By BFHOF Communications Staff
Former B.A.S.S. tournament director Trip Weldon, current B.A.S.S. conservation director Gene Gilliland and the late fishing writer Jason Lucas make up the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame Class of 2021, the Hall's board of directors announced today. The trio will be honored Sept. 30 at Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife National Museum & Aquarium in Springfield, Mo. at a special reception within the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame venue, followed by the Hall’s annual dinner and induction activities.
“On behalf of our entire board, we’re thrilled that we’ll be able to honor Gene Gilliland and Trip Weldon in person, along with Jason Lucas posthumously, when the bass fishing world comes together to celebrate in Springfield this fall,” said BFHOF board president John Mazurkiewicz. “Each of them has made lasting contributions to the sport and we’re excited to see them take their rightful place in the Hall of Fame.”
The three members of the 2021 class distinguished themselves in various facets of the sport – spanning conservation, media and tournament operations.
Gilliland is known for his extensive work in fisheries management and bass conservation efforts and continues that involvement as conservation director for B.A.S.S. He is a tireless advocate for bass fishing on numerous national boards and councils.
Lucas, the former fishing editor for Sports Afield, is considered one of the modern era’s ‘fathers of bass fishing.’ His book Lucas on Bass Fishing, published in 1947, was one of the first bass fishing how-to books and helped ignite the popularity of the sport. He later wrote about bass fishing for Sports Afield, providing the sport with meaningful exposure in the mainstream sports world. Lucas passed away in 1975.
While he enjoyed competing in bass tournaments, including Top-5 finishes in Red Man All-American events, Weldon set the standard for tournament directors during his nearly 20 years presiding over B.A.S.S events. Known among professional bass anglers for his fairness and strict adherence to the rule book, he became one of the most respected tournament directors in the history of the sport. Weldon retired from B.A.S.S. in 2020.
In overseeing the induction process for the BFHOF board, nominations committee chairman Todd Hammill said, “We appreciate the involvement of our past inductees and supporters of the Hall in nominating worthy individuals for this honor, and especially our 30-member selection panel for their transparent efforts in identifying the qualified nominees who deserve a place in the Hall.”
While the spotlight at the September festivities will shine on Gilliland, Lucas and Weldon, the Hall’s 2020 class, which included Steve Bowman, Bryan Kerchal, James Heddon, Ron Lindner and Jay Yelas, will also be recognized. Last year’s induction celebration was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We do thank all who supported our online auction last year that helped the board function through the pandemic and with projects such as our conservation grants,” said BFHOF board vice president Tim Carini. “We look forward to Sept. 30 in Springfield when the bass fishing world comes together to help us celebrate, promote and preserve our sport.”
Tickets to the induction dinner and information about the Hall of Fame and its mission are available at www.BassFishingHOF.com.
Gene Gilliland has been at the forefront of bass conservation for several decades.
About the Class of 2021
> Gene Gilliland — During his 32-year career as a research biologist, fisheries management supervisor and assistant chief of fisheries for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, Gilliland developed a national reputation as an advocate for angler involvement in fisheries decision-making. It earned him prestigious national awards from the American Fisheries Society and induction into the Fisheries Management Hall of Fame.
Throughout his career, he was actively involved with B.A.S.S. Conservation and was a regular contributor on black bass biology and management for B.A.S.S. Times magazine and other fishing publications. He co-authored (with Dr. Hal Schramm) the booklet “Keeping Bass Alive, A Guidebook for Tournament Anglers and Organizers,” which has become the defining document for modern tournament fish care.
The B.A.S.S. National Conservation Director since 2013, Gilliland is regarded as the voice of bass fishing on numerous national boards and councils, including the Reservoir Fisheries Habitat Partnership, the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies, the Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council and the American Sportfishing Association’s Government Affairs Committee.
> Jason Lucas — Lucas, a former Sports Afield magazine fishing editor, is widely considered one of the modern era’s “fathers of bass fishing.” In Ken Duke’s Bassmaster magazine article from April 2009 titled “Jason Lucas: Bass Fishing’s PR Man”, he wrote “that you had to be born in the 1940s or earlier to realize that before Lucas came on the scene, most writing was about trout. This emphasis changed when Lucas joined Sports Afield and started writing about bass. And Lucas did know something about bass. He was so passionate about bass fishing that he once fished eight hours a day for 365 consecutive days (for bass, presumably).
The late Jason Lucas is one of the two most important journalists in the history of bass fishing.
"In 1947, he published Lucas on Bass Fishing, at the time one of the few how-to bass fishing books. Sports Afield experienced a circulation surge during Lucas’s tenure, and I for one, as a young boy from Alabama reading that magazine, was forever smitten by the bass fishing bug.”
Duke noted that aside from James Alexander Henshall (a 2019 BFHOF inductee), Lucas is the most important journalist in the history of the sport and deserves much credit for the surge in popularity of bass fishing prior to Ray Scott founding B.A.S.S.
> Trip Weldon — Weldon served as tournament director for B.A.S.S. starting in 2002 and worked within the tournament department at the organization since 1990. His appointment as tournament director was welcomed by the competing anglers. At his first meeting with them, they gave him a standing ovation.
During his tenure he presided over the first female and first college angler to compete in a Bassmaster Classic. He had a front-row seat as anglers such as Kevin VanDam rose to the forefront of the sport, but still rendered tough decisions based on the rules. He was integral in the creation of the Bassmaster Elite Series and helped steer the organization into the digital age of bass fishing tournaments.
Innovations such as BassTrakk and the influx of information from blogs and social media created a new mix of issues within the tournament scene, but Weldon stayed on top of them, embracing them as a way to grow the sport. Weldon’s personal fishing accomplishments include two top-5 finishes in Red Man All-American events at Lake Havasu and the Arkansas River and an EverStart (now MLF Toyota Series) win on Lake Martin.
