Fame Is Fleeting...

In the 1980s and 1990s, Guido Hibdon was building an enviable resume as one of the greatest bass fishermen ever to make a cast.

"He won the Bassmaster Classic in 1988 and the BASS Angler of the Year Award in 1990 and 1991," then-outdoors editor for the Kansas City Star, Brent Frazee, once wrote. "When his son, Dion, followed in his footsteps and won both the Bassmaster Classic and the FLW Forrest Wood Cup, the sport's highest honors, sponsors flocked to Team Hibdon.

"Father and son were members of Daiwa's Dream Team, and they were fishing celebrities, not only here but in other countries, such as Japan and Spain," continued Frazee.

"We didn't have much to worry about in those days," Guido once remarked.

"But things changed," noted Frazee. "The fishing industry started promoting its young guns...and old pros like Guido and Dion have been, for the most part, forgotten... .

"The Hibdons hit rock bottom (or so they thought at the time) during a two-day period in late fall 2014. First, Chevy announced that it was getting out of the pro fishing game, taking away Dion's title sponsor. A day later, Guido learned that one of his main sponsors, Luck-E-Strike Lures, was sold and the pro staff was reconfigured, dropping Hibdon."

The real bottom, however, didn't come until May 2016, when Guido was diagnosed with colon cancer and had to undergo chemotherapy treatments from June through December. When he finally received news he was cancer-free, his weight had dwindled from a robust 289 pounds to a mere 142, so doctors subsequently put him in the hospital "to get hydrated and give him a kickstart."

A "Go Fund Me" account was created May 4, 2017, with a goal of reaching $100,000 by July 4, 2017, to help the Hibdon family defray financial needs associated with Guido's illness. As of May 24, those proceeds stood at slightly more than $38,000.

While reading this account, I couldn't help remembering a Bassarama I attended at Richmond, VA, back in the '80s, when guest speaker Guido Hibdon seemingly had the bass-fishing world by the tail. I was OK with what he was saying until he held up the high-dollar rod and reel in his hand and told everyone in the audience that, if they couldn't afford the very best fishing gear like he had, they might as well find something else to do, because they'd never be any good. A large number of people, including me, simply got up and walked away.

Stories like this are all too common. People at the pinnacle of their success often find it difficult to remain humble...and remember from whence they came.

As award-winning author Frank Sonnenberg wrote, "These folks...buy expensive 'toys' to show how successful they've become...push aside colleagues who've helped them achieve success...abandon the values and principles that have made them successful. And worse yet, because they're successful in one area of their life, they come to think they're experts in everything. Why? They're so enamored with their own PR that their ego hardly fits in the room. Unfortunately, a swelled ego can cut short the payoff that these folks worked so hard to attain."

Does that profile fit the 70-year-old Guido Hibdon of today? I seriously doubt it--I certainly don't want to believe so. However, it was the persona he portrayed during at least one personal appearance back in the '80s, when I happened to be in the audience. And if I've remembered it this long, who's to say others haven't also? First impressions do matter.

The FLW has referred to Guido as "a legend of the sport of bass fishing. He earned a reputation as a top-notch bass angler on Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri, where he began guiding at the incredibly young age of 12... . His FLW Tour career culminated in several wins and numerous top-10 tournament finishes. Known as 'the professor of finesse,' Hibdon has passed his fishing ways down throughout his family," including his son, Dion, as well as his grandson, Payden. Both currently fish the FLW Tour.