the world were attracted to Western Australia’s productive waters. He contributed his time, energy and valuable business acumen to Australian fishing organizations as well, serving as President of the Perth Game Fishing Club and the Western Australian Game Fishing Association. For his angling achievements and tireless devotion to the sport of game fishing in Australia, Sir Garrick Agnew is honored. John W. Anderson II
Stuart C. Apte 1930 - 2005 Inductee Fishing is Stu Apte’s life. He grew up in Miami with fishing guides as his heroes. At age 12 he landed his first tarpon, and four years later he was fly fishing the same south Florida waters he’s fished for more than 60 years. All through military prep school and the University of Miami, Apte split his time between studies, fishing, and golden-gloves boxing, developing a reputation – in all three -- as a fierce competitor and a firebrand. As a fighter pilot in the Korean conflict he flew some of the first jets, and as a Pan Am pilot for 34 years he had the opportunity to pursue his fishing passion all over the world. When he had time off, Stu headed to the Florida Keys. In the late 1950s he began guiding part-time out of Little Torch Key, then full-time in 1960 after a Pan Am layoff. The close-knit fishing-guide community based in Islamorada was cool to newcomers, especially aggressive ones, and looked on Apte as “the pilot who thinks he’s a guide.” So Stu went his own way. Giant tarpon catches were rare and he was determined to change that. Waking hours were spent fishing or preparing to fish, devising new strategies, techniques and gear. He modified the blood knot and acquired an interest in an airplane so he could scout the flats. The Stu Apte Tarpon Fly, popular since 1958, was featured on a 1991 US Postal Service stamp. Apte guided Joe Brooks often. History was made in May 1961 when Brooks landed a world-record tarpon aboard Apte’s Mom’s Worry; at 148- ½ lb it was the largest ever caught on fly. In the mid-1960s, when few women fly fished for tarpon and even fewer guides considered guiding a lady angler, Apte ledKay Brodney to a 137- ½ lb silver king. For 50 years Apte fished with Ted Williams. Ted taught him how to pole a boat and called him “bush” because he considered Apte’s skills “bush league” compared to his own. When Williams finally started calling him “Stu,” Apte knew he had made it. Stu could find the fish, make them eat and land the big ones in record time, and his name became synonymous with tarpon. As word spread he developed a huge following: by 1964 he was guiding 300 days a year and referring another 400 days to other guides. He also set his own records: more than 40 saltwater light-tackle and fly-rod world records in all, including the two longest-standing fly records: a 58 lb dolphin (1964) and a 136 lb Pacific sailfish (1965), both on 12-lb tippet. In 1967 Apte was the first to catch a tarpon over 150 lb on fly (breaking Brooks’ record in the process). He caught two record tarpon in one day in 1977; the second, 82- ½ lb on 6-lb tippet, is the longest-standing tarpon fly-rod record on the IGFA books. And one day in 1982 Apte set two 12-lb tarpon records, one in the morning and one after lunch. Since the mid-1960s, when he trained the guides at Panama’s Club de Pesca and was the first American to fish for tarpon and snook on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, Stu has championed the fishing opportunities in Central America. His 1976 book Stu Apte’s Fishing in the Florida Keys and Flamingo remains a classic, and he continues to share his vast knowledge and superb photography in books, magazines, videos, and on TV. He collaborated on one of the earliest shallow-water skiffs, the 16’ Fiber Craft, and was a member of The Saltwater Fly Rodders of America advisory board, a founder of Bonefish & Tarpon Unlimited, and the recipient of the 2003 Ted Williams Award from Chuck LaMar’s Mercury Outboards Grand Slam Celebrity Fishing Tournament. He is the master at fighting fish on light tackle. Intense and confident, Stu works at the “exactness” of fishing. “Study your adversary carefully and never underestimate his courage and determination. Make every effort on your part a positive one, and don’t waste a motion.” As Stu strove for perfection himself, he brought it out in others. With great pride IGFA inducts Stu Apte, a true legend among fishermen all over the world, into the Fishing Hall of Fame. Lord Robert S. S. Baden-Powell 1857 - 1941 2002 Inductee History books recognize Lord Robert Baden-Powell for his military genius during the Boer Wars. But to millions of people the Baden-Powell name is synonymous with the Boy Scouts, for he is the man credited with founding that worldwide movement in 1908. Drawing from favorite childhood activities, Baden-Powell began teaching what became the fundamentals of scouting -- camping, observation, tracking, and survival skills -- to the young soldiers in his regiment in 1893. Returning to England in 1903 after his military service, he discovered that the pamphlet he had written for the soldiers was being used to teach outdoor education by youth leaders and teachers all over the country. Encouraged, Baden-Powell rewrote Aids to Scouting for a younger audience, and the revised Scouting for Boys, published in 1908, became the handbook of the new Boy Scout movement that spread quickly throughout the world. Throughout his life Baden-Powell was a passionate fly fisherman. He practiced catch-and-release fishing nearly 50 years before it became widely accepted and, as is obvious from his writings, was a true believer in angling’s powers of healing and the rejuvenating effects of time spent on the water. He traveled extensively, first in the military and later as Chief Scout. And everywhere he went, he fished. Lord Baden-Powell passed along these intense feelings about fishing in the Fishes and Fishing chapter of Scouting for Boys: “Every Scout ought to be able to fish in order to get food for himself” … Fishing brings out a lot of the points in Scouting, especially if you fish with the fly … When you catch your fish do as I do - only keep those you specially want for food or as specimens, put back the others the moment you have landed them … and they swim off quite happily to enjoy life in their water again.” It is no wonder that fishing has always played an integral role in Scouting. As Boy Scouts of today and future generations continue to earn merit badges in Fishing, Fish & Wildlife Management and, most recently, Fly Fishing, they will continue to carry on the rich angling legacy of Lord Robert Baden-Powell. C. Alma Baker Ralph Bandini 1884 - 1961 1999 Inductee Ralph Bandini is one of the greats among the early pioneers of big game fishing off the coast of California. Immensely respected by fellow anglers within the newly developed segment of the sport, Bandini championed conservation of California's coastal resources as a member of the state's fish and game commission, was a member of many conservation groups, and served on the board of directors for the storied Tuna Club of Santa Catalina Island. Bandini was born into a very prominent California family. His grandparents, Don Juan Bandini and Donna Maria Refugio Arguello de Bandini, had vast land holdings in the southwest. His father, Arturo, married Helen Elliot who moved to California from Indianapolis in 1874. Together they formed the "Indiana Colony", later named "Pasadena" (a word meaning "head of the valley" in the local native language). Bandini attended Pasadena public school, Throop Polytechnic Institute, and Stanford University. He earned a law degree and was associated with the firm of O'Melveny, Stevens and Milliken for five years. Afterward, he established his own practice and devoted himself to his family and to the pursuit of big game fish. Though the Bandini family was well known, Ralph did not seek the limelight and revealed little about himself over the years. His most enduring legacy to the sport of big game fishing is his writing, in particular his three books entitled Tight Lines, Veiled Horizons, and Men, Fish, and Tackle. These books, privately published and now quite rare, are among the most revealing volumes written about this formative period in the evolution of saltwater game fishing. Dame Juliana Berners 15 Century 1998 Inductee Dame Juliana Berners is widely credited with writing the first tract on fishing ever published in the English language. The essay appeared in the second Book of St. Albans in 1496. The Book of St. Albans is the most celebrated book on field sports in English, the first English sporting book to be printed and one of the earliest of any book printed in the language. Little is known for certain about Dame Juliana other than that she was the Prioress of the Nunnery at Sopwell, that she was an accomplished hunter and angler, and that she published an essay on hunting in the first Book of St. Albans. John McDonald, in The Origins of Angling, summed up her story this way: "She was, as the legend goes, noble in birth and spirit, sociable, solitary, dashing, beautiful, learned, and intellectual. In some accounts she fled to field sports to avoid love; in another she might have retired to a convent 'from disappointment.' The seeming conflict between nun and sportswoman together with the scarcity of evidence for assertions made about her, have been the cause of spirited argument among generations of antiquaries." The content of the five-century old Treatyse of Fysshynge wyth an Angle seems startlingly modern. Dame Juliana provides complete and detailed instructions on everything from how to construct a rod, to how to tie flies and which patterns are best for which applications and seasons. Though the language and technology are both outdated, the concepts are still sound and much of the information is timeless. William C. Boschen 1800s - 1918 1998 Inductee William Boschen became the first man in angling history to catch a broadbill swordfish on hook and line. The fish weighed 358 pounds and was taken off Catalina Island in 1913. As a stalwart member of the Catalina Tuna Club, Boschen went on to land more broadbill swordfish than anyone in his lifetime. Boschen is also recognized as creator of the first internal star drag reel. The reel was later built by Julius Vom Hofe who wanted to call the new reel the Boschen Reel, but settled for a sound-alike, B-Ocean Reel, when Boschen shied from the use of his own name. One reason for Boschen's reluctance may have been that he had developed the star drag in conjunction with his boatman, George “Tuna George” Farnsworth. The two men were inseparable angling partners and very close friends. Among Boschen's final requests was that Farnsworth spread his ashes on the sea between San Pedro and Santa Catalina in the area where Boschen caught his first broadbill. Farnsworth did as requested and never revealed the exact place. George Bransford 1918 - 1994 1998 Inductee George "The Fox" Bransford pioneered black marlin angling off Australia. He was instrumental in putting the port town of Cairns on the map for big game fishing and was a founding member of the Cairns Game Fishing Club. Bransford was a man of great vision who possessed the imagination and the guts to follow his dreams and see them come true. Bransford first visited Cairns in 1943 as an American paratrooper in the 503rd Airborne Division. He discovered a wealth of tales about enormous billfish that broke wire lines and snapped outriggers; commercial fishermen hated the big animals. Bransford's personal dream began to take shape; he vowed to return one day and catch these giants of the Coral Sea. In 1963, Bransford sold out of his charter fishing business in Fort Lauderdale and moved his family to Cairns. He commissioned Harold Collis to build a 32-foot, single-engine sportfisherman, which he christened "Sea Baby," and set out to find the sportfishery he knew was there but had yet to be discovered. On September 25, 1966, Bransford and deckhand Richard Obach landed the catch that sent the game fishing world into a frenzy: a 1,064 pound black marlin, a certified world record on 80-pound test. Bransford devoted the rest of his career to developing the Cairns sportfishery. Yet, he was known as a man who could be cagey when it came to sharing his angling secrets. Fishing great George White is credited with first calling Bransford an "old fox." The nickname stayed with Bransford for the rest of his life. In his will, "The Fox" requested that his ashes and those of his beloved wife, Joyce, be sprinkled together on the Coral Sea. Joseph W. Brooks 1901 - 1972 1998 Inductee Joe Brooks is remembered as one of America's best all-around anglers and one who did as much to popularize fly-fishing during his time as any single person in the United States. Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, Brooks passed up a chance to be a major league baseball pitcher and went to work in his family's insurance company. But in 1945, Brooks left Baltimore to pursue his true passion - fly fishing. Shortly, he discovered that the next best thing to fishing was writing about it. His reputation as a savvy angler and solid writer grew, and soon brought opportunities to do features for Outdoor Life, Field & Stream, and other major publications. Eventually, Brooks became the fishing editor for Outdoor Life, a post he held for many years. Brooks' ascendancy as an angler and writer coincided with the rise of television. He made a number of TV films, especially for The American Sportsman. In addition, he authored numerous books, including his final and most enduring work, Trout Fishing. His books are some of the most instructive ever published on the subject of saltwater fly-fishing. Brooks was known for his wit, his gentlemanly nature, and his devotion to sportsmanship and conservation. But even more, he was known as a master angler, and he set IGFA world records for kawakawa (1958) and permit (1957). Joe Brooks' grave overlooks Montana's Yellowstone River, a fine trout river, and one of his favorites. William K. Carpenter 1919 - 1987 1998 Inductee Bill Carpenter devoted 28 years of his life to serving IGFA. During that time he served as President (1960 -1975) and Chairman of the Board of Trustees (1975 -1987), but is best remembered as one of the outstanding bluefin tuna anglers of all time. Although big bluefin were Carpenter's favorite quarry, he also traveled extensively around the billfishing circuit, including Cabo Blanco, Peru, where he caught three black marlin in the 1,000 pound category, the largest weighing in at 1,241 pounds. Still, Carpenter's renown as an angler centers on tuna. Anglers in the Bahamas once reported that Carpenter outfought 15 giant bluefin tuna off Bimini and Cat Cay in a single day. Basically shy and unassuming, the former World War II fighter pilot was known as a spirited, hard-nosed competitor. A seven-time winner of the Cat Cay Tuna Tournament, he also served four years on the U.S. Team in the International Tuna Cup Match at Wedgeport, Nova Scotia. Carpenter was a pioneer in the practice of tagging and releasing game fish. Of over 600 bluefin tuna Carpenter caught during his lifetime, most were tagged and released. In the 1960's four tuna that Carpenter had tagged in the Bahamas were recaptured off the coast of Norway. Consequently, fisheries biologists made significant revisions in their theories about bluefin migration. Considering all of his angling achievements, Bill Carpenter's most important legacy is the service he gave to other anglers worldwide. Elwood Harry, who succeeded Carpenter as IGFA President, observed, "He was the salvation of IGFA during the days of private funding, and was the most important support during the reorganization of IGFA into the membership supported, non-profit organization that it is today." Homer Circle 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. 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. Pierre H. Clostermann 1921 - 2006 2001 Inductee Pierre Clostermann is a war hero, famous author and lecturer, successful businessman, revered statesman, international angler and conservationist. Born in Brazil and schooled in France, he served as a pilot with the RAF and the French Air Force, becoming the leading French ace from World War II and receiving the Liberation Cross, the French Medal of Honor. Retiring as a Brigadier General after the 1956 Suez Campaign, Clostermann continued to serve his country as an eight-term member of the French Parliament and President Charles DeGaulle's Under Secretary of State. A dramatic success in business as well, he founded Europe's Reims Aviation, building 8,000 Cessnas before he sold the company, was a Vice President of Cessna Aircraft Company, and served on the boards of Air France and Renault. Clostermann is the author of nine books: Le Grand Cirque (The Big Show), the best book written about World War II according to William Faulkner, has been translated into more than 50 languages and has sold millions of copies; another title, Des Poissons si Grands, describes his fishing exploits, which are just as amazing as his other endeavors. For more than 60 years Clostermann has fished for magnificent fish in magnificent places, very often being the pioneer in that area: sailfish in Dakar, tigerfish in Mozambique, striped and black marlin in New Zealand, tuna in the Azores, broadbill in Portugal, tarpon in Gabon. Clostermann was a founding member and first President of the Big Game Fishing Club of France, an IGFA Representative since 1966, and a member of the IGFA Board of Trustees since 1977. Throughout his life, Pierre Clostermann has been a dedicated and effective spokesman for sportsmanlike angling and conservation policies. Cited numerous times for his gallantry and valor under fire, Pierre Clostermann will always be recognized by the anglers of the world as a courageous defender of the Earth's marine resources. William G. "Bill" Dance
George C. Farnsworth 1883 - 1959 1998 Inductee "Tuna George" Farnsworth was one of the most innovative pioneers of big game angling off Catalina Island in the early days of sportfishing. Farnsworth is particularly noted for his development of the kite-trolling technique and for his collaboration with angling great William Boschen to develop the internal star drag reel. Farnsworth was born in Stafford Springs, Connecticut. His father was an engineer who moved the family to northern California while Farnsworth was very young. In 1900, the senior Farnsworth went to work on Catalina Island surveying the road from Avalon to the isthmus and moved the family to Avalon. That's where George became interested in fishing. Farnsworth became a boat captain and charterman. He was known for his taciturn ways, his incredible navigational skills, his deep personal loyalties, and his ability to catch fish when everyone else was coming up empty-handed. He was involved with the Catalina Tuna Club from its inception and helped many of its members achieve record catches. It was a Farnsworth-rigged bait, trolled by kite, that led William Boschen to angling history's first broadbill swordfish taken on rod and reel. During World War II, the Navy closed all ports to sport fishing, but allowed the closely supervised commercial fleets to operate. Farnsworth turned to commercial fishing and never returned to sportfishing. George Farnsworth died in San Francisco and his ashes were scattered at sea. S. Kip Farrington 1904 - 1983 1998 Inductee Selwyn Kip Farrington, Jr. was a big-game fishing pioneer, a world record holder many times over, and a prolific writer whose contributions to angling have made a lasting imprint on the sport. Born in Orange, New Jersey and educated in public schools, Farrington worked for a time in his father's stock brokerage, but left the company to devote himself to bluewater angling. Farrington became the first man ever to land a 1,100 pound fish, first to take three different species over 800 pounds, first to take a broadbill swordfish in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, first to take a broadbill and a marlin in the same day, and first to take a blue marlin in the now famous Cat Cay-Bimini, Bahamas grounds. (Following Ernest Hemingway, he was the second to land a bluefin tuna there.) In 1937, Farrington founded the International Tuna Cup Match in Wedgeport, Nova Scotia, and was deeply involved in its management for many years. He was decorated by the Republic of Chile in 1943 for his writings about saltwater angling off that country’s coast and again in 1955 by the Republic of Peru. Along with his wife Sara Chisholm (Chisie) Farrington, also a world class angler and writer, Kip Farrington appeared in 11 nationally released films about big game angling. As a writer, Farrington contributed to a number of major publications of his day, served as salt-water editor for Field & Stream from 1937 to 1972, and published 21 books on subjects ranging from angling to amateur hockey to waterfowling to railroads. His first book on angling, Atlantic Game Fishing, was published in 1937, and his last, published in 1975, was the children's book entitled Tony the Tuna. Sara C. Farrington 1908- 1992 1998 Inductee "Perfection! The real record is to take the first one, because if you catch the biggest fish, someone eventually is going to catch a bigger one," Ernest Hemingway cabled Sara "Chisie" Farrington when she became the first woman to catch a broadbill swordfish off the coast of South America. "Firsts" became a hallmark of Farrington's angling career. She was the first woman to catch a tuna on rod and reel (Nova Scotia, 1935) and the first woman to catch two marlin in one day (South America, 1939). At the time broadbill swordfish were widely considered saltwater angling's ultimate challenge. When Farrington -- in another first for a woman -- took two swordfish in one day, her accomplishment was considered among the greatest saltwater feats possible. She hauled in a 396-pounder and a 659-pounder within hours of each other during that 1941 outing off the coast of Chile. Born Sara Houston Chisholm, she grew up in New York and traveled abroad for the first time when she was 17. In Paris, she contracted polio and was bedridden for several months. A weakness in her right leg and hand persisted throughout her life, making her long angling battles very painful and her sporting successes all the more amazing. Chisie began fishing the same day she met her future husband, Kip Farrington, a man already well entrenched as an accomplished angler and author. Chisie Farrington set 11 IGFA world records. She appeared in 11 big game angling films and wrote for Harper's, Vogue and Mademoiselle. Among her most enduring achievements was the publication of her 1951 book, Women Can Fish, which offered the only extensive account of women anglers of her time. Clive W. Firth 1895 - 1974 1998 Inductee Clive Firth, one of Australia's top sportsmen in the 1930s, was an early and ardent promoter of a standardized international game fishing code, and was a key figure in organizing the International Game Fish Association. Firth recognized that international cooperation would be essential for the development of sport fishing and pursued his vision with vigor and imagination. In 1937, he was elected as one of two delegates from New South Wales to the newly formed Big Game and Rod Fishers Association of Australia, later known as the Game Fishing Association of Australia. Firth served two terms as president of the organization and was a prime mover in developing international cooperation between like bodies in other countries. In fact, the idea for the International Game Fish Association came out of meetings in Australia between Firth and key members of a 1939 expedition of the American Museum of Natural History, Dr. William Gregory, a marine scientist of international standing, and Michael Lerner, an expert angler and amateur naturalist. It was Firth's suggestion that the organization be based in the U. S. due to the threat of war in Europe and the Far East. The first meeting was held later that same year at the American Museum of Natural History (June 7, 1939). Luminaries present at the meeting included Dr. Gregory, Lerner, writer-sportsman Ernest Hemingway, fishing writer Van Campen Heilner and marine biologist Francesca LaMonte. Clive Firth, who later became an IGFA world record holder for yellowtail, was Australia's first delegate to the IGFA. His outstanding contribution to the sport of big game fishing was recognized in 1939 by his election to life membership in the Game Fishing Association of Australia. Walter W. Fondren III 1936 - 2004 Inductee Walter W. Fondren III has been a staunch proponent of marine resource conservation for more than a quarter century. Born into a Houston family that played a prominent role in the development of the petroleum industry, Fondren spent his weekends hunting and fishing along the Texas coast. As his knowledge and skills grew, he noticed his angling opportunities dwindling due to commercial overfishing. In 1976, Fondren was one of 43 concerned recreational anglers who met in a Houston sporting goods store to discuss what they could do about the continued abuse of marine resources along the Texas coast. The result of that meeting was the creation of the Gulf Coast Conservation Association (GCCA). The Texas chapter was officially founded on March 17, 1977. Walter Fondren became chairman of the fledgling organization, which focused its early efforts on redfish with the launch of the “Save the Redfish” campaign. GCCA’s grassroots efforts helped secure passage of the Texas Red Drum Conservation Act, which imposed commercial bag limits, quotas and mandatory reporting for individual sales of redfish, as well as bag limits for anglers. In 1981, thanks largely to GCCA, red drum and spotted sea trout were designated “game fish” in Texas, effectively prohibiting their sale throughout the state. Word of the successes in Texas spread to anglers in other states who were concerned with these same issues. By 1985, chapters had developed in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida. In 1986, South Carolina became the first Atlantic Coast chapter and more states soon followed. By 1997, 15 state chapters from Texas to Maine were part of a national organization for the conservation of marine resources under the name Coastal Conservation Association (CCA). Since the mid-1980s, CCA has been active in virtually every fisheries debate on local, state and national levels. With Walter Fondren as national chairman, the organization has been involved in many impressive conservation victories, including the banning of gill nets in several states, establishing game fish status for species in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic, implementing bycatch-reduction guidelines for the shrimp industry, and passing a 1994 constitutional amendment in Florida banning the use of any type of entangling net in state waters. With more than 90,000 members in more than 180 local chapters in 15 states spanning the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic seaboard, the impact of CCA’s grassroots machine is unparalleled, and the breadth and depth of their volunteer involvement is unmatched. Determined not merely to halt the decline and conserve coastal game fish, Walter Fondren and his fellow CCA members have focused on restoring our marine resources and bringing them back to healthy levels. And since 1977, recreational anglers have embraced CCA’s message of the sustainable use of marine resources. Fondren served for nine years on the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, including as Chairman from 1989 to 1990, and was Chairman of the Gulf Council’s Billfish Advisory Panel until 2003. A member of the IGFA Board of Trustees from 1985-1999, he has been a member of the Billfish Advisory Committee and served on the Board of The Billfish Foundation from 1989 to 1991. Walter Fondren received the Harvey Weil Sportsman/Conservationist Award in 2000 and the prestigious Charles H. Lyles Award in 2001 from the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission in recognition of his exceptional contributions on behalf of our marine resources. An enthusiastic billfish angler who believes in tagging and releasing his catches, Fondren founded the Poco Bueno Tournament in Port O’Connor, Texas in 1969, naming CCA Texas a beneficiary of the tournament. Fondren is also a member of the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame and the University of Texas Hall of Honor. As the Coastal Conservation Association continues to champion the health and longevity of coastal fisheries and recreational anglers’ interests in them, IGFA honors one of its founders, Walter W. Fondren III, for his insight, commitment and enduring contributions to marine resources and conservation. Thomas M. Gifford 1896 - 1970 1998 Inductee Among the great charter skippers ever to guide anglers to the major game fishes of the sea, Tommy Gifford became an American superstar. Gifford developed a reputation as one of the most inventive bluewater anglers who ever lived, and one of the most successful. Gifford began his chartering career in Miami in 1920 at age 23. Within a few seasons, Gifford had made a reputation for himself. He was constantly innovative and his charters consistently caught record fish. Gifford was the first to develop spreader outriggers for use in the Atlantic and the first to catch an Atlantic blue marlin with the new devices. He was not the first to bring a kite to the Atlantic, but was so innovative and so effective in his use of kites that he is widely miscredited with their East Coast introduction. Over the course of his 50-year career, Gifford developed an encyclopedic knowledge of game fish and techniques to catch them. Anglers who use essential saltwater equipment such as the flying gaff and the star-drag reel all owe a debt to Gifford's creative thinking. Gifford served as guide and consultant to some of the most famous names in saltwater angling, including Ernest Hemingway, Michael Lerner, Charlie Lehman and Van Campen Heilner. Place names such as Havana, Wedgeport, Bimini, St. Thomas and Montauk resonate with the angling fame Gifford helped to create for them, and for himself. He never lost his zest for the sea, or his awe at the creatures beneath the waves. Raymond Camp wrote, "Big game angling has a brief history, but Tommy Gifford's name is sharply etched on every page." Alfred C. Glassell, Jr. 1913 - 2001 Inductee Alfred Glassell's 1,560 pound black marlin is the all-tackle and 130-pound line class record for the species, and it remains the ultimate measure of the sport for every serious marlin fisherman. But his contributions to sport fishing go well beyond that world record. Although Glassell appeared on the cover of a 1956 Sports Illustrated, few of today's billfishermen know much about him, and even fewer are familiar with his other accomplishments. He was the first to boat a black marlin over 1,000 pounds according to IGFA rules and, when he lost the record within a few days, regained it for the second time in a month with a 1,090 pound catch. Although Glassell traveled the world hunting marlin, bluefin tuna and swordfish, his research convinced him he would find his giant quarry in the bait-rich waters off Cabo Blanco, Peru, and on August 4, 1953 he landed the 1,560 pound record fish that would withstand the test of nearly a half-century of tackle and boat improvements. Film footage of Glassell's jumping, tail-walking and greyhounding granders was used in the movie version of Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, and his all-tackle record fish hangs in the Smithsonian Institution. Alfred Glassell has spent his lifetime pursuing his passions and excelling in many fields, including the petroleum industry, marine biology research, the collecting of fine art and, unbeknownst to many, freshwater fly fishing. He was a member of the U.S. Team in the International Tuna Cup Matches for seven years, serving as captain of the 1952 second-place team, is a Life Trustee of Texas Childrens Hospital, and Chairman of the Board of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. Well-known for his philanthropy in many areas, Glassell has been a particularly generous supporter of marine science, leading successful scientific expeditions around the world for both Yale University and the University of Miami, where a unique research laboratory bears his name. Alfred C. Glassell, Jr., industrialist, sportsman, adventurer, amateur oceanographer, marine biologist, philanthropist, civic leader and patron of the arts, is truly a legend in his own time. Peter Goadby 1929 - 2007 2004 Inductee Peter Goadby is a fisherman, author and angling authority, and is internationally known and respected for his dedication to conservation and ethics in fishing. A deep-sea angler from the age of 16, he began fishing the Moreton Bay area of his native Australia at the end of World War II with leading sportfisherman Norman Gow. Since then he has traveled throughout the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, always anticipating another special location and another memorable fish. Goadby is one of the world’s leading big game anglers and his name is inscribed in the record books as the first person to catch both a shark and a marlin weighing more than 1,000 pounds. Peter Goadby has successfully competed against the world’s best fishermen in numerous international, national, state and club tournaments, including as captain of the winning Australian team at the 1965 Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament (HIBT), member of the winning Australian team at the 1983 HIBT, and captain of the 1973 Australian team at the International Tuna Cup Match in Wedgeport, Nova Scotia. But Goadby is world renowned not only for his fishing expertise but also for his ability to pass on his knowledge to other anglers. And no one is more knowledgeable about Pacific Ocean sport fishing than Peter Goadby. He has written extensively for fishing magazines and, as author of such classic and popular titles as Big Fish and Blue Water (1970), Saltwater Gamefishing (1991), Billfishing (1996), and Saltwater Game Fishes of the World (2000), written with the late Bob Dunn, he has never failed to enlighten, entertain and encourage saltwater anglers. From his earliest works, Goadby has shared his passion for the history, the fish, the tackle, the tournaments and the tactics, and to this day he considers it a privilege to do so. Peter Goadby is acknowledged as the initiator and driving force behind tag-and-release fishing in Australia. When he and friend John O’Brien became aware of Frank Mather’s cooperative game fish tagging program in the United States, they were anxious to set up a similar voluntary system in Australia. In December 1973, the Australian Gamefish Tagging Program of the New South Wales Fisheries Department was officially launched, and this Program has been operating with much success for more than 30 years. Long before his appointment as IGFA Representative in 1977 Peter Goadby represented IGFA ideals, and he has continued to serve as a vital link between the organization and the fishermen of the world. An expert on rules and their administration in records, day-to-day fishing and tournaments, he is admired and respected for his leadership, integrity, promotion of tagging, and knowledge of the sport and its ethics. Goadby has served on many tournament boards and was chief judge of the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament (HIBT) for 28 years. He has held numerous offices on Australian Government Councils and has played an active role in national and international fishing organizations too numerous to mention. A founding member of The Australian National Sportfishing Association and a Life Member of the Game Fishing Association of Australia, Goadby has made major contributions to fisheries science at a broad spectrum of symposiums and conferences. Among his impressive awards are IGFA’s first Elwood K. Harry Fellowship Award in 1993, honoring his lasting contributions to recreational angling. Peter Goadby is a tireless promoter of recreational angling. He has given the greater part of his life to the sport in all its aspects – fishing, writing, conservation, judging, and ethics. IGFA applauds the lifelong dedication and the outstanding achievements of 2004 Hall of Fame inductee Peter Goadby. Theodore Gordon 1854 - 1915 1998 Inductee "Time moves slowly in fly fishing," wrote John McDonald. "The last time it moved in a large way in the United States was with Theodore Gordon." More than any other figure, Gordon and his writings were the philosophical bridge between the British fly fishing heritage and the beginning of the American tradition. Born into comfortable circumstances in Pittsburgh, Gordon pursued a career in finance in New York City. In the late nineteenth century, Gordon began to publish articles about fly fishing in both British and American periodicals, and was widely regarded throughout the U.S. and Great Britain as the leading American angling authority. All the while, he improved his knowledge of fly fishing. Among his most important information resources was one of Britain's premier anglers and writers, Frederic Halford. Halford was known for his detailed studies of stream entomology and his techniques for creating dry flies that matched the hatch of various insects. About 1900, Gordon abandoned city life to fish and write full-time. He first moved a few miles up the Hudson River to Haverstraw, and later to the Catskill Mountains where he primarily fished the "Big Three" of Catskill trout streams: the Neversink, the Beaverkill, and the Willowemoc. It was here that Gordon successfully adapted the dry fly methodology of England to rivers in North America, thus becoming the principal creator of the structure and style of the American imitation trout fly. During this time, Gordon developed the now-famous Quill Gordon, a versatile fly that could be dressed on the spot to imitate the hatching insect species. Though Gordon introduced the dry fly to American anglers, he never excluded use of the wet fly as did his English friend, Fredric Halford. Curt Gowdy 1919 -2006 2003 Inductee Curt Gowdy is recognized as one of the greatest sports announcers of all time and is generally acknowledged as the voice of America’s post-war sports explosion. His broadcasting career began with a stroke of luck: laid up with a back injury in 1944 after a stint in the Army Air Corps, Gowdy was asked to cover a local football game in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He called that game - his first -- atop an orange crate before 15 fans in sub-zero weather. In 1949 he became Mel Allen’s assistant, doing play-by-play for the New York Yankees, and began broadcasting football on CBS radio with Red Barber. From 1951 to 1965 he was “the voice of the [Boston] Red Sox,” as well as the first announcer for the Boston Celtics. During his 50-year career he worked for all three TV networks and covered 16 World Series, eight Super Bowls, eight Olympics, 12 Rose Bowls, and 24 NCAA basketball Final Fours. It was the early 1960s when Curt Gowdy presented the idea of an outdoors show to ABC-TV’s Roone Arledge. Arledge insisted that television viewers were only interested in competitive sports, in watching competition in which there was a winner and a loser. So Gowdy came up with the idea of a trout fishing championship. Held in Argentina, it featured an American team (Gowdy and Joe Brooks) vs two Argentineans. It aired on ABC’s Wide World of Sports, was a tremendous hit, and led to the creation in 1964 of the first TV fishing show, The American Sportsman. The American Sportsman began as four one-hour specials, then expanded to 13 shows during the winter season. Gowdy served as the host for more than 200 episodes over 20 years, traveling with celebrities to the best destinations all over the world to hunt and fish. The concept was simple, sportsmen were glued to their TV sets every Sunday afternoon from January to March, and The American Sportsman went on to become the most popular outdoor show in TV history. Thanks to his mother, who insisted he get an education which included elocution lessons, he became one of the finest sports broadcasters with a voice that is still easily recognizable to anyone who grew up with a radio or a television. And thanks to his father, Curt Gowdy began fly fishing at the age of 8 in his home state of Wyoming. He was first introduced to saltwater fly fishing when he accompanied the Yankees to St. Petersburg, Florida, for spring training. When the Red Sox trained in Sarasota, he began snook and tarpon fishing. And through his friendship with Ted Williams, Gowdy discovered fishing in the Florida Keys, where he continues to participate in the annual Redbone Celebrity Tournament Series and the Boy Scout Backbone Celebrity Classic. A recipient of a multitude of honors, Curt Gowdy may be the only man in history to be inducted into eight Halls of Fame. Wyoming named an 11,000 acre state park after him in 1971. In 1976 The American Fishing Tackle Manufacturers cited Gowdy as the man who had done the most to promote fishing in America. He received the Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in baseball broadcasting in 1984. The Sport Fishing Institute named him their 1991 “Fisherman of the Year” for his continuing promotion of fishing and his conservation efforts, for increasing “the knowledge and awareness needed to make a difference in preserving sport fishery resources for generations to come.” The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences bestowed upon him its 1991 “Lifetime Achievement Award for Sports.” In 1997 the Outdoor Writers of America presented him with their top award for Excellence in Craft. Gowdy earned multiple “Sportscaster of the Year” awards, won numerous Emmys for his TV work, has been a member of the IGFA Board of Trustees since 1985, and a founding member of Bonefish & Tarpon Unlimited. And in 1969, Curt Gowdy was the first sportscaster to win the coveted Peabody Award, recognizing outstanding achievement in broadcasting. Gowdy was praised for his “winning blend of reportorial accuracy … vast fund of knowledge in many areas, intelligence, good humor and … an infectiously honest enthusiasm for his subject.” Known for his versatility, professionalism, and personal warmth, Curt Gowdy is admired and respected by everyone who knows him. Most of his life has centered around two items - a microphone and a fly rod. “Whether I caught fish or not, just the thrill of rolling out that line and watching my fly turn over has been good enough for me. That and the hundreds of treasured memories I have of this wonderful sport.” Curt Gowdy truly epitomizes the American sportsman. Zane Grey 1872 - 1939 1998 Inductee Best known for his Western novels, Zane Grey was a pioneering angler, a great innovator, and one-time holder of more than a dozen saltwater world records. Just as significant as his fishing accomplishments is the fact that Grey was a superb storyteller who inspired countless anglers the world over with his tales of travels and encounters with fish. As a boy in Zanesville, Ohio, Grey fished for bullhead and bass in the Muskingum River. His first fishing mentor was locally known as "Old Muddy Miser," a man who fired Grey's imagination with tales of trout and salmon and great saltwater fish, which he said no one seemed to go after. Grey would eventually go after them, but not until he'd married, tried dentistry and disliked it, and begun writing after hours. After struggling for some years as a writer, the lean years ended with the 1910 publication of Riders of the Purple Sage, a phenomenal seller that brought Grey fortune and freedom to do what he wanted. Grey fished across the United States and around the world, both salt and freshwater. He was the first man to catch a 1,000 pound fish on rod and reel. He pioneered methods for catching the elusive broadbill swordfish and successfully championed the use of light tackle for sailfish. He was the first to use the "mother boat" concept for keeping his smaller fishing boat supplied without having to return to land. Grey caught snook before other outdoor writers discovered them, he was one of the earliest bonefishermen, one of the first to recognize the great fighting abilities of permit, and was among the first to start taking sailfish in the fertile blue Gulf Stream. With his 190 foot schooner "The Fisherman", Grey was among the first to explore sport fishing in Mexico, Central and South America, New Zealand, Australia, and the South Pacific. In 1952, Ed Zern wrote of Grey, "No other man … has devoted so much of his fortune, or so large a share of his time and energy, to the catching of fish for the sport of it." Elwood K. Harry 1914 - 1992 1998 Inductee Elwood Harry is remembered most for the immense contributions he made to the international sport of game fishing through his work with the International Game Fish Association. Harry was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He grew up working in the family merchandising business and fishing the lakes and streams of eastern Pennsylvania and the waters of Chesapeake Bay. After World War II, he developed an international aviation supply business -- a vocation that gave him the means and the opportunity to fish extensively in waters throughout the world. Harry became an expert tuna angler, winning scores of world class competitions and awards. In 1962, Harry became a Vice President of IGFA, President in 1975, and was elected Chairman of the Board of Trustees in 1987. He combined his knowledge and experience as an international angler and an international businessman to guide the IGFA through a major re-structuring process, transforming the organization from a small, privately- funded association into a not-for-profit, worldwide membership association and information resource serving all types of anglers, associations, and the sportfishing industry throughout the world. He also helped develop a voice for the IGFA, which is heard and respected by governments and policy makers of all countries, especially in relation to issues of conservation. Under Harry's leadership, the IGFA developed one of the world's most extensive angling libraries, and expanded its world record book to include freshwater records, a service previously maintained for nearly seven decades by Field & Stream magazine. The legacy of Elwood Harry is an IGFA organized to serve and dedicated to supporting the interests of recreational anglers from all walks of life and economic strata the world over. Van Campen Heilner 1889 - 1970 1998 Inductee Traveler, hunter, angler, yachtsman, naturalist, explorer, writer, and filmmaker. Van Campen Heilner was all of these, and a great contributor to the collective knowledge of game fish around the world. But most notably, Heilner was a devoted surf caster and a towering figure in the development of the sport. Born in Philadelphia, the only child and heir to a mining fortune, Heilner is said to have drifted from school to school, trying to assign a goal to a life that was both prepaid and guaranteed. During summers on the Jersey shore, Heilner found his direction; he fell in love with surf fishing. Early on, Heilner became something of a prodigy in outdoor writing. While still in his teens he had stories published in America's major sporting publications, including Field & Stream. At age 21, Heilner collaborated with friend and fellow angler Frank Stick to produce his first book, The Call of the Surf. Theirs was the first book ever published devoted exclusively to surf fishing. After his second book, Adventures in Angling, Heilner's reputation soared. Among many other associations, he was invited to become associate editor for Field & Stream, and to be a field representative in ichthyology for the American Museum of Natural History. Possibly his best known and most definitive work is Salt Water Fishing (1937). It became a best seller, possibly the first in angling history since Walton's The Compleat Angler. Ernest Hemingway 1898 - 1961 1998 Inductee Ernest Hemingway's literary prowess and thirst for adventure brought him world renown. His crowning literary achievement, The Old Man and the Sea, melded two of his deepest passions, angling and writing, and led to the Nobel Prize for literature in 1954. Hemingway's first angling experiences were as a youngster in the lakes and streams near Petoskey, Michigan, where his parents owned a summer cottage. He continued to fish freshwater in his adult life. But in 1921, on a ship in the harbor of Vigo, Spain, Hemingway witnessed something that set his swashbuckling course on saltwater angling: six-foot tuna "leaped clear of the water and fell again with a noise like horses jumping off a dock." Anyone good enough to boat one of these great fish, he decided, should "enter unabashed into the presence of the very elder gods." In 1928, his literary career already well-established, Hemingway visited Key West, Florida, for the first time. Enchanted, he spent the next three decades fishing the Gulf Stream waters, living first in Key West and later in San Francisco de Paula, Cuba. He absorbed knowledge and lore about the ways of saltwater fish and the people who stalked them. He understood the complexity of the sport and pioneered new techniques. Hemingway was among the best of his day and knew how to share the experience. In deceptively simple prose he touched, taught, and inspired an audience far beyond the angling public, and this stands as Hemingway's greatest contribution to the sport. In August 1940, Ernest Hemingway was named a Vice President of the IGFA, a title held until his death in 1961. Dr. Charles F. Holder 1851 - 1915 1998 Inductee Dr. Charles F. Holder is known as the first man to catch a tuna with rod and reel. He caught it off the southern coast of California near Catalina Island. Holder subsequently founded The Tuna Club at Catalina and was an early and important activist for marine conservation. When Holder moved from Massachusetts to California in 1885, he brought with him an insatiable curiosity for nature. He was a naturalist, author and former assistant curator of zoology at the American Museum of Natural History. His love of nature had developed in his youth as he collected specimens with his father, who was also a famous naturalist and co-founder of the American Museum of Natural History. When Dr. Holder visited Catalina Island, he wrote that he was astonished by the abundance and variety of marine life: the waters literally teemed with fish. He also noted the regular slaughter of fish by anglers with handlines, and was appalled by the lack of sportsmanship and the massive waste. Though there is some controversy over whether Holder was actually the first man to catch a tuna on rod and reel, it is certain that Holder was the first to use the event for the advancement of game fishing. As history reads, Holder was fishing from a 20-foot launch with 600 feet of 42 pound test line. He landed the 183 pound tuna after battling it for four hours over four miles. In 1898, Holder founded The Tuna Club on Catalina Island as an international organization that called for proper management of all game fish, and became a model for many similar organizations around the world including the IGFA. Lynn Bogue Hunt 1878 - 1960 1998 Inductee For nearly half a century, Lynn Bogue Hunt's illustrations and paintings set the American standard for artistic depictions of hunting and fishing. From magazine covers to book jackets to posters to postage stamps and calendar illustrations, Hunt's legacy as a sporting artist remains unequaled. Born in upstate New York, Hunt moved with his family to Michigan when he was twelve. He learned taxidermy as a teenager, then studied art for three years at Albion College. After a short stay in Detroit, Hunt sold a magazine cover to Field & Stream, which set his course for decades to come. He moved to Staten Island to be close to the nation's major sporting publishers and built a stunning career. Hunt's popularity was quickly established through his hunting scenes. He sold paintings to ammunition manufacturers for use on posters and calendars. DuPont, a maker of gun powder, commissioned 16 paintings for a poster series entitled Our American Game Birds, which the company published in 1917. The series was accompanied by a field guide for scattergunners. In the 1920's, as the sport of billfishing was coming into its own along the Atlantic Coast, Hunt teamed up with Kip Farrington to produce four major books about saltwater angling. He captured the brilliant color and sheer beauty of game fish in accurate and minute detail, and composed paintings filled with the drama and excitement of sport fishing. Ruben Jaen C. 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.
James W. Jump 1860 - 1938 1998 Inductee During his prime, James Jump was known on Catalina Island as the "King of Light Tacklers." He held light tackle records for marlin, broadbill swordfish, and tuna. During the first 50 years of The Tuna Club in Catalina, Jump achieved more angling honors than any other club member. He ranks among the angling elite who have caught two swordfish in one day. Jump's double came in 1928 off Catalina Island. Hailed affectionately as "Jimmy" by scores of friends in Avalon, Jump was known and loved for his philanthropic work as much as he was respected for his mastery of angling. He made two fortunes and lost one during his entrepreneurial days in his native St. Louis. He amassed his first fortune as the head of a manufacturing company which failed during the depression of 1893. By the time he retired in 1911, he was a millionaire once again. After retirement Jump moved to California. Health problems Jump experienced during these years led doctors to warn him that he did not have long to live. But James Jump spent the next twenty-seven years living to the fullest. He was a very active Shriner, he founded the Catalina Island Yacht Club, and he set scores of angling records at The Tuna Club. In the fall of 1925, in a report on a 441 pound broadbill swordfish Jump had taken, his third in 10 days of fishing, The Catalina Islander noted, "There is no angler who fishes more consistently or knows these waters better than does Angler Jump." Bernard “Lefty” Kreh 1925 - 2003 Inductee Lefty Kreh is perhaps the best known and most respected fly-casting instructor and fly-fishing author in the world. Growing up in Maryland during the Depression, Lefty learned to fish and trap to put food on the table, earning a reputation as an accomplished fisherman while still a youngster. In 1947 he met Joe Brooks, the man who became his lifelong mentor and companion. Brooks was responsible for introducing Lefty to fly fishing; together they fished Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, pioneering many of the techniques and patterns now used almost universally by saltwater fly fishers, including Lefty’s Deceiver. Initially designed to catch striped bass, the effective pattern is actually an innovative tying style that can be modified to almost any game fish. The Deceiver is perhaps the best known saltwater fly pattern in the world and in 1991 the U.S. Postal Service honored Kreh’s creation with a postage stamp. It was Brooks and Tom McNally, outdoor editor of The Chicago Tribune, who encouraged Lefty to start writing, and his career officially began in 1951 with a column in The Frederick News-Post. Expert with all types of tackle and a skillful hunter as well, Lefty filled his column with simple but solid information. Local sportsmen began to rely on his advice and as his readership grew so did national and international interest in his work. By 1954 he was writing for 11 different newspapers. From 1964 to 1972 Lefty made his home in South Florida where he ran The MET (The Miami Metropolitan Fishing Tournament), wrote for The Miami Herald and, together with Karl Wickstrom and Vic Dunaway, started Florida Sportsman magazine in 1969. While in Florida Lefty did much to promote the catch-and-release ethic. Catch-and-release was not a very popular concept in 1964, especially among guides. But Lefty showed them how the sizes of popular sport fish were declining and how release fishing would help their business, and over a period of time he won them over. Lefty Kreh is the consummate fisherman. Always looking for new and better ways to do things, he believes that tradition is good for fly fishing so long as it doesn’t stand in the way of progress. He has traveled the world extensively - all 50 states, every Canadian province, Iceland, and much of Europe, South America and the South Pacific - learning something from the top guides and fishermen in each location. Lefty loves to share his skill and knowledge with anyone interested in learning. He was one of the first to make personal appearances around the country, demonstrating his fly-casting technique. A gifted and witty speaker with a seemingly endless supply of stories and jokes, he is known for his infectious enthusiasm, incredible energy, and charismatic personality. “He is the best teacher of fly casting I have ever seen,” Frank Woolner said. “A 10-minute session with Lefty is better than 10 years of trial-and-error experimentation. He is a master of trivia and knows more shortcuts than anyone in the business . . . a superb showman who can produce the goods.” In the early 1970s Kreh returned to Maryland to become outdoor editor of The Baltimore Sunpapers, retiring from the newspaper in 1993. But the concept of “retirement” is a difficult one for Lefty. When he’s not fishing and traveling, he is giving casting demonstrations, instruction or seminars; shooting photos (he developed a passion for photography in the 1950s and is world-famous for his outdoor images); working on an article, book, TV episode or video; or consulting with tackle, boat or clothing manufacturers. He has written for nearly every major outdoor magazine and authored more than 20 books, including Saltwater Fly Patterns, Practical Fishing Knots (with Mark Sosin) and Fly Fishing in Salt Water, the latter published in 1974 when the idea of casting a fly to bluefish, stripers, bonito, tarpon and tuna was not only novel, it was ridiculed. He has received numerous awards and accolades: Fly Rod & Reel’s “Angler of the Year,“ the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Sportfishing Association, and IGFA’s Elwood K. Harry Fellowship Award, all in 1997, and is a member of the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame, the Fly Fishing Hall of Fame, charter member of Saltwater Flyrodders of America, Senior Advisor to Trout Unlimited and The Federation of Fly Fishers, and founding member of Bonefish & Tarpon Unlimited. There is little doubt that Lefty is the virtual father of saltwater fly fishing and that he will continue to define the sport. Yet his greatest accomplishment may be that he has never failed to help just about every person who has sought his assistance and advice. It is said that when Lefty asked Joe Brooks - the man who had so enriched his life -- how he could repay him, Brooks replied, “Just share with others what I have shared with you.” And for more than 50 years, Lefty Kreh has been doing just that. Francesca LaMonte 1895 - 1982 1998 Inductee Francesca LaMonte spent her career performing extraordinary services for fishing as a scientist, author and editor, and founding member of the International Game Fish Association. Without LaMonte's cutting-edge marine research and literary contributions, modern efforts to salvage habitat and preserve saltwater species would be set back untold years--perhaps years too late. During her career as Associate Curator of Fishes at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), LaMonte helped produce a stream of definitive books on the world's fresh and saltwater species: co-editor of Field Book of Fresh Water Fishes of North America in 1938; author of North American Game Fishes in 1945; co-editor of Game Fishes of the World in 1949; co-editor of the Fisherman's Encyclopedia in 1950; author of Marine Game Fishes of the World in 1952 and Giant Fishes of the Ocean in 1966. At the same time LaMonte planned and supervised installation of many of AMNH's massive exhibits. She also kept up an amazing number of professional affiliations with organizations such as the New York Academy of Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists and the Society of Systematic Zoology. In 1930, LaMonte was a U.S. representative to the XI International Zoological Congress in Padua, Italy. Lamonte was a woman whose enthusiasm for fish reached around the world. She spoke several languages and traveled extensively on expeditions with the AMNH. Among LaMonte's most important achievement was the instrumental role she played in founding the International Game Fish Association in 1939. She was the IGFA's first secretary and served in that role for 39 years, was appointed to the first executive committee, and provided invaluable service as editor for all of the IGFA's early publications. Helen Lerner 1902 - 1979 1998 Inductee Helen Lerner was a world-class angler, but more important than her phenomenal angling career is the work that she did, along with husband Michael Lerner, to found the International Game Fish Association and to advance marine science. Beginning in 1936, in association with the American Museum of Natural History, the Lerners organized and financed seven major scientific expeditions which traveled the world to gather information on giant saltwater game fish. During these trips, Helen and Mike hauled in specimens, all caught by rod and reel, which the Museum's scientists dissected on the spot or at a nearby makeshift laboratory. Never before had scientists been provided access to such prime specimens. This ground-breaking research created an unprecedented foundation of scientific information about the diet and migratory patterns of the ocean's game fish. As an angler, Helen Lerner was noted for her finesse with light tackle as well as heavy. She took many white marlin and tarpon on 6 and 9-thread lines and scores of bonefish on 3-thread. She has held a number of world records, and achieved a number of impressive firsts for women: she was the first to take a bluefin tuna on the European continent, the first to take nine tuna in one year, the first to catch a broadbill in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the first to catch a broadbill swordfish off Nova Scotia, and the first to take four different species of marlin. (Lerner accomplished all of this in spite of the fact that she often became overwhelmed by seasickness.) Perhaps most telling of her prominence in the world of big-game angling is the gold medal that Lerner received from France's Academic des Sports for catching the first giant tuna on rod and reel off the coast of Brittany. Michael Lerner 1891 - 1978 1998 Inductee Michael Lerner's towering contributions to sportfishing are among the greatest of any of the early pioneers of big game angling. He is the founder of the International Game Fish Association which held its first meeting at the American Museum of Natural History in New York on June 7, 1939. In the 1930's and early '40s, Lerner and his wife, Helen, also a world-class angler, fished for blue marlin at Bimini, striped marlin and swordfish off Chile, black marlin in Australia and New Zealand, swordfish off Peru, and tuna off Nova Scotia. Lerner's distinction among all other greats of angling can be summed up in one word -- science. Lerner possessed the skills, the enthusiasm, and the vision required to create major scientific research opportunities. As a founder of the national chain of Lerner's clothing stores, he also had the ability to finance his ideas, and he was generous. Beginning in 1935, Lerner developed a relationship with the scientists of the American Museum of Natural History. Over the next six years, the Lerners organized, financed and led expeditions under the Museum's auspices to Cape Breton, Bimini, Australia, New Zealand, Peru, Chile and Ecuador. The expedition parties included scientists from the Museum and provided unprecedented opportunities to study fresh, whole specimens of large game fish. The knowledge gained through these pioneering trips broke new ground in the scientific understanding of saltwater game fish, and became an invaluable resource to scholars, anglers, and conservationists around the world. The scores of international awards and citations Lerner received suggest the depth and breadth of this man's commitment and contribution to angling. He was decorated with the highest honors by the governments of Nova Scotia, France, Chile and the United States. He received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Miami, and was awarded the first Gold Medal Angler's Award by the International Oceanographic Foundation for being the "sport fisherman who has accomplished the most for marine science." Gary Loomis 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.
Mary Orvis Marbury 1856 - 1914 1998 Inductee Mary Orvis Marbury -- through her book Favorite Flies and Their Histories -- was a powerful influence in the development of American fly fishing. Mary Orvis was born in Manchester, Vermont, the year her father, Charles, founded The Orvis Company. Mary took over the company's fly-tying operation at age twenty. The Orvis Company provided fine flies in 434 different patterns. These flies helped drive sales of her father's invention--the lightweight fly reel--and other Orvis fishing accessories. Mary Orvis quickly recognized the need to address the problem of standardization of fly names and types. Anglers placed orders for professionally tied flies by name, but often received something different from what they had in mind. Charles Orvis surveyed anglers from the most concentrated fly fishing areas across North America soliciting information on the finest flies and how they were to be made and used. Mary Orvis compiled the responses in an illustrated book, Favorite Flies and Their Histories, first published in 1892. This 500-page volume contained 32 color plates and illustrations of 290 regional patterns. Orvis' book became a best-seller and the national standard reference work for identifying flies, dressings and patterns. Mary's personal life was apparently unhappy. Her marriage to John Marbury in 1877 did not last and her only child, a son, died at an early age. Yet her mark on angling is undisputed, as evidenced by the headline attached to her obituary in London's Fishing Gazette in 1914: "Death of the Most Famous but one Female Angling Author." (The first, of course, is Dame Juliana Berners.) Roland Martin 1940 - 2003 Inductee More than a quarter-century ago Roland Martin was very busy helping the fledgling Bass Anglers Sportsman Society get off the ground. For a few years in the late 1960s, Martin rode B.A.S.S.-founder Ray Scott’s company bus around the country, giving seminars, teaching bass enthusiasts how to fish, and signing up members for the new organization. When Martin began his own professional career in 1970, many expected him to win his first event, the 1970 Toledo Bend Invitational. He didn’t. He finished second. However, he did win the second B.A.S.S. tournament he fished -- the 1970 Lake Seminole event -- followed by a second-place finish in the third BASSMASTER tournament in which he competed. No one previously had accomplished this. From that point on this former Santee-Cooper Reservoir fishing guide, who caught his first fish at the age of 4, dominated the sport’s early years and went on to become the star of competitive bass fishing. In the past 33 years Roland Martin has amassed 19 B.A.S.S. tournament victories, a B.A.S.S. record; is the only nine-time “Angler of the Year” title winner in B.A.S.S. history; has appeared in 25 BASS Masters Classic tournaments, and has 19 second-place and 90 top-10 finishes in B.A.S.S. events. And still Martin remains competitive. Though he retired from the bass wars in 1992 to pursue other passions -- turkey hunting, fly fishing for tarpon, and bonefishing on the Islamorada flats - he returned to the Tournament Trail 18 months later, missing the camaraderie and competition, and picked up right where he left off. Everyone (Martin included) marvels at his longevity. And all agree that the secrets to his continued success are his versatility, his enduring fascination with fishing, his enthusiasm, and his love of the tournament scene. Even his competitors admit that he keeps getting better. Recognizing the importance of mastering the mental side of the sport, Martin psychs himself up for every fishing day. Determination and confidence are two of his greatest assets. “You can’t even think about failure,” he says, and he truly believes that with every cast he is going to catch a fish. Roland Martin is one of America’s most recognizable fishermen. Many know him from his outstanding tournament career. But he likes to talk fishing, too. Martin has spent years sharing his extensive knowledge and providing countless fishermen with the information they need to catch fish more consistently. He is the author of numerous articles and books on bass fishing, including the popular 101 Bass-Catching Secrets, written with Tim Tucker in 1980, and his television career spans nearly 30 years, the past two decades as host of the award-winning series, Fishing with Roland Martin. Roland Martin is known as a scientific angler. Many years ago he popularized trolling motors and was instrumental in making depthfinders standard equipment on bass boats. Over the years he helped develop a water clarity meter and many of the lures, rods, and reels that are popular today. Considered the “father of pattern fishing,” Martin is credited with developing and defining the technique he discovered during his seven years of guiding on Lake Santee-Cooper in the 1960s. His definition of pattern fishing: “A pattern is the exact set of water conditions such as depth, cover, structure, temperature, clarity, current, etc. which attracts fish to that specific spot and to other similar spots all over the same body of water." In the bass fishing world, Roland Martin is a living legend. A member of the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame since 1976 and inducted into the Professional Bass Fishing Hall of Fame in 2001, he now rightfully joins other sportfishing pioneers and innovators in the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame. Frank J. Mather III 1911 – 2000 2004 Inductee Frank Mather educated the world about bluefin tuna, was known worldwide for developing the first tagging program for large fish -- and never had a biology degree. After studying physics at Williams College and naval architecture at MIT, he worked for a New York City firm designing ships for the war effort. But he had a passion for fish, and in 1945 he became a Research Associate at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts. Mather was a fanatical ocean angler. He kept records of every fish he caught, read everything there was to read about the tunas and billfishes, worked on them in the lab, and fished for them up and down the Atlantic coast. When his notes and observations didn’t agree with what he found in print about the migrations and growth rates of the large pelagic fishes, especially bluefin tuna, Mather resolved to replace the theories with facts. He decided that marking and releasing fish that could be recaptured at a later date was the most obvious way to gather precise data. He envisioned a tag that could be attached without removing the fish from the water, something that laymen could use, for if tuna research were left only to a handful of scientists it would take decades to tag the |