When I learned that bass fishing legend Dion Hibdon passed away early Monday morning, it brought back a flood of memories.
I have written about the storied Hibdon family since the early 1980s, and I was there for many of their greatest moments. Accounts of their achievements practically wrote themselves.
(About the photo: Dion Hibdon celebrated with his famous dad Guido, his mom Stella, and his wife at the time after winning the 1997 Bassmaster Classic. Photo courtesy of B.A.S.S.)
I was there when Guido won his first B.A.S.S. tournament at Lake of the Ozarks, his home lake, on a lure his son Dion designed for a grade-school project.
I was there when Guido went on to become one of the sport’s all-time greats and won the Bassmaster Classic in 1988.
I was there when Dion followed in his dad’s footsteps and became a legend in his own right.
I was there in 1997 when Dion won the Bassmaster Classic, and his dad Guido and his mom Stella shed tears of joy.
And I later wrote about Guido’s death in 2018, when the bass-fishing world lost a legend.
Now I am writing about Dion’s death, a loss that hits particularly hard. I was in the process of writing a story for Wired2fish about famous bass pros and their sons, and I planned to recount the Hibdons’ famous family legacy. But I had a difficult time reaching Dion.
I later learned from his son Payden that he was in the hospital and was not doing well. Then I heard that Dion had passed away, and the news hit hard.
Dion was only 58 years old, far too young to go. He had been in bad health, but I never sensed that this would be his time.
Dion was always one of my heroes. At a time when other pros were often boastful and self-centered, Dion was down to earth.
Even after he became one of the few fishermen to win both the Bassmaster Classic and the Forrest Wood Cup, he reacted with humility. At a press conference, I remember reporters asking him about how it felt to step outside his famous dad’s shadow.
“When I won the Classic in 2000, some writers said that I had finally escaped my dad’s shadow,” Dion said. “Well, that was never a goal of mine. I was happy to be in his shadow.”
But there was no mistaking that Dion was a legendary fisherman in his own right. I fished with him a number of times on Lake of the Ozarks when I was outdoors editor for The Kansas City Star, and he continually impressed me.
I remember the spring day in 2008 when he let me tag along with him for a story. Word had it that the bass fishing was tough. But you never would have known it by Hibdon’s results.
I can still picture him pitching a small bass jig tipped with a Guido Bug — a lure Dion designed for a grade-school project — into a brush pile and shaking his line slightly. When the line tightened, he set the hook and pulled a four-pound bass into the boat. But that fish wasn’t the only one Dion landed that day.
He spent the afternoon casting and pitching to spots most fishermen wouldn’t dare target, and he caught and released an impressive total of keeper bass.
“It doesn’t take long for bass to figure out where to hide,” he said. “The average fisherman isn’t going to fish behind those dock cables — it’s too much work.
“But I’ve caught some of my biggest bass under a walkway, in some brush behind a cable or along a pillar.”
Moments later, he issued the quote of the day.
“A big bass is like a fat guy,” Hibdon said. “He doesn’t want to work hard for his food.
“The bigger he gets, the lazier he gets. But if you put it right in front of his face, he’ll hit it.”
Another behind-the-scenes moment that impressed me about Dion was his love for and dedication to family.
He interrupted his career in 2018 to be at his dad’s side when he was dying of cancer. In an attempt to cheer him up, Dion pushed his wheelchair down to a pond where he could watch his great-granddaughter fish.
The family encouraged Guido to make a cast, and he did. He ended up catching a two-pound bass, the last one he would ever land.
That brought tears to Dion’s eyes. Now the fishing world weeps for you, Dion.
We’ll never forget you.
