Inductee

Few, if any, people have had a more powerful influence on bass boating and fishing over a longer period of time than Randy Hopper of Flippin, Ark. Having worked his way up from laborer to President and CEO of Ranger Boats — and now to co-founder and CEO of Vexus Boats Co. — Hopper embodies the great American success story.

After joining Ranger in 1970, Hopper worked side-by-side with founder Forrest L. Wood in building and refining the standard-setting Ranger bass boats. He helped design and introduce the first aerated livewells for bass boats in 1973, making catch-and-release tournament fishing a reality. He and Wood helped create upright-and-level flotation standards for boats, and he was instrumental in the development of Ranger’s sponson V hulls.

Over the ensuing years, Hopper led Ranger in the introduction of its cutting-edge modified V hulls and, ultimately, high-performance hulls. He was also behind Ranger’s expansion to saltwater fishing boats and Cherokee aluminum rigs.

He was integral in developing RangerTrail trailers with fiberglass fenders, disc brakes and many other innovations that have been widely adopted. He designed heat-shielding fiberglass lids for livewells and the industry’s first integrated engine setback system. And he developed and patented the use of “pultruded fiberglass” to replace plywood in boat transoms, establishing another industry standard.

Hopper was responsible for Ranger’s being the first brand to incorporate flotation foam that doesn’t deplete ozone, and for the research and development of boat-building processes that drastically reduce other harmful emissions.

Professional tournament anglers owe a debt of gratitude to Hopper. Through Ranger, he assembled some of the sport’s top pro teams, and he was always open to supporting promising young anglers at the outset of their career. He was invaluable in the launch of FLW Outdoors, which advanced tournament fishing through higher payouts, innovative television coverage, engagement of non-endemic sponsors, wrapped boats and NASCAR-inspired uniforms.

Hopper and others at Ranger launched Vexus boats eight years ago, and he continues to design and engineer new, state-of-the-sport fiberglass and aluminum models. A former trustee of the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation and board member of the National Marine Manufacturers Association, Hopper has always believed in generously “giving back” to the sport that means so much to him.

Harold Sharp, legendary B.A.S.S. tournament director, once called him “The Original B.A.S.S. Groupie.” Today, Craig Lamb of Murfreesboro, Tenn., wears the nickname proudly, even though it doesn’t even hint at all the ways he has made his mark on the sport and industry of bass fishing.

He got the nickname because he was regularly showing up at every tournament he could afford to attend, hanging out with the pros and journalists and other tournament gypsies. His first job as Forrest L. Wood’s “caddy” on the tournament trail led to his helping in the production of “The Bassmasters” TV show on The Nashville Network in the mid-1980s.

The enormously popular show was a watershed event in the evolution of professional fishing, and Lamb was in on it.

When Dewey Kendrick replaced Sharp as tournament director, he hired Lamb as his assistant. The young Tennessean was a witness to and a participant in some of the most important innovations in competitive fishing. He helped pull off the made-for-TV MegaBucks tournaments with their 10-hole format. He helped manage the Western Division, which expanded B.A.S.S.’s reach outside the Southeast and enticed some of the West’s best anglers to become Bassmaster pros.

Lamb next became associate editor of B.A.S.S. Times, helping produce the magazine and also covering tournaments and writing columns and features for Bassmaster.

Then came a stint as TNN’s manager of Outdoor Programming. In that role, Lamb not only contributed to the popularity of bass fishing and a membership explosion in B.A.S.S., but he also helped make stars of several tournament anglers turned TV fishermen.

As digital media began to emerge, he returned to B.A.S.S. and helped launch and edit Bassmaster.com. He innovated the first subscription-based premium website for B.A.S.S. and produced franchise programming for ESPN Outdoors.

Currently a Senior Editor at B.A.S.S., he oversees custom content and produces tournament coverage. Still a tournament junkie at heart, Lamb continues to attend the events that called to him 45 years ago. He has worked nearly 400 fishing derbies by now, including 42 Bassmaster Classics and many of the most momentous events in sportfishing.

He is proud to have held a myriad roles in the bass fishing game, he says, but all fall under a single job description: “promoting the fun of bass fishing.”

Level-wind baitcast reels of today owe their original design to William Shakespeare Jr., who in 1896 invented the ground-breaking feature that enables anglers to evenly wind their fishing line on the spool. That practical feature undeniably did more for the fledgling sport of bass fishing than any other invention of its time.

Shakespeare’s level-wind reel made casting for bass less frustrating, more fun and efficient and as a result, more appealing to newcomers of the sport. The reel had even greater overall impacts, as anglers transitioned from fly rods and reels for trout, into broader realms for panfish, pike and other game fish in freshwater and saltwater that were ideal for the new level-wind reel.

Shakespeare’s marketing and advertising savvy and manufacturing experience in complex mechanical camera components led him to found the William Shakespeare Jr. Company in 1897. The slogan for his new reel was “Built Like a Watch.”

Shakespeare’s manufacturing and marketing mind was an ideal match for his ground-breaking inventions as they rolled out. Making and selling “Baits that Catch Bass” was an early slogan for pushing lures such as The Evolution, The Sure-Lure, The Shakespeare-Worden Bucktail Spinner and The Tournament Frog. From there, the innovative Shakespeare broadened his brand appeal to include apparel, leather rod cases, hooks and hand-tied trout flies.

By 1939, bass fishing was gaining popularity and Shakespeare’s fortunes were invested into engineering more complex reels, including the Wondereel that incorporated a feature that reduced backlash, along with an improved drag system. The reel was akin to a mechanical recruitment tool for bringing anglers into the sport. Along the way, Shakespeare began to publish educational booklets and pamphlets that provided fishing tips and instructions for anglers of all experience levels.

Shakespeare celebrated its 50th year in 1947 by securing the patent rights to the world’s first fiberglass fishing rod, the Howard Glastik Wonderod. The revolutionary rod made made bamboo and steel rods virtually obsolete.

The first Wonderods hit the market as baitcasting rods and sold for $49.50. The company’s growing expertise with fiberglass led to it become a leader in the production of other fiberglass products including radio antennas, utility and flag poles.

The Shakespeare Company’s longevity was due in part to its ability to produce good affordable products during America’s many economic recessions and depressions, which so often left people without work, but gave them plenty of time to fish. Several of the other tackle manufacturers, who did not enjoy such a broad base of support, are now just memories.

Anyone who has ever caught a bass on a spinnerbait, buzzbait or skirted jig owes a special thanks to Fred Arbogast, one of the most creative innovators of fishing lures in the history of sportfishing. In 1934, the young luremaker was looking for an alternative to labor-intensive feather and hair dressings for his bass baits. Having worked for Goodyear and B.F. Goodrich in his hometown of Akron, Ohio, since high school, he hit upon the idea of rubber skirts for lures.

He called his creation the Hula Skirt, and he used it on his Hawaiian Wiggler (a precursor to the buzzbait), Hula Popper and Hula Dancer. His skirt design led to the use of rubber and other materials to make pliable skirts for a multitude of lures popular today. By the time of his sudden, premature death in 1947, at the age of 53, Arbogast had designed nearly a dozen deadly bass baits, including a perennial favorite, the Jitterbug.

Arbogast’s contributions to fishing extend far beyond lure design and manufacturing. He won his first distance casting competition at 22 years old, and within a few years he began to dominate national bait casting competitions. He held world casting records in both accuracy and distance categories, earning at least eight national championship titles in the National Association of Scientific Angling Clubs. In 1925 he hurled a half-ounce weight 293 feet — just shy of a football field in length.

He was a tireless promoter and educator of bass fishing, presenting seminars and trick-casting demonstrations in his area of the Midwest. He was a dedicated conservationist, as well. As a leading member of the Izaak Walton League and his county’s Fish and Game Protective Association, Arbogast campaigned to curtail water pollution and to protect fisheries from overharvest.

Arbogast Lure Co. continued to thrive long after its founder’s death. It became part of PRADCO Outdoor Brands in 1997.

It might be tempting to identify Mike McKinnis primarily as the son of the late Jerry McKinnis of The Fishing Hole fame. That would be a huge mistake.

While Jerry’s impact on the sport of bass fishing has been widely celebrated — he was inducted into the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame in 2003 — fewer people know about the contributions made by the younger McKinnis.

When Ray Scott founded B.A.S.S. in early 1968, he dreamed that one day, bass fishing would be broadcast live on television just like basketball and other sports. Mike McKinnis and his production team at JM Associates made Scott’s dream a reality with the streaming of the 2015 Bassmaster Classic live on Bassmaster.com.

The breakthrough production was an immediate success. It evolved rapidly until today, on-the-water fishing action is streamed live on FOX Sports networks — not only from the Classic but also from Bassmaster Elite events, Bassmaster Opens and College Series tournaments.

Since joining his father’s company, JM Associates of Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1990, Mike and his team have transformed the way fishing fans consume content around their sport.

His productions of one-off fishing tournament programs in the mid-‘90s attracted the attention of ESPN, which tapped JM to launch ESPN’s coverage of the new FLW tour in 1996. He and his crew managed to deliver packaged programming from FLW events in less than a week.

After ESPN bought B.A.S.S. in 2001, McKinnis and company began packaging outdoor sports programming, including “The Bassmasters” TV Show, every Saturday and Sunday morning on ESPN and ESPN2.

After his father became a part-owner of B.A.S.S. in 2010, Mike’s impact grew even greater. He assigned live camera operators to the Top 10 anglers’ boats each day, added teams of live-action reporters and incorporated live video from drone cameras.

Mike played a key role in development and production of other popular fishing programs including Bassmaster’s The CAST, Zona’s Awesome Fishing Show, The Spanish Fly with Jose Wejebe, The Redfish Cup Series, The Madfin Shark Series among many others. His productions have earned an Emmy, Emmy nominations and other top awards.

Raised in Northern California, Skeet Reese is arguably the most influential West Coast angler in the sport. Though his impact is much broader than his California roots. He achieved legend status for three reasons: 1) winning tournaments on multiple tours; 2) his personal style which includes the eye-catching yellow and black color scheme, his massive truck, and even dancing on stage; and 3) his successful track record of product development and signature tackle sales.