Inductee

Kathy Fennel – Kathy Fennel has been a key figure on the tournament bass fishing scene since joining Operation Bass in 1982, steadily rising through the ranks to become one of the most influential people in the fishing industry. Her strength and experience were recognized by Fishing League Worldwide (FLW) in 1996 when she was promoted to operations manager. The following year she was appointed vice president of operations, and in 2004 she was promoted to executive vice president and chief operating officer. Fennel then became president of operations in 2010, a position she held until MLF acquired FLW in the fall of 2019.

As an executive vice president & general manager for MLF, Fennel oversees day-to-day operations for the world’s largest lineup of bass tournaments, making sure the organization continues to provide prestigious, well-organized events of which participants, fans, hosts and sponsors are proud to be a part of.

Fennel is a 2015 inductee into the Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame and a member of the USAngling board of directors and the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation (RBFF) board of directors. She also serves on the Kentucky Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau board of directors and Kentucky Lake Economic Development board of directors as vice-chairman. Fennel grew up fishing on Kentucky Lake and attended Murray State University. She enjoys spending time in the outdoors with her son Daniel, his wife Amanda, and her grandchildren, Jake and Jude.

Tommy Biffle — In his 34-year career as a professional angler, Tommy Biffle of Wagoner, Okla., has become one of the leading money winners in professional fishing, amassing more than $3 million, including almost $2.3 million with B.A.S.S. Biffle is considered one of the best on any tour at flipping and pitching a jig into shallow cover, and he is credited with introducing the pitching technique to the sport. In 2010 he developed a technique known as “bottom buggin’,” which employs his signature Biffle Bug creature bait paired with a Biffle Hardhead hinged jighead. He won eight Bassmaster tournaments and qualified for 19 Bassmaster Classics and eight FLW Cups, finishing runner-up in two Classics and three Cups. He currently competes in MLF events, and he also stays active in promoting tournament fishing, children’s derbies, water safety, fish care and high school and college fishing.

Trip Weldon — Trip Weldon — In the 50-plus-year history of B.A.S.S., there have only been three tournament directors: Harold Sharp, Dewey Kendrick and Henry Howard Weldon III — better known throughout the sport of bass fishing as “Trip.” Weldon retired at age 65 in February 2021, capping almost 20 years as B.A.S.S. tournament director and 31 years as a Tournament Department employee.

Weldon earned a widespread reputation as a fair but firm tournament director whose two main priorities were maintaining the integrity of the sport and ensuring the safety of anglers. Both goals required him to make extremely tough calls, but even professional anglers whose careers were affected by his decisions to disqualify catches or cancel competition days expressed respect for Weldon’s decision-making.

His three decades in the B.A.S.S. Tournament Department witnessed monumental changes in the sport, including the advent of the pro-am tournament format (a game-changer he credits to Kendrick, his predecessor), the first female anglers to qualify for the Classic, and the success of competitions among youth, high school and college anglers.

“The biggest change I’ve seen is how good the young anglers have become,” he said. “I credit this to improvements in technology, obviously, but also to the development of Bassmaster High School and College series.” Importantly, those programs are under the leadership of Weldon’s son Hank, who was himself a collegiate angler on the University of Alabama team.

Trip Weldon was the main impetus behind the creation of the Bassmaster Elite Series in 2006. Like golf’s PGA, the Elite Series was the first major tour requiring competitors to qualify into it and to continue to perform in order to maintain their Elite status. What’s more, Elite Series pros no longer had to share a boat with another angler, enabling them to prove their own abilities to find and catch bass without any help or hindrance from a co-angler.

Even before going to work for B.A.S.S., Weldon was a bass-fishing junkie, serving as a volunteer camera-boat driver during the 1981 Bassmaster Classic in Montgomery, Alabama, and other tournaments near his home in Alabama. Like most Bass Fishing Hall of Fame members, he is grateful for being able to spend so many years in his dream job. However, his childhood goal wasn’t to weigh fish, but to catch them.

“At first, I guess I wanted to be a professional angler,” he recalls. “I grew up just two blocks from the original B.A.S.S. headquarters in Montgomery, so I was always drawn to the organization.” In a short career on the tournament trails, Weldon won an Everstart event on Lake Martin, Alabama, and placed second in a B.A.S.S. event on that lake. He also won three BFL tournaments and a Red Man Regional on Kentucky Lake, and he had two Top 5 finishes in the Red Man All-American tournaments at Lake Havasu, Arizona, and the Arkansas River, Arkansas.

To finance his tournament career, Weldon first went to work as an “agent operator” for the CSX rail company. That’s the same job Sharp left to become the first tournament director at B.A.S.S. Not coincidentally, both men demonstrated a knack for ensuring that tournament operations ran smoothly and on time.

After a brief stint selling bass boats, Weldon went to work for B.A.S.S. in July 1991, beginning with the Bassmaster Classic on the Chesapeake Bay out of Baltimore. “That was KVD’s first Classic,” Weldon noted.

During a little more than 10 years as assistant tournament director, Weldon earned the respect and confidence of the tournament pros. At his first meeting with the anglers after being named tournament director in 2002, the pros gave him a standing ovation.

Jason Lucas — Born in Yorkshire, England in 1894, Lucas was instrumental in popularizing bass fishing through his writings for Sports Afield and later Sports Illustrated. Initially a fiction writer, Lucas wrote several western novels in the 1930s before he established himself as an authority on bass fishing at a time when trout were still considered the prized gamefish among anglers. His writings were based on experiences from spending countless days on the water. At one point, he claimed to have fished eight hours per day for 365 consecutive days. In 1947, he published Lucas on Bass Fishing, one of the first how-to books devoted to the pursuit of bass. It was later updated and reprinted twice, adding information about other freshwater species. In the book’s introduction, Ted Kesting, then the editorial director at Sports Afield, wrote, “When I first heard about a fisherman by the name of Jason Lucas, I put him down as another one of those piscatorial experts who are handier with conversation in a bar room than they are with a casting rod in a boat. … Then one day an associate of mine asked Lucas to write an article about bass. I read it and was amazed. This man really knew something about fishing.” Later, Kesting assigned Lucas a series of articles on his new angling techniques. The resulting reader response was overwhelmingly positive, and Lucas was then hired as the magazine’s angling editor, a position he held for more than 20 years.

Gene Gilliland — Gene Gilliland, a nationally known fisheries biologist, was 12 years old when he was first introduced to fishing by family friend “Uncle” Ralph Buckingham. Uncle Ralph put a ZEBCO 33 in Gene’s hand and tied on a Johnson Silver Minnow with an Uncle Josh pork frog trailer – and they went bass fishing. That lit the fire that still burns today.

Curtis and Genie Gilliland supported their son’s fishing obsession and bought a jon boat. Gene and childhood friend Charlie Steed (deceased) taught each other to fish on local farm ponds and the pair soon stepped up to a small bass boat, fishing lakes all over North Texas. They were frequent visitors at Bomber Bait Company in their hometown of Gainesville, Texas, where founder Clarence “Turby” Turbeville kept them supplied with baits. They learned about bass fishing from BASSMASTER Magazine and by watching Bill Dance on TV. They joined B.A.S.S. and the Gainesville Bass Club, where experienced adult anglers like Ray Nichols and Tim Bullard became friends and mentors to the teenagers.

Gene’s life-changing moment in fishing wasn’t a big catch or a tournament win. It happened while Gene and Charlie were attending the 1972 BASSMASTER All-American Tournament weigh-in at Lake Eufaula, Oklahoma. They met B.A.S.S. founder Ray Scott who was promoting the revolutionary concept of releasing tournament bass alive. Scott showed them the tank used to hold bass prior to release. That tank and the catch-and-release concept ultimately changed tournament fishing and the mindset of bass anglers – and would influence Gene’s future in ways that he could never have dreamed.

Gene already had an interest in biology when high school science teacher Ronald Green told him about careers in fisheries. Gene interned that summer for the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department and got hooked on the science. He enrolled in the Fisheries Sciences program at Texas A&M and after completing his degree, his advisor, Dr. Richard Noble, encouraged him to pursue graduate studies. Gene landed at Oklahoma State University and earned a master’s degree.

Following graduate school, he was hired by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) at the Fishery Research Lab in Norman. Fisheries Chief Kim Erickson and supervisor Greg Summers gave him free rein to design and conduct bass research projects. Veteran biologist Jeff Boxrucker was always there for advice and counsel. Gene spent over a decade refining the agency’s Florida bass stocking protocols, was responsible for bringing smallmouth bass from Tennessee and stocking their offspring in Oklahoma reservoirs, helped develop ODWC’s Black Bass Management Plan, and coordinated aquatic vegetation introductions and habitat enhancement projects.

As tournament popularity grew, so did concerns about the impacts on bass populations. Gene became the liaison between ODWC and tournament organizations. In the early 1990’s he began research looking at fish dispersal from weigh-in locations. Alan McGuckin who went on to career in the fishing industry, was a University of Oklahoma graduate student and helped with that study. Gene and Alan shared a passion for the sport and became fast friends, a friendship that has lasted 30 years.

Realizing that bass club weigh-ins were less than optimal, in 1993 Gene and his technician Rick Horton created a “Weigh-in Kit” to help clubs run “fish-friendly” weigh-ins. A partnership with Falcon Rods and Gene Larew Lures funded distribution of kits to tackle shops who loaned the equipment, free of charge. Media coverage caught the attention of Al Mills, then B.A.S.S. Environmental Director, who invited Gene to speak at a conservation workshop. That speaking engagement began a long professional relationship with B.A.S.S., working with each successive Conservation Director (CD) – Bruce Shupp, Chris Horton and Noreen Clough (deceased).

From 1994 to 1999 Gene took tournament fish-care recommendations made by other researchers and tested them in controlled situations, developing a set of best practices. Studies and data compilations done by long-time colleague, friend, and later fishing buddy Dr. Hal Schramm were invaluable in developing the research. Gene and Rick’s backgrounds as tournament anglers proved advantageous in defining objectives and communicating with anglers, tournament organizers, and the public.

After seeing Gene’s research presentation at a conference in 2000, B.A.S.S. CD Bruce Shupp commissioned Gene and Hal to collaborate on Keeping Bass Alive, A Guidebook for Tournament Anglers and Organizers (KBA). That publication became the defining document on tournament fish care. It was distributed to tens of thousands of anglers, tournament organizations, and state agencies; has been quoted in countless print and website articles. Although the science has advanced since KBA was first published, the basic principles are still relevant and have been validated in more recent studies.

Gene has attended all but one BASSMASTER Classic since 1993 participating in conservation workshops and assisting with fish care. He wrote a column for B.A.S.S. Times for over 17 years about black bass research, management, and conservation issues. He also became a trusted source of information for outdoor writers across the country and was often invited to speak at angler workshops and professional conferences.

Gene’s body of work has been recognized by all levels of the American Fisheries Society for his scientific contributions and for his public outreach efforts. He was inducted into the Fisheries Management Hall of Excellence in 2014, one of the highest honors in the fisheries profession.

In 2013, Gene retired from ODWC after 32 years. At the urging of retiring B.A.S.S. CD Noreen Clough, Gene accepted the position as her replacement and holds it today. Gilliland is regarded as a voice for bass fishing on numerous national boards and councils where B.A.S.S. holds a seat. Gene helps guide the B.A.S.S. Conservation Agenda, provides content for the company website and social media platforms, works with the tournament staff ensuring the highest levels of fish care are followed, and acts as a mentor to the volunteer B.A.S.S. Nation state Conservation Directors, assisting with local and state issues. He has served on the board of directors of the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame since 2014.

From that early relationship with Bomber Bait Company, Gene stayed connected with the fishing industry. He worked with the many companies that have called Oklahoma home (Falcon Rods, Zebco/Quantum, MotorGuide, Gene Larew, Lowrance, Hart, Terminator, Storm). In his current role with B.A.S.S., Gene has developed relationships with many other companies like AFTCO, Yamaha, Shimano, and Berkley that share a conservation ethic, and he is constantly recruiting other companies into the fold. He remains a champion for conservation of the resources that the sport and industry depend on.

Gene fishes more for fun these days, mostly with friend of 20+ years Steve Clay, whom he met through the North Oklahoma City Bassmasters, and with his wife of nearly 40 years, Pat, who has a growing passion for the sport. He still volunteers as a boat captain for the Oklahoma City Junior Bassmasters that he and Clay helped start in 2004 and will fish a club or Oklahoma B.A.S.S. Nation tournament now and then as schedules allow. He stays connected with fisheries management through professional societies, and with the broader bass tournament scene via his work, from websites, podcasts, and social media.

James Heddon (1845- 1911)— Credited with the invention of first wooden-body artificial lures in the 1890s, James Heddon, and his company James Heddon and Sons, produced the first commercially-successful lure called the ‘Dowagiac.’ The round tapered wooden body bait – especially designed for bass fishing, featured a three-tine hook at its rear end, with another three-time hook at its mid-point. From the book The Heddons and Their Bait, written by Donald D. Lyons. Heddon described the lure in his first product catalog as this – “In angling for bass (for which the “Dowagiac” is especially designed) or any other surface-feeding game fish, nothing is gained by making the bait to resemble any living thing. The Black Bass is primarily a fighter’ secondarily, a feeder; therefore that lure which excites his belligerency rather that his appetite is bet calculated to place in the creel. It is the commotion in the water and note the resemblance to frogs or minnows which attract the bass and excite the biting instinct. Imitation minnows, frogs, etc., may have tendency to catch the angler who does not know the nature and habits of the bass, but it is certain that these imitative qualities perform no part in provoking the ‘”strike.”

It can truly be said that all the way back in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, James Heddon knew bass. His passion for bass fishing is said to have started on the shore of Mill Pond in Dowagiac, Mich., where a sign at what is now ‘James Heddon Park’ commemorates his invention with these words – ‘It was near this spot in the late 1890’s that James Heddon sat whittling while waiting for a friend. When he got up to leave he tossed the small piece of wood into the water where it was immediately struck by a bass. That seemingly insignificant event led James Heddon to imagine and build a topwater lure which he called the ‘Dowagiac’. By the 1920’s James Heddon’s Sons was the world’s largest producer of quality fishing tackle.’ It’s a great story, and to this day, that is what it just may be.

Heddon’s innovations in using artificial lures to catch fish helped revolutionize bass fishing. Several of his creations remain popular today, including the Zara Spook, River Runt, Meadow Mouse and Lucky 13. James Heddon was born on August 28, 1845 and passed away at the age of 66 on December 7, 1911