Rancho Santa Fe resident Michael L. Farrior elected to California Outdoors Hall of Fame
Rancho Santa Fe resident Michael L. Farrior, 63, was recently elected and installed into the California Outdoors Hall of Fame by a committee of his peers, the Hall of Fame Circle of Chiefs.
Farrior was cited for his volunteer work on behalf of the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) and Tuna Club of Santa Catalina.
Founded in 2002, the California Outdoors Hall of Fame (https://www.caloutdoorshalloffame.org/) noted that “Farrior has been the catalyst in arranging Young Anglers Tournaments at fishing piers for the youth of San Diego, and the annual IGFA Junior Anglers Tournament at the Marlin Club. He regularly donates fishing reels to the Make A Wish Foundation drawings as well as funding fishing trips for military patients recuperating at the San Diego Naval Hospital.”
The nomination of Michael Farrior read, in part, “ . . . he is dedicated to researching and uncovering fishing history to share with anglers in California and around the world — bringing it alive for this generation and generations to come.”
A longtime member and past president of the first and oldest big-game fishing club still in existence, The Tuna Club of Avalon, Farrior was appointed historian for the organization and subsequently wrote “The History of the Tuna Club 1898-1998.” In 2012, he was appointed IGFA’s first official historian and will record significant catches, statistics and notable events of IGFA.
He is a trustee of the Game Fish Association and serves as secretary on the Executive Committee and is a member of both the International Representative Committee and the Hall of Fame Induction Committee.
He has shared portions of his vast antique tackle collection in a variety of venues, including the Tuna Club, International Game Fish Association, boat show displays, Maritime Museums, Cultural Centers, California historical museums, and has even shipped rare Hemingway artifacts to Japan for a fundraiser benefiting the Kobe earthquake victims.
Farrior’s scope of adventures includes 15 years in Alaska, across much of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, and in Australia, New Zealand and nations in Africa.