For many people, fishing is the primary reason they own a boat; for others, it’s a casual part of boating life. Yet across the boating world we admire those anglers who have excelled—whether as tournament champions, record setters, conservation advocates, or tireless ambassadors introducing new generations to the sport. The list that follows spans a wide range of achievements, and while it can’t include everyone deserving recognition, it highlights some of the most influential and accomplished anglers in modern sportfishing. If we missed someone you think belongs here, share your thoughts with the editor.
LARRY DAHLBERG
Capt. Jake Jordan, a big-game fly-fishing authority, calls Larry Dahlberg “the best all-around angler I’ve ever known.” Dahlberg grew up near Wisconsin’s St. Croix River and began fishing at four. By age 11 he was guiding for trophy smallmouth bass and muskies, and in his twenties he spent thousands of hours on the water chasing ever-larger fish in both fresh and saltwater.
His global pursuits led to a 30-year television career, notably the series The Hunt for Big Fish, which aired for 24 years and documented Dahlberg’s challenges against the world’s largest and most exotic species across 87 countries and every ocean. He also brought a tinkerer’s mind to tackle innovation, creating flies like the Dahlberg Diver, fly-tying materials such as Flashaboo, and popular plugs including the Whopper Plopper. Dahlberg contributed design features—like the blank-thru offset trigger grip handle—that are now standard in rod building.
Always approachable, he freely shares knowledge and continues to fish. He was inducted into the IGFA Hall of Fame in 2017.
CHUCK MANY
New Jersey native Chuck Many is renowned for catching and releasing more 50-pound striped bass than anyone alive. He caught his first striper at age eight and, after an early business success that allowed him to retire by 40, devoted himself full time to pursuing trophy stripers. Each year he follows their migration from wintering grounds off North Carolina and Chesapeake Bay to the spring and fall runs near his Highlands, New Jersey, home port.
Many is also a committed conservationist who practices catch-and-release and collaborates with Gray FishTag Research. He has personally funded and implanted satellite archival tags in large stripers to map migrations in real time, revealing unexpected offshore movements through submarine canyons. To date he has landed 131 stripers over 50 pounds and well over 1,000 over 40 pounds, often using live eels from his 28-foot True World Tyman. When not fishing for stripers he pursues redfish, cobia, and trout in different waters, always remaining humble about his extraordinary record.
TED WILLIAMS
Ted Williams is best known as one of baseball’s greatest hitters, but he was also a passionate and influential angler. After a storied Major League career with the Boston Red Sox—interrupted by World War II and the Korean War—Williams devoted himself to fishing, bringing the same perfectionism and intensity he applied to hitting.
He targeted bonefish, tarpon, and Atlantic salmon, owning homes in Islamorada, Florida, and on New Brunswick’s Miramichi River to be near those fisheries. Williams co-authored Ted Williams, Fishing The Big Three, and pursued gamefish worldwide, from New Zealand marlin to Mozambique tiger fish. An early advocate of catch-and-release, he helped popularize sportfishing for millions, lent his name to branded gear, and was inducted into the IGFA Hall of Fame in 1999 and the MLB Hall of Fame in 1966.
JERRY AND DEBORAH DUNAWAY
Jerry and Deborah Dunaway pioneered long-range sportfishing with their world-traveling mothership operation—Madam and her tender Hooker—which enabled them to pursue light-tackle billfish records around the globe. The couple launched a ten-year world tour in 1987 with the express goal of setting line-class world records.
Jerry’s patience and meticulous approach produced exceptional results, including two Royal Slams (catching five species of billfish) early in his career. Deborah became an exceptional light-tackle angler as well; in 1993 she became the first person to hold line-class world records for all nine species of billfish simultaneously—a feat widely regarded as one of the greatest in angling history.
Together the Dunaways set 49 line-class records and amassed extraordinary catch numbers across oceans, and Jerry achieved many firsts—among them catching blue marlin on 4- and 8-pound test lines. The pair were inducted jointly into the IGFA Hall of Fame for both their angling accomplishments and their role in opening new fisheries to the sport.
LEFTY KREH
Bernard “Lefty” Kreh rose from humble beginnings in Depression-era Maryland to become one of fly fishing’s most influential figures. After World War II he built a reputation as a Potomac River guide and, following an introduction to fly fishing by Joe Brooks, devoted his life to the sport.
Kreh revolutionized fly casting techniques, teaching methods like the double haul that allowed anglers to cast farther and more accurately, even into the wind. He popularized saltwater fly fishing for species such as bonefish and tarpon and created the widely used fly Lefty’s Deceiver, honored on a USPS postage stamp in 1991. Kreh authored numerous books and articles, gave thousands of casting demonstrations, and remained a beloved instructor and entertainer into his late 80s.
JOAN VERNON
Joan Vernon’s career spans guiding, competitive fishing, tournament organization, and conservation advocacy. Introduced to snook and redfish at 13, she moved to Key Biscayne in 1970 and quickly excelled in light-tackle and fly-fishing tournaments, including multiple Women’s Master Angler Awards in the Miami MET and the MET Fly Fishing Championship title.
She earned a captain’s license, guided charters, and later focused on billfish conservation. Between 1998 and 2005 she released over 1,000 billfish on light tackle. Alarmed by destructive fishing practices in Central America, she helped create the Presidential Challenge of Central America and organized the 1998 Sport Fishing Economic Conference of Central America to unite leaders around protecting billfish populations. Vernon championed circle hooks as a conservation tool; in 1999 she launched the first all-circle-hook release tournament. She served as chairman of The Billfish Foundation, received the American Sportfishing Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award and NOAA’s Environmental Hero Award, and was inducted into the IGFA Hall of Fame in 2013.
STEPHEN SLOAN
Raised in New York City and introduced to fishing in Central Park at age six, Stephen Sloan translated an early obsession with angling into a lifelong commitment. He earned many accolades in freshwater before his career shifted to saltwater big-game fishing, where he set 44 IGFA Line Class World Records—some still standing—including milestones like the first bluefin tuna on fly tackle and a white marlin on 6-pound test.
Concerned about declining ocean fish stocks, Sloan became a vigorous conservation advocate, serving on national and international committees, writing books such as Ocean Bankruptcy, and supporting urban fishing initiatives. He founded the Citizens Committee for Urban Fishing to stock city ponds and host fishing days for children—a program that evolved into the Take A Kid Fishing Foundation. Sloan was posthumously inducted into the IGFA Hall of Fame in 2009.
NICK SMITH
Nick Smith of South Florida is perhaps the most prolific billfish angler in history, having caught and released more than 12,000 marlin and sailfish across the Atlantic and Pacific—over 6,000 of them on IGFA-legal fly tackle. His passion began at 15 on a charter out of West Palm Beach, and his business success later funded a lifetime of pursuing billfish from a series of boats.
Smith has won virtually every major Florida billfish tournament multiple times, and in recent years he’s focused on compiling the largest tally of billfish releases on fly tackle. From his 72-foot Bayliss Old Reliable based on the Pacific coast of Central America, he holds records for the most sailfish, striped marlin, and blue marlin caught in a single day—achievements that underscore both his angling skill and dedication to conservation. Smith was named among the 2024 inductees to the IGFA Hall of Fame.
ELWOOD “BUCK” PERRY
Elwood “Buck” Perry, born in 1915 in Hickory, North Carolina, is widely regarded as the father of structure fishing. Curious about why fish sometimes weren’t biting along shorelines, Perry applied his physics and mathematics background to question traditional assumptions and develop scientific methods for locating fish.
Before depthfinders were common, he created spoonplugs—lures designed to run at specific depths—and used them to map lake contours and fish movements. His theories about the influence of barometric pressure, water temperature, and other factors on fish migration anticipated modern electronics and shaped contemporary freshwater and saltwater fishing strategies. Today’s anglers—whether targeting offshore pelagics, bottom species, or inshore gamefish—benefit from Perry’s pioneering approach to structure and fish behavior.
KEVIN VANDAM
Kevin VanDam dominated professional bass fishing for more than three decades, earning the most prize money in the sport with over $7 million and setting records that include 25 BASS tournament wins and seven BASS Angler of the Year titles. He competed in 25 Bassmaster Classics, winning four, and became the youngest Angler of the Year in 1992.
Beyond his competitive success, VanDam has given back through the KVD Foundation, which supports children’s health, education, and outdoor programs, and by sponsoring collegiate fishing and scholarships. He helped create the Major League Fishing series and has used his platform to teach fishing and promote ethical, competitive sportfishing. VanDam was inducted into the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame in 2018.
This article was originally published in the May 2024 issue.