On Feb. 17, Brown County resident Dan Pardue became the 11th person to be inducted into the Indiana Bass Federation Hall of Fame.

“It’s quite an honor considering we average about 3,000 members over the last 20 or 30 years,” he said.

“I just appreciate all of the work I had done did not go unnoticed.”

Pardue has been volunteering with the bass federation for almost 40 years. He has served in multiple positions within the organization, including as the president, vice president, environmental director and public relations director.

Last year, Indiana Bass Federation President Kelly Hook called Pardue to tell him he was going to nominate him for the IBF Hall of Fame because of his service and dedication to the program. His induction became official at the Indiana Boat, Sport and Travel Show.

Pardue is retired from volunteering with the bass federation now, but he continues to fish in tournaments.

“Let some of the younger guys get their time at the wheel,” he said.

From 1997 to 2006, Pardue ran the Adopt an Angler program. He donated 2,500 tackle boxes to youth camps in Indiana. The items to fill them came from other fishermen.

“When the kids came into fish … they had the tackle box and all they had to do was replace the line, the bobbers and the hooks,” he said.

Pardue also donated tackle boxes to area libraries that kids could check out with their library card.

“I’ve done a lot to try to and get the youth involved, keep them fishing. It’s the future of our sport, of the tackle industry, of all the rods and reel companies and the line companies,” he said.

“Like I say all the time, the world needs more tackle boxes and less Xboxes.”

Pardue has been competing in bass tournaments since 1979. Now almost 71, he still finds time to fish in three tournament circuits.

“I really like the competition part of it. … It’s just my passion. Anything to do with bass fishing or deer hunting or turkey hunting, that’s my whole life,” he said.

Pardue got into competitive fishing through work. He met a few men who competed while he was working at Allison Transmission in Indianapolis.

“They were telling me when they came in on Monday mornings how few of fish they caught in these bass tournaments to win. I’m thinking, ‘I catch those every weekend, every day,’ so I thought, ‘I’ll just see how this is,’ and I got involved in a bass club,” Pardue said.

That club was the Martinsville Bass Ambassadors. He was an active member from 1979 to 2002.

“I started there in club tournaments, then I started fishing bigger tournaments,” he said.

Pardue retired from Allison in 1996. From 1997 to 1998, he served as president of the Indiana Bass Federation. Prior to that, he was vice president for four years.

He was one of the three finalists for B.A.S.S. Man of the Year in 1997.

In 2008, Pardue competed in the Bass Fishing League All-American competition on the Mississippi River for a chance to win $1 million.

“I started at the bottom of the rung and worked my way all the way through,” he said. “Bottom of the rung is your local bass clubs. That’s the grassroots guys. That’s where you start learning your techniques.”

Pardue represented the bass federation at many tournaments and camps and volunteered to organize fundraisers for the group. He also volunteered in the early years of the Indiana University and Purdue University Bass Tour, known as the Old Minnow Bucket Tour.

Now, bass fishing competitions are taking place at the high school level. Brown County High School’s own Bass Club is now in its second year, Pardue said.

“Almost all colleges offer a scholarship to the bass fishermen, just like they would with a football play or basketball player now. It’s really starting them out young and taking them all the way through college and into the professional part of it,” he said.