Guido Hibdon

Known affectionately as “pawpaw” (he is a grandfather), it was his mild demeanor and years of giving fatherly advice to tournament fishermen across America that gained him this name with hundreds of tournament pros.

Guido Hibdon, while having fished all of his life, came to the national fishing public’s attention, when he won the first B.A.S.S.. tournament he ever competed in, on Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri, in 1980. This, however, was only the beginning of a storied career for this outstanding angler.

While growing up in the mountains of central Missouri, he became known as one of the best hunters and fishermen to ever go in search of his prey. Growing up in a family that was the first to guide on Lake of the Ozarks had a little something to do with it.

Early on, he learned to make fishing lures for a living. Not as a business, but out of necessity.

Since he began his professional tournament career, in 1980 he has collected awards and achievements second to none. In 1988 he won one of the toughest BassMaster Classics ever held, by capturing the title on the James River, outside of Richmond, Virginia, with a three day total of 28 pounds, 8ounces.

What made this victory so much sweeter, was the fact that, for three days, he had a captive audience of dozens of spectator boats following him up the tiny Appomattox River. Anyone who has seen the television coverage of this event knows what it meant. At this same event, his son, Dion, was also making his first BassMaster Classic appearance. A father/son combination that has only been accomplished one other time during B.A.S.S.. history and a Classic title that his son would also capture a few years later.

However, fishing under tough conditions proved to be his forte. In 1990 and 1991, he captured the coveted B.A.S.S.. “Angler of the Year” title. A “back-to-back” feat that has only been done twice throughout the history of the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society’s tournament trail. Once, by the legendary angler Roland Martin.

It was this man’s uncanny ability to catch bass in gin-clear lakes, on small, four-to-eight pound test lines, that have become the stuff that legends are made of. He is credited with catching more bass over ten pounds, on light line, than most people have ever caught on any size of line. He’s designed some of the greatest bass lures ever created, for Gambler Lure Company. Baits like the “Guido Bug” and the “Guido’s Original”.

And, just to prove that, in his mid-fifties, he still has the “right stuff”, he finished in 4th place in last year’s Wal*Mart FLW Tour “Angler of the Year” race.