03/13/2025
Huge congratulations to Pat Healey for winning the Gil Keech Heavy Tackle Award from IGFA! Awesome seeing someone who is not only a friend but sponsors, supports, fishes and pushes the envelope of the Sportfishing industry. Congrats to a longtime supporter of the MidAtlantic Tournament and Thank you for all you do plus for being an incredible Angler! Viking Yacht Company
The IGFA is proud to announce our 2025 Annual Award recipients. Comprised of six categories, each award honors a unique component of sport fishing including light tackle angling, heavy tackle angling, conservation, sportsmanship, freshwater angling, and fly fishing.
The 2025 IGFA Annual Award Recipients are:
๐ Record-setting light tackle angler ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ถ ๐. ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ป (Bob Herder Light Tackle Award);
๐ Viking Yacht Company leader and accomplished angler ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ๐ (Gil Keech Heavy Tackle Award);
๐ Marine conservation champion ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐๐ฎ๐ณ๐ณ๐ป๐ฒ๐ (Barry M. Fitzpatrick Conservation Award);
๐ Esteemed big game fishing supporter ๐๐ผ๐ต๐ป โ๐๐โ ๐๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต๐๐ (Chester H. Wolfe Sportsmanship Award);
๐ Black bass taxonomy pioneer ๐๐ฟ. ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ ๐ง๐ฎ๐๐น๐ผ๐ฟ (Johnny Morris Freshwater Angling Award);
๐ and legendary fly reel innovator ๐ง๐ฒ๐ฑ โ๐ง๐ถ๐ฏ๐ผ๐ฟโ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ธ (Joe Brooks Fly Fishing Award).
To read more about each of this yearโs award winners and the awards themselves, visit: https://igfa.org/2025/03/12/igfa-announces-prestigious-2025-annual-awards-recipients/