Doug Hannon

Doug Hannon (1947 – 2013)— Big-bass angler, bass conservationist and inventor Doug Hannon was known throughout the bass fishing world as “The Bass Professor.” Hannon was born in Canada and moved to the U.S. at age 7. While an undergraduate in psychology at Tulane University in New Orleans, Hannon visited the Texas ranch of his girlfriend’s (and future wife’s) family, where he went bass fishing for the first time. It proved to be a life-changing experience — Hannon became so fascinated with bass that immediately after graduating, he moved to Florida, which in the early 1970s was the big bass capitol of America.

Here, thanks to a trust fund provided by his late father, Hannon, freed from financial constraints, embarked upon his quest to learn all he could about big bass and how to catch them. He began by interviewing Florida’s leading big bass anglers, many of them reclusive loners, and from them gained inside knowledge about the haunts and habits of the Sunshine State’s giant bass.

Hannon next began guiding for big bass on a catch-and-release-only basis. His notoriety grew quickly after journalist Frank Sargeant, impressed both by Doug’s prowess at catching lunkers and his in-depth knowledge of bass behavior, dubbed Hannon “the Bass Professor” in his Tampa Tribune outdoor column. By the mid-’80s, Hannon had caught and released over 500 bass weighing 10 pounds or more, and had become nationally renowned through frequent articles in Bassmaster and other fishing publications. Hannon’s quirky personality and nature-based approach to bass fishing stood in stark contrast to the braggadocio and “run-and-gun” style of many tournament anglers of the day.

He realized that a stealthy approach was necessary for catching giant bass from Florida’s shallow and highly-pressured lakes and rivers, so he did most of his fishing from a 16-foot aluminum boat with a 40-horsepower outboard – a far cry from the fast and flashy fiberglass bass boats booming in popularity at the time. Hannon’s boat typified his iconoclastic approach to bass fishing. He painted it in camouflage colors so it would blend in, rather than stick out, from the Florida bass’ clear, shallow environment. Its lack of raised casting decks allowed Hannon to maintain the lowest possible profile so as to not alert wary lunkers to his presence, and its up-front stick steering allowed him to thread his way through vast untapped expanses of weed-choked bass habitat. Hannon knew that big bass and hordes of people don’t mix; he caught most of the 800-plus giants he logged during his career, including a 17-pound largemouth, from small, remote lakes and rivers, many lacking even rudimentary launch ramps.

Hannon spent thousands of hours on the water by himself, fine-tuning not only his angling skills but also his prowess as a diver and underwater photographer.

Blessed with an innate talent for invention, Hannon held nearly 20 patents for fishing-related innovations, including the first truly weedless trolling motor propeller and the popular MicroWave bass rod guide system. He was arguably the earliest proponent of catch and release of big bass and used his magazine articles as a bully pulpit to stress the enduring value of photographing and releasing these superior fish verses killing them and displaying them as a mounted trophy. Hannon built a large bass research tank in his backyard and worked with tournament organizers including B.A.S.S. to develop livewell potions formulated to reduce the mortality of released bass. He authored and co-authored several books on bass fishing, and his “Bass Professor” segment was a popular component of “The Bassmasters” television program. Hannon died in March 2013 at the age of 66.