Doug Hannon of Odessa outlasted this pair of lunker bass this week while fishing at Lake George. The pair weighed 12 and 13 pounds respectively. No phot credit listed.

Doug Hannon regularly made the local Odessa, Florida papers in the early 70s for his catches of big bass. One of the lakes he regularly caught big bass from was Keystone Lake, quickly becoming a “big bass” celebrity of sorts in the area.

Hannon, an early proponent of fish conservation, even wrote an early opinion piece or two in local newspapers in support of the B.A.S.S. catch and release start-up efforts around that same timeframe. Within a few years, Hannon would become one of the most outspoken anglers of the time, espousing the importance of releasing trophy-sized bass.

By the mid-70s, Hannon had made a place for himself in the pages of Bassmaster Magazine as the Bass Professor, penning numerous articles on his theories of catching trophy bass. He also authored numerous books on the subject.

Today we’ve dug up an early picture of Hannon from The Tampa Tribune. The picture is date March 1973. Here’s the original caption:

“Doug Hannon of Odessa outlasted this pair of lunker bass this week while fishing at Lake George. The pair weighed 12 and 13 pounds respectively.”