Up next in 10
On this episode of Outdoor Journal Radio, the boys are joined by the G.O.A.T of fishing, Bill Dance!
First, however, a bit of housekeeping was in order. Topics discussed included: podcast censorship; DOALO; crown land spraying; glyphosates; fishing and mental health; and selecting the right for walleye.
With those matters out of the way, Ang and Pete are joined by Bill Dance! Topics discussed included: the early days of Bill Dance Outdoors; filming 2008 shows per year; curving bricks around corners; Bill's experience in Canada; the first BASS event; the value of tournament fishing; what's next for Bill Dance; Bill's famous hat; Roland Martin stories; modern technology; and much more!
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Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
radio yeah boy in commemoration of our guest today oh you're talking up that that accent
0:09
you betcha i got your southern drawl welcome to the program outdoor journal radio the podcast i'm
0:15
angelo biola he is peter bowman we have volvo we have nick we have uh dean everybody the whole gang
0:21
is here and why would they not be this is a very special episode uh underscore very
0:29
for me personally i don't know how you guys feel about it oh yeah but i've been doing this nonsense
0:35
for a long time and i gotta tell you uh i'm feeling it i'm feeling it i'm feeling you know
0:43
call it excitement call it nerves i don't know what it is but i'm feeling that uh joining us uh
0:49
Very quickly, we're not going to ramble on very long, is a gentleman who we have idolized
0:56
those of us in the television fishing business, probably since the beginning of our careers
1:02
His name is Bill Dance. Give me a hell yeah! Yeah, baby, you betcha
1:06
Yes, sir, Stevie. They were generous enough with their time to give us today
1:11
for him to come on the show. Bill is very busy. He is a busy man
1:16
Oh, my God. At ICAST? Oh, you never get him. You flock around him like he's an absolute rock star
1:23
You're just pulling him, pulling him, pulling him for interviews. He is an absolute rock star. He is a rock star
1:27
He's the rock star of our business. Yeah. No doubt about it. Anyways, he's going to be here on Outdoor Journal Radio, the podcast
1:33
I'm so excited. Yes, sir. I hear you. All right. Enough of that nonsense
1:38
Yes. What else do we have here? Well, let's talk about the usual stuff because we need to do that because we need to pay bills, folks
1:45
Come on now. We do it because we pay bills with this stuff. Madame Tangay would make us, she makes us do this first Fish in Canada
1:53
Madame Tangay does it. Yes, she makes us do this every week. Big sale going on at shop.fishingcanada.com for those of you who may not be familiar with it
2:00
It's the fall sale now. Hey. It's the fall sale now, finally. Hey
2:04
Hey, I like that. Finally the fall sale. The old Oshawa dinner jacket there
2:09
That's right. By the way, there's a bunch of new stuff. I had a privilege of looking at some of the new stuff that's going in there
2:15
in the days you keep saying this you know and you're not and you're never spilling any uh hints
2:20
to us or anything like that it's gonna be exciting okay all i can say is keep an eye out on it it's
2:25
all happening at shop.fishingcanada.com or you can go to fishingcanada.com go through the front door
2:31
instead of the back door sometimes you know either or will work but if you go through the front door
2:37
you'll also be able to check out some of the other wonderful features there not only is it the gateway
2:42
the portal to your next fishing adventure but it just contains so much good entertainment and
2:48
and wonderful information um there that you can just spend hours days weeks months you know did
2:55
you ever notice when you owned barclays who came in more which customers came in more the side door
2:59
or the front door well john labatt used to come down through the roof i remember him remember johnny
3:07
how could i forget johnny god love the hope he's listening love john labatt was one of my top
3:17
10 favorite customers i knew john labatt before i knew john labatt though yes you did because you
3:24
worked with him right i knew his dad you knew his dad his dad through my dad his junior he's a junior
3:29
you're johnny labatt's a junior so there you go what a character him being a junior oh my god
3:35
I said we should have called him Junior. I didn't know. If you had told me, I would have
3:39
I told you a long time ago. Oh, I don't know what you told me a long time ago. I don't know what you told me this morning
3:44
True. True that. You know? True that, John Labette. We put, last week, we kind of talked about a delicate subject around the camp here
3:55
Well, we had a question, a comment. We had a comment about language and boundaries and whatnot
4:04
So we reached out to you and said, hey, let us know what you think. Now, we got, like, it was, would that be the quickest response we've ever had, Dean, to anything on the show
4:16
Yeah, it might be, actually. Within hours. Within hours of putting the show out there, we got our first bunch of responses
4:24
Yeah, because we got a poll that's going to go up on FishinCanada.com or on Spotify
4:29
When is that going? It went up when the episode did. But people, so the episode went up
4:34
At 5 a.m. I get up just after that. Yeah. And before I could put the poll up, we had comments elsewhere
4:42
Yeah. So they're beating the people beat me. See, now, if it wasn't for the fact that this is a delicate issue, I would have had some comedy to add to your comment
4:52
Okay. But I'm not going to. Okay. Oh, wow. Well, there you go
4:56
Think about it. Come on. Help me with that. You've lost me
5:00
He gets up at 5.30 before they put the poll up at 5.30
5:05
The poll up? Oh, my God. I get it. Now I'm getting it
5:09
Anyways. Now you have to get up earlier, Dean, when you're doing this kind of stuff. Oh, my God
5:13
Anyways, so we have the first, and now I noticed you got, yeah, there it is there
5:21
Okay. I was going to say, is it in here? I thought I saw it. So we got the very first one that we've pulled
5:25
Now, I don't want folks to think that all we're going to put up here are the pro, yeah, hell yeah, let the boys loose kind of thing
5:38
We haven't had any negative ones that I've seen yet. But you will promise me that we will in the weeks to come, if there are negative comments, we will put them up here
5:45
Well, this was spawned from a negative comment. Yeah. This is all because of a negative comment
5:50
Right. So, you know, Dean's not hiding that stuff from us. Nope. Right
5:54
And it was about censorship. It's about the question that came up
5:58
do we need to be really swearing on this podcast? A guy had a kid or two that was listening in the car
6:04
and he'd rather not have us, you know, popping our little swear words in here and there
6:09
And I think I said this last week, and I will reiterate again today
6:13
I don't think we should go out of our way to. I think if it's in general conversations that you and I might have on the boat
6:22
I think it would be okay. but i don't think we need to fact it's you know it's like the goons that are fighting in hockey
6:28
right i i love a good hockey fight but i do not like a staged hockey fight in other words where
6:36
they go out of their way before the puck even drops you can see the two goons already talking
6:41
saying okay as soon as the puck drops you go over there i'll punch you over there you've i don't like
6:45
that right and i think this is very similar to that if if our language if it's organic if it's
6:53
organic in nature thank you there you go i appreciate that you're quite well uh anyways
6:58
versus orgasmic because then you get the censorship going exactly you don't want to do that you don't
7:04
want to censor that so from uh danimal outdoors our very first comment on this subject danimal
7:11
that's quite the name i like that danimal so maybe his name is dan and he's an animal or
7:16
animal he's the animal of the group maybe anyways the danimal outdoor says i have a 10
7:23
and seven year old and genuinely have no concerns with cussing i certain they hear more day from strangers and in my opinion part of life is learning
7:36
when to use professional words and when swearing isn't acceptable. Very good
7:42
I would personally find the show less authentic censorship. My kids love to listen to the show
7:50
they've also enjoyed d-o-l-o diaries of a lodge owner who's no stranger to throwing the odd
7:59
the odd little swear word in there yeah as a matter of fact his last podcast had a couple in
8:03
there so you know you know and they were very organic of you that was from his guests so
8:09
you know obviously you're censoring his david stevie now are you i have to have a word with him
8:16
unfortunately I called him to the office. I love it. I love it
8:23
We had yet another one from Nikita. And this is all like after 5 a.m. in the morning
8:28
4 a.m. Whatever it is in the morning, as soon as this came out, before the polls even made it to the Spotify
8:35
I really enjoy getting to listen to the uncensored version of you guys
8:39
Keep the show the same. I love it. So that's a couple of positives to it
8:44
I won't say I'm looking forward to seeing the negatives, but I would like to see negatives
8:49
Of course. I want to know what they're saying. Of course. They're not going to hide it from you, buddy
8:54
Speaking of other podcasts, like we did D-O-L-O. Dolo. Dolo. D-O-A-L-O. He says he hates that name
9:03
He doesn't like the shorthand. He called me about it the other day. No. Yeah
9:06
It's funny because. I love it. I like it. I love it. I was kind of iffy on it, too, honestly, when I first saw it. Really
9:11
I'm used to it now, so it's just there. I love it. Yeah. oh man I love Dolo it's like
9:16
ODJ I mean it's I love that short form FNC maybe he wants
9:22
to just build that brand better and he doesn't want to hear that short form yet you know what I
9:26
mean so maybe that's you know Stevie he's working hard at it so you know maybe
9:31
we'll take it under advisement but speaking about the podcast network and all the other shows
9:38
there was and I think I might have listened to this before the audience even had a chance to listen to it uh and that was one of the d-o-l-o
9:50
episodes the dolo episodes diaries of a lodge owner and it was concerning um something i didn't
9:57
know about but uh crown land spraying in uh forestry areas yeah yeah and his guest james
10:07
alofs alofs alofs i got i got halfway through the podcast and i and it's it's quite interesting and
10:15
it's quite it's quite eye-opening actually right well yeah i mean we'd be foolish though to think
10:21
that this kind of thing doesn't happen on a regular basis right i think we'd be foolish because big
10:27
industry usually find ways of making their products and their in this case harvest a lot
10:36
more effective and of course if you listen to this sometimes they do whatever it takes too though
10:42
right right that's what this is kind of alluding to so it's episode 16 it's called should we be
10:48
concerned about crown land spraying and it deals with what's going on right now in ontario apparently
10:54
um where um they're spraying glyphosates yep yep herbicides a herbicide right it's a herbicide
11:04
what does that what is what exactly you know what you know what you know that roundup stuff that you
11:09
right that's the shit right there there's brain that works good yeah it works real good kills
11:14
everything right did i tell you and it ain't good oh my god i gotta tell you i gotta tell you a
11:20
story real funny okay so i really i'm never home right all summer long i'm on the road so i i've
11:29
never been one to really look after my my lawn and the garden throughout the summer so this year
11:35
i said you know what and my wife loves that stuff right she's always right this year i'm gonna make
11:42
a real effort whenever i have time i am gonna go and i'm gonna get that lawn looking like it's
11:49
a golf course because i love the greens on a golf course beautiful so i did fairways even the
11:55
fairways even the rough on some places so i did right so early in the season right after the snow
12:01
was gone i got into that first level of fertilizing and waking the grass up and gently you know doing
12:08
all the aerating it like i did the whole the whole dealio right and lo and behold within a couple of
12:14
weeks it was actually looking pretty damn good so my wife thought she would help me and i was proud
12:21
of it by the way i'd come out in the morning and look at it in your robe sometimes slippers
12:26
sometimes yeah and i'd say my god that is beautiful i'm so glad i'm doing this you know
12:31
and it was just gorgeous just a gorgeous green i'm thinking the neighbors have got to be envious
12:37
of me now right so anyways i went away on a trip we went shooting somewhere i came back
12:45
and it was a disaster it was like a bomb field what do you mean like brown like uh
12:52
brown yellow dirt no grass and spots it was like they dropped and a one week span less and a weekend
13:02
and why what happened my wife thought she'd help me glyphosates exactly she went and there was
13:09
still you know the odd little weed that was coming still coming through even after all the
13:15
care i gave it so she thought she'd be nice and she'd go to each one of those and dig it out and
13:21
spray it with this stuff round up and she did about 20 of them in my lawn when i came back it
13:28
was a disaster absolute disaster that's what james and stevie are talking about here you can imagine
13:33
on a on a high level and he's spraying like a like massive areas these clear cuts that they're
13:39
talking about and one of the things that was mentioned in there i think was mentioned in there
13:43
I'm pretty sure the two biggest forestry companies are owned by China
13:49
Yeah. They're Chinese companies. Of course. You know what I mean? They're not even, and they're doing the work here
13:53
So there's probably influence of that too. You know what I mean
13:57
You know our government. They got to make some money too out of this. Check out the podcast
14:02
It's episode 16. It is Diaries of a Lodge Owner, and the episode is called
14:06
Should We Be Concerned About Crown Landspraying? And after you listen to this episode, I think the answer is going to be unanimously yes
14:15
Big time. So check it out. Very quick, too. Just to give you a little idea, just Google is Roundup safe
14:22
That's all you have to Google. And check out the stuff that comes on that one
14:27
I have to check that out myself. In the news on fishingcanada.com, in the news, fishing has positive benefits for men's mental health
14:38
Hell yeah. Come on. Give me a hell yeah. Thank you, Steve
14:42
Yes. Yes, indeed. Fishing has positive benefits for men's mental health study finds
14:50
Now, my first reaction. Here we go. No. Women. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah
14:55
What with the men health Maybe the women are happy because the men are getting the hell out of the house too maybe could be you know maybe you know anyways uh fascinating story uh the there
15:06
was a study conducted by the anglia ruskin university in cambridge ulster university
15:12
and queen's university belfast so it wasn't just one little mickey mouse group of people
15:18
hanging out there. It's a major international endeavor. And research conducted in the UK
15:25
found that longtime fishing hobbyist could have likely already told us this
15:32
Of course. And that is that they're, they read it 17% less likely to report
15:37
being diagnosed with mental health conditions compared to those who take part in the hobby
15:45
So, and we've been saying this forever. We've been saying forever. The outdoors
15:50
You know what? You could take it for, we could take it from any one of us in this room going out by ourselves on the water
15:58
It's very therapeutic. To a group of all of us together going out in the water
16:03
We're all having a good time. It's just like, there's not a whole lot of negativity to it, right
16:08
I can't see any way that it could be. Just breathing in the fresh air. You're away from the city
16:12
Even if you go fishing in the city. You go to a pond in the city, still. Yeah
16:16
Just stress. Just alone. Yeah. Would be, would be. And the outdoors
16:20
It's just like, I mean, when I was into photography a lot, I just get away
16:25
I just drive north of half an hour and start looking at what I could shoot out there
16:29
And just saying, oh my God, this is just serenity. So I think it's all about, it's about nature more than it is about anything, I think
16:35
You know what I mean? In our natural environment. And it's, yeah, I 100% believe that one
16:40
So there you go. FishingCanada.com. Check it out. it will confirm what we all already knew um that uh we get a study done on the ladies too next time
16:50
well that's the only thing i would say maybe is missing we need to find out how women react to
16:57
the outdoors i'm assuming it'll be fine yeah speaking of the outdoors uh we also need to
17:05
make sure that we preserve those same outdoors yes we do we can have them for generations to come
17:11
one of the problems right now that we're currently faced is with invasive species they seem to be all
17:18
over the place there's invasive species in everything but in this particular one um it's
17:23
called the grass carp and it is here it is beyond the southern border and it is into canada for sure
17:29
at this point we don't know whether they're reproducing yet or not but they are definitely
17:33
here uh it's called the grass carp and they can take away they could take away this therapeutic
17:39
moment that we have. If there's no fishing, if there's no weeds
17:44
which these grass are breeding, we have no fishing. Then we're going to start
17:48
going a little bit into mental health problems, buddy. Think about that one. I don't even want to think about that one
17:53
Not a good transition. One of the things we can do as anglers and outdoors people
17:57
is we can arm ourselves. Arm ourselves with education. Especially in order to
18:03
identify that critter. Oh, there he is. He or she is. yeah it is yeah first thing you'll notice it's got a weird kind of a forehead slash nose slash
18:17
weird positioning in the mouth i mean there's all kinds of weirdness on that fish very much so but
18:23
you wouldn't know it if that's fishy because it looks you know it looks like the body it looks
18:27
like a chub or it looks like a fall fish very very similar to both those so you need to go to
18:33
asiancarp.ca and see the difference between that and look alike species and do that download
18:38
it into your phone and then when you get this lookalike species oh no that's not one that's okay
18:42
and if it is a grass carp you need to take care of business with that how would they do that what
18:47
would they do well they could use the bunker if they wanted to but then you're assuming that
18:53
they're catching them we don't know that that's even possible yet right well you accidentally
18:58
snag it yeah yeah you don't want people going out doing that no no accidentally oh if it's an
19:03
incidental catch it's it's not you didn't even purposely snag it right so yeah then you just
19:10
dispatch of it and call the authorities asiancarp.ca and ministry of natural resources
19:15
whoever you can call it is a ministry of natural resources and forestry sorry f don't forget the f
19:22
yes all righty fan question of the week uh submitted by tim e caress ecra e iris
19:32
erks erks erks erks sorry tim with that but double e-r-k-e-s erks from alberta via email and we say
19:40
email because uh you can send us messages in a multitude of different ways uh info at fishing
19:47
canada is probably the most common that's being used now but uh all of our social media array has
19:52
opportunities for you to send these questions via those places as well uh and each week what
20:00
happens is that uh our good producer mr taylor he pulls one out of the drum and to hear lo and
20:09
behold it ends up on our script there's a bunch of bullshit well there's that too mr taylor i like
20:15
that mr taylor sounds good it does sound really good like mr bowman whatever mr rail mr babushkin
20:22
mr babushkin i like that too that's pretty official sounding yes sir uh he wants to know
20:28
tim wants to know when fishing for walleye now specifically when fishing for walleye
20:35
does a leader affect the use and presentation of a lure as it pertains to why
20:42
of course i would say absolutely yes it does affect the use and the presentation of a lure
20:51
i'm assuming tim is talking a wire leader because nowadays you got to remember leaders broken down
20:59
more than just for a fish biting you off there's wire leaders so in the pike world in the musky
21:05
world you use these so they don't bite you off in our world now we're using leaders to join braided
21:13
line to fluorocarbon leader no no but i'm just saying this now the modern probably a lot of
21:20
younger people don't even know what a steel leader is they don't even you think that's what tim no i'm
21:25
saying tim is talking about pike steel leaders no he's talking about walleye he's saying when fishing
21:30
for walleye does a leader affect why would tim have a leader on well that was going to be see i i
21:37
want i was hoping to draw that from you i was going to bring that up i'm just saying now leader is
21:42
a broader subject now so i'm saying me i'm saying that tim is talking about a wire leader not to be
21:48
confused with yozuri's pre-made leaders that are you know etc etc you're confusing me anyways
21:54
may i may i attempt to answer tim would you mind you go ahead sit back and enjoy so well that's a
22:01
bunch of bullshit tim a bunch of bullshit tim tim tim tim tim buddy so you say when fishing for
22:08
walleye does a leader effect like you why are you using a leader when fishing for walleye doesn't
22:14
want to break off he doesn't want to break off with pike because he's got pike in the lake okay
22:20
so you fishing pike you not fishing walleye you fishing walleye well you can be afraid of breaking off the pike if you fishing for walleye it a 12 lure and i got three i got one of them you bought the lure you spent 12 bucks in that lure because it effective on catching a fish if you take away its action by putting a weight on the nose of that lure you know
22:40
it's going to affect it but i can't take i can't there's none more there's no more in alberta i got
22:45
the last one in alberta and i need to keep that lure on but i still want to fish catch my walleye
22:50
I have to use that leader because there's 10 pike to my one walleye in that lake
22:54
So good luck. Good luck on the walleye. It's not, but he's asking
22:58
He's asking, does it affect it? Of course it affects it. Every time you put something on the nose of a bait, you're going to affect the action
23:05
It was not intended to be fished with any weight forward of that nose
23:11
And we're even to the point where the line diameter, never mind putting a leader on
23:18
but the line diameter and the line weight and the characteristic of the line
23:22
whether it tends to be a floating line or whether it tends to be a sinking line
23:28
even that will make a difference on a lot of these baits
23:32
It makes a huge difference. Right? And visually, Tim, let's be honest
23:37
Let's look at that leader. I mean, let's take the basics of leaders, those stainless steel-looking leaders
23:42
That's just nasty-looking in the front. I hate leaders. So when you travel way up north where the fish are biting like crazy
23:49
yeah, you can get away with a leader for sure. But the more educated the fish get, just the visibility alone
23:55
makes it that much harder to get walleye to bite. Now, if you're targeting pike, that's a whole different ballgame
24:01
You have no option. You have to have a leader. And you have to have a big, nasty-ass leader, not just a leader
24:08
But if you're targeting walleye, I'm of the opinion, and I know my colleague sometimes agrees, sometimes doesn't agree with me
24:15
I'm of the opinion that take your chances. If you're worried about the pike biting your bait off, well, get over it
24:23
You're there to fish walleye. You're there to fish walleye. So you've got to put yourself in the best possible position to succeed at that
24:31
And that means no leader on your bait. If, Tim, if you want to up your odds yet still using a leader
24:39
companies like Yozuri, who we work with, make leader material, fluorocarbon leader material
24:43
that's a better option it's a less visible option than the wire leaders that are out there and stuff
24:49
like that so you can create your own you can actually tie knot to the leader and then tie
24:54
it actually to the lure it's just it's a thicker fluorocarbon but you know i mean it's you run a
24:59
60 pound test 50 pound 60 pound test fluorocarbon leader that might up your odds a little bit better
25:04
too so if you want to go that way all right the moment is upon us
25:11
There's an adventure just outside these walls
25:21
It's something you'll hate to leave and can't wait to get back to. It's a place where memories are made and bonds are forged
25:28
For some, it's hitting the trails. For others, it's a weekend at the lake
25:33
It's a place full of campfires and quality time. This year, take some time to reconnect with friends, family, and nature
25:40
No matter what adventures await you, Coleman has the gear you need
25:44
Visit colemancanada.ca to gear up today. The outside is calling. Answer the call
25:57
As the world gets louder and louder, the lessons of our natural world become harder and harder to hear
26:04
But they are still available to those who know where to listen. I'm Gerry Ouellette, and I was honoured to serve as Ontario's Minister of Natural Resources
26:16
However, my journey into the woods didn't come from politics. Rather, it came from my time in the bush and a mushroom
26:26
In 2015, I was introduced to the birch-hungry fungus known as chaga, a tree cong
26:32
with centuries of medicinal use by Indigenous peoples all over the globe
26:37
After nearly a decade of harvest, use, testimonials and research, my skepticism has faded to obsession
26:45
And I now spend my life dedicated to improving the lives of others through natural means
26:50
But that's not what the show is about. My pursuit of the strange mushroom and my passion for the outdoors has brought me to the places and around the people that are shaped by our natural world
27:02
On Outdoor Journal Radio's Under the Canopy podcast, I'm going to take you along with me to see the places, meet the people that will help you find your outdoor passion and help you live a life close to nature and under the canopy
27:18
Find Under the Canopy now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever else you get your podcasts
27:24
and now the moment we've all been waiting for especially me i gotta tell you i am so
27:31
especially both of us trust me on this one uh our guests uh there's not much you haven't heard
27:40
about him uh he although there's a few things that i just learned about bill and i've known
27:45
him for years i didn't know we'll talk about i know exactly what you're talking about yeah yeah
27:50
Yeah, that's a good story. Joining us now is the living legend himself, Bill Dance
27:56
Billy, how are you, buddy? I'm doing great, partners. How y'all two doing
28:00
We're doing great, Bill. We're pumped, buddy. We're pumped. We're pumped. I was telling my producer before we went on
28:06
I've been doing, between live radio and podcast, I've been doing this for 30-some-odd years
28:12
and I only recall one other time where I felt this tingling, nervous feeling about an interview
28:19
and uh that's when you did my interview right and uh i don't know why because i know you well i i just you're such a big persona absolutely in
28:32
our world and uh and it's just a thrill to have you here man just an absolute thrill
28:38
well thank you very much i appreciate it uh for folks who who need a little bit uh uh of
28:45
information bill i think and you correct me if i'm wrong uh but he is the father of fishing
28:54
television shows of some 55 years on air and i don't is there and there's never been anybody
29:02
that's done that bill to my knowledge uh get about get us who was sponsored years and years
29:09
by little unusual he was on for quite some time but i don't think he was on here as long as we've
29:14
We've been running on there from local to regional to syndication to a national program of Build Ants Freshwater
29:26
And then we started about 10 years ago with Build Ants Saltwater
29:31
So both shows are doing well. We started at a local station, an ABC affiliate in Memphis
29:44
and it was kind of a tussle to get it. But I went to the CBS affiliate, and they said
29:52
no, there's no room for a fishing show in this market. Then I went to the NBC affiliate
29:59
And I got pretty discouraged, and I got home, and my wife doesn't believe in the words, I can't
30:08
And I just told her, I said, I just don't think I can make this go
30:12
And she said, well, in Channel 13, aren't they an ABC affiliate
30:19
And I said, yeah. She said, well, why don't you go see them? Well, fast forward, I did, and we started a local show in the Memphis market
30:28
And after about a year or two, we got a call from another ABC affiliate in Jackson, Mississippi
30:37
They said, well, will you do one for us? And I said, sure. It was a good deal because we had the state capital
30:44
We had access to the governor, who was a big fisherman, water safety, game and fish
30:49
And their sister station, WBRZ in Baton Rouge, said, how about doing one for us
30:56
Well, that was another good deal. And it wasn't long after that, I got a call from Paducah, Kentucky, and the manager of the JCPenney store, John Panade, they said, how about doing one for us
31:13
And I said, sure. Well, the long and short of it, we started, Memphis was the beginning
31:21
And we were doing four markets, 52 weeks a year. Four times 52 is 208 shows a year
31:29
Oh, nice. Yeah, but I would go to Baton Rouge and take four shows
31:36
and get local people there. And I might shoot a couple of shows in the Chafalau Basin
31:41
or some of the lakes down there. I can't pronounce them. I was down there a week, and the only sign I could read in Louisiana
31:47
was H&R Block. But we started it, and he did that for a period of time
31:56
and it just got to be such a hassle. I gave the Baton Rouge show up to a good buddy of mine
32:04
and he took over. And then in Jackson, I had another good buddy
32:09
and I gave him my show there. And then I finally quit the show in Paducah
32:15
and just concentrated on Memphis. Then we got a call. Would I be interested in syndicating buildings outdoors
32:26
And I was going to ask you, I was going to ask you that
32:30
Did the thought ever come up? Why am I doing seven or eight different shows
32:34
Why don't I do one show and feed all of these stations? That would be the natural thought
32:40
Yeah, but it was getting a guest and it gave it a local appeal. I couldn't get the game and fish from Jackson to Memphis and take
32:47
Right. So anyway, a short period of time after I quit that, I got a call from a syndicator in St. Louis, Don Stork
33:02
And Don said, we'd like to syndicate your show. And I said, okay
33:07
And we syndicated in 50 markets, and then we went to 90 network markets
33:13
We did that for a while, and the cost of syndication just kept going up, up, up
33:18
And we moved to cable. And this has been back in the 70s
33:23
We moved to ESPN. And we ran on ESPN. I don't think there were any other fishing shows on ESPN at that time
33:34
And we worked that market. It was a great network, and it covered the country from Spokane, Washington, to San Diego, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Arizona, Dallas, Texas, Fort Worth, New Orleans, all the way down to Miami and all the way up to Eastern Seaboard, and everything in between
33:55
And we did that for a period of time, but we saw that the demographics just, it wasn't there
34:06
And there was a little network over in Nashville, Tennessee, called TNN
34:13
TNN, yeah. So we talked to them, and they said, let's go with it
34:18
So we moved Build Ants Outdoors to the Nashville network, TNN. And within a few weeks, we contacted several key sponsors
34:34
We contacted Walmart, and they said, let's do it we contacted Chevrolet they said let's do it we contacted Perina they said let's do it
34:43
and we picked up some major hitters back then and we ran on TNN
34:52
uh till Enterprises Opryland and that whole network they they sold out and we moved to
35:02
a little network up in Boston somewhere called the Outdoor Channel. I don't know whether the Outdoor Channel is something like that
35:12
But anyway, we ran with them for about a year. And then we finally moved to NBC Sports to the Discovery Channel
35:22
And we picked up two other networks, the Outdoor Channel, which we're running on at the present time, along with the Sportsman Channel
35:31
So after about 10 years ago, I got the idea to try to do a saltwater show
35:42
And we kicked it off with the same basic format, education, entertainment
35:49
And when you can have that, I think you've got the best part of both worlds
35:53
For sure. So we ran, started running our saltwater series about 10 years ago
35:59
on the Sportsman Channel. So now we do 52 weeks a year on the Outdoor Channel
36:07
and on the Sportsman Channel. And we run, we'll run, I think our programmer told me
36:16
not recently, we'll run 1,140 times next year. Oh, 50 some odd years later, here you are still dominating
36:29
Well, I say dominating. There's a couple of friends of ours who might argue that
36:33
Roland and Jimmy. Roland and Jimmy might have something to say about that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
36:38
Are you listening, Roland? Awesome. So, Bill, how many episodes of each show do you shoot per season
36:46
We shoot 39 original shows a year. Wow, wow. We shoot 26 fresh and 13 salt
36:52
How the hell? That is awesome. How do you do that? I don't know
36:56
Working with real good people. Yeah. Our production crew at Build Ants Outdoors, we have two cameramen
37:05
and we have three editors. And I've got my daughter and my niece really keep our shows going
37:18
We have a fellow in Brownsville, Tennessee, that's our sponsor relation guy
37:24
and we got just trying to think we got just a bunch of good people that help us along to uh produce produce these shows so it to produce that many shows i think pete and i
37:39
wow that's pete and i did that for a short period of time that was 26 though wasn't it or it was 13
37:46
and no we started with 26 and 13 the first two bills doing that is bills doing there when we
37:52
learned our lesson real quick we tapped out real quick that's it we cut the we cut that back to 13
37:57
and 13 and did that for nine years and then we had to we had to stop because it was brutal it was
38:03
absolutely brutal that's why i say how do you do that my friend i mean it's incredible well
38:08
we just we get a jump on it and we've been doing it so long yeah i mean 55 years is a long time
38:15
right and if you you could take a truckload of bricks and if you threw enough of them you could
38:21
eventually curve one around a corner so we've learned from experience maybe you could bill we
38:27
can't do that okay there's no way we can do that if you talk enough of them you can't okay but we
38:34
were fortunate that uh it seemed like when one door closed another one opened sure and we work
38:40
with um a lot of very very talented people that are a whole lot smarter than me and they they help
38:48
us a lot. You know, you're only good as the people you work with. Without question. We've met a lot of guides
38:54
that have become real close friends of me and our organization. I fish with them
39:02
and I devote a lot of it toward education. Why are these redfish here
39:10
now and why are they here? What do they do year-round? What is the best
39:14
tackle for them? When is the best time to fish for them? If it's sharks
39:21
We do a lot of inland shows, but some offshore. But we found out that
39:26
in shore shows, more people can relate to that and can afford to do that more so
39:32
than going offshore. But we do a few offshore shows. We just finished one in Orange Beach
39:38
Alabama, about three weeks ago, offshore, catching smaller fish on light tackle
39:46
And it was a real good show. And then we skipped over to Destin while we were in that area
39:53
and we knocked out a real good redfish show. So I'm scheduled next week to go to
40:01
I've got to make a stop in West Point for a meet and greet with Mossy Oak
40:05
And then we head to Florida, and we're trying to catch that early, early spawn
40:12
that largemouth bass spawn. and water temperature controls that so much. So we're going to try to start shooting a few freshwater shows for next year
40:25
this November, and then we'll leave there and scoot over to Palm Bay, Florida
40:32
The Space Coast is one of our big sponsors along Cape Kennedy and Cape Canaveral
40:40
And Iptobard County, which is the longest or the biggest county in Florida
40:46
we've got the St. John's River, we've got the Indian River, and we've got the Atlantic Ocean
40:53
So we've got quite a bit to choose from. So we'll be over there for a week or so doing two or three shows
41:02
And then we head home for Thanksgiving, and that's the coast from then on. Nice
41:09
One of the things earlier in your career, if there was anything that looked like a bit of a stumbling block
41:17
is that people used to say, yeah, well, Billy's always fishing the same ponds
41:22
and he's got the same fish, and he's got the... And I used to defend the heck out of you, by the way
41:28
just so that you know. But my comment, now I understand a little bit
41:34
on how you could do so many episodes, because one of the problems we have in what we do is the travel
41:41
It's excruciating. It's absolutely excruciating. So by eliminating some of that, I think, first of all, it's a very smart idea
41:51
And secondly, I think what you were doing, teaching us all how to catch fish
41:57
could only have been done under those conditions. I don't think they could have been done any other way
42:03
So educational. Those pieces were so educational. You didn't really care about the location
42:06
It doesn't matter to me. When Bill is telling you how to run a crankbait, you know, a medium-running crankbait
42:10
that's gold right there, you know what I mean? For sure. Well, you know, we're not really trying to impress anybody
42:17
in how many fish we can catch in 30 minutes of television because you only see just a small percentage
42:22
Now, sometimes you see every one. Fishing is so tough that you have to really work at it
42:29
But we're not trying to impress anybody, but more so educate people
42:35
on why we use this type of equipment, why we'd use a medium action rod versus a light action or a heavy action rod
42:43
why we use braided line versus mono, how do you fish vegetation, certain types of vegetation
42:52
where it would be lily pads, spatter dock, cocoon tail moss, or whatever
42:58
But it's not where we fish. It's the educational aspect that we try to pass along
43:05
So we've been doing this, like I say, for a long time
43:11
It works. That's for sure. Education has been our number one gig
43:19
So that and entertaining and talking about things that are important. A big thing, a big problem with Angie and I that we have
43:26
and this is to the audience as much as it is to Bill, is that we are really confined in that May to October maybe time frame right there
43:34
So, whereas Bill can access all these waters year-round, it's very nice
43:38
You know, for us to be open water fishing, we could throw an ice fishing show in there once in a while
43:43
But to do, you know, another 13 episodes, it's so nice to be able to drive to these places, not just fly to, you know, easy access
43:50
Get your whole Princecraft boat for our sake in there. So, we don't have that luxury
43:55
So, that kind of stops us too, right? Stymies us a little bit. Bill, have you ever, you know, all these years I've known you, I've never asked you this
44:01
Have you ever produced a show in Canada? That's one of my questions. I had for Bill
44:05
Good one. Yeah, we've shot stuff up around Godinacqua. Oh, yeah. Okay
44:11
On the St. Lawrence River, yeah. Nice. And we've done stuff at Lake of the Woods
44:15
Nice. That's probably the only two areas that we've done in Canada
44:22
On the St. Lawrence River. Oh, man. Up through New York, Godinacqua over in that area
44:29
And then Lake of the Woods. We've done several things on Lake of the Woods over the years
44:36
And I used to do stuff with Al Linder up in Minnesota with the any guys
44:42
You know, I call them the walleye guys, but I've done several things with Al
44:49
And on nothing in Canada. I don think Al and I ever went to Canada But we done stuff in Minnesota catching walleye and all that all those types and smallmouth and fish up there
45:05
At Fish Camp, he had a place up there that we, an excellent place
45:11
done walleye shows with Al. Good stuff. But Canada, that's about the only two places we've done anything
45:22
Those are two good ones. Those are two dandies. St. Lawrence River and Lake of the Woods
45:26
you can't get much better than that, that's for sure. I tell a little joke from time to time, Bill
45:34
and I can't help but feel that it would be a perfect place
45:37
to insert this right now. Hello, let's go. Sometimes when I'm having a rough time out there shooting a show
45:44
which we've all been through those days before, I turn to my crew and I say
45:49
you know, I could have been a doctor. You know, I could have, my mother wanted to be a doctor, but no, I had to become a fisherman
45:57
And so then I say to the guys, you know, there's only one thing that kept me from being a successful doctor
46:04
And they'd say, what? I did grade seven. But in your case, it's true
46:09
You were on the road to being a doctor. Well, you know, my daddy was a doctor, my granddaddy, my great granddaddy, my great, great granddaddy
46:19
For five generations back, we're all doctors. Wow. And I gave it a lot of thought
46:25
My parents didn't try to direct me in that way. But I gave it a lot of thought and even looked at UT Ahmed in this area to start with it
46:42
But I saw, I was driving, if I tell you the name of the streets, it wouldn't mean anything
46:50
But anyway, I was driving along, and there was a motorcycle in front of me
46:56
And a car came out of nowhere and just T-boned him. And I slammed on my brakes and jumped out and ran up to him
47:08
And it was the worst mess I've ever seen. I believe it was horrible
47:13
And it just put an imprint in my head. I still see it today. Wow
47:20
About the same time, a car stopped with three nurses in it
47:26
And then, one, a second or two, another car stopped. And a guy runs up and he said, you're a doctor
47:32
And I said, no. And he said, okay, let me see what I can do
47:39
And then the police came and I said, you need me anymore
47:43
He said, just tell me exactly what you saw. And I explained it to him. And he could see how bad it was
47:48
And so I left and I've never forgotten that. And when I, a day or two after that, I kept thinking back to that and what I saw
47:58
And I said, look, there is no way this fat boy can be a doctor
48:04
I can't cut that. Wow. And so I had a dream of always wanting to get into the tackle business somehow, some way
48:14
and uh finally uh race gods tournaments came along b-a-s-s and i participated in that first tournament
48:25
and in beaver lake was a highland reservoir which i wasn't really used to
48:32
fishing because i grew up here in the mississippi delta uh i fished oxbow lakes up and down the mississippi and
48:38
if i caught a fish over six feet deep that was that was deep
48:44
back in those days yeah but anyway i went to uh beaver and i started fishing and i tried to train
48:53
myself if i'm going to participate in these tournaments i've got to learn how to fish deep
48:59
water and uh as a result i caught my fish about today that's no it's no depth 20 feet but back
49:10
then most fishers were bank fishermen and um i said uh i've got to learn more and more about this
49:20
and i caught my fish in about 17 to 20 feet of water uh a beaver and i led the tournament for
49:27
the first two days and a good friend of mine stan sloan out of nashville he won the tournament and
49:33
Beat me by a pound or so. And the next tournament, I had a second at Kentucky Lake
49:42
And then the third tournament Ray had was at Smith Lake in Alabama
49:47
which was a deep, deep highland-type lake. And I finished second there
49:53
And I thought, good night. And Ray used to kid me. She's always a bridesmaid
49:57
And so the following year, Ray had a tournament. The first one, he went back to Smith Lake, and I won that one
50:11
And then about six weeks later, he had one at Rayburn, Sam Rayburn Reservoir in Texas, and I, fortunately enough, I won it
50:21
And then he came back to Ross Barnett in Jackson, Mississippi, and held one, and I won it
50:26
So I had three seconds and three firsts just out of the first six tournaments I fished
50:31
Not bad. Not bad. Okay. But about a week later, I got a call from Head & Lure Company, Al Kennedy
50:46
And he said, we'd like to talk to you about going to workhorse. And I saw, boy, they're the pioneers in fishing lures, you know, the Lucky 13 and all those famous old-timey baits
50:57
And I went, good gracious. And it wasn't a couple of days later, I got a call from Jim Bagley in Winter Haven, Florida
51:06
And Jim said, I'd like to talk to you about going to work for us
51:11
And I went, woo, he made the boss of baits. And then a fellow called me from Ken White, and he introduced himself
51:24
and he said, I work for Cream Lure Company in Tyler, Texas. And I said, yep
51:31
And Nick Cream asked me to reach out to you and see if there's a possibility
51:37
you and your wife could fly down to Shreveport, and I'll pick you up there
51:41
and they'd like for you to come to Tyler and spend the weekend with them
51:45
Well, Nick Cream was the inventor of plastic worms. Of course, yeah
51:50
And 50% of the fish I was catching back then was probably on plastic baits
51:57
plastic worms and creature bases, which Nick made. So Diane and I flew down to Shreveport
52:07
Ken picked us up and Nick said what I want to do I want you to promote our
52:17
worms in the tournaments and fish with some of the key buyers that we do work
52:22
for and show them how to fish our worms Well he came out with a worm called a shimmy gal and he made it in a six seven and a half and a ten inch And he said I want to furnish you a car
52:36
Whatever you're making now, I want to double it. I went, Lord have mercy
52:40
And so I went to work for Nick, and I worked for Nick for a couple of years
52:47
fishing with a lot of fishing on Toledo Bend and Rayburn. With a lot of his buyers, we didn't have a Walmart or academies or big outlets back then like we do now
53:04
But we had specialized bait shops, mom and pops, that were buying direct from Cream Lear Company back in those days
53:12
So I would take buyers from different stores. I'd take them fishing and show them how to fish the slip-sneaker worm
53:21
And it grew from there. and after about two years, I got to thinking, I said
53:28
you know, if I can do this for Nick, I can do it for myself. So I called, I went to Nick and I told him what I wanted to do
53:39
And he said, I figured this day would come. He said, you see that door behind you
53:43
And I said, oh goodness, what's he going to tell me now? He said, it swings both ways
53:49
If it doesn't work out, Bill, you come back and you've got a place
53:54
You've got a place with us. And Nick was a sweet, sweet fellow and his wife Cosmicream
54:00
Just wonderful people. But I came back and I started. And it was back then a good buddy of mine, Charles Spence, who just bought Strike King Lure Company. Right
54:14
And I went with him to get Strike King Lure Company. equipment, which consisted of bobby pins, skirts, lead, melting pot
54:28
And the guy that did it made spinnerbaits and various things. Well, Charles bought it
54:36
And it wasn't a short, just a little bit after that, Charles says, let's become partners
54:43
And I said, okay. And we had a handshake. and we started promoting Strike King
54:53
And this day, Charles and I had Strike King for a good period of time
54:58
And it got to a point where writers would call me, and they'd say, we'd like to go fishing
55:06
And Charles would say, did they invite me? And I said, no, Charles
55:12
And it got to the point, I'm telling you, It got to the point where I felt so bad about going out and fishing with these riders
55:21
And I said, Charles, when I fish with the riders, they're promoting our bait. They're promoting our company
55:26
They're promoting Strike King. And he just couldn't. And I said, I know I'm leaving you here to do all the work, but I'm helping promote
55:38
Well, it got to the point where I just got so upset about it. I just told him I went in one day and I said, look, we started this thing with practically nothing
55:48
So what I want, you take it and run with it. And I went to work a short time after that
55:56
I was talking to Cotton Cordell in Hot Springs, who made a lot of great lures
56:02
And this spot in the red fan and up being other boats
56:07
and he offered me a whopping position. And he's the one, after I went to work for him
56:16
he's the one that called me one night and said, Bill, and I love cotton
56:21
He was like a daddy. He was the greatest guy. He said, we need a fishing show
56:26
And I said, okay, great. I know the perfect guy for it
56:30
I travel with him some. We room together at the tournaments. He's a close friend
56:36
I've shot his camera a little bit with him and he said who are you talking about and I said
56:43
the perfect guy for for you to hire to do a fishing show and he said who's that and I said
56:49
Jerry McInnes you remember Jerry yeah Jerry was a close friend a dear friend and I and I
56:58
Now, he said, no, no, no, no, no. He said, I really like Jerry
57:04
I respect Jerry. Jerry's got a good show, but I want you to do it
57:09
And I said, what? I said, me do a fishing show on television
57:13
I said, that's like pouring perfume on a pig. I said, I can't even spell television, Cotton
57:19
He said, well, learn how because I want you to do it. That's when we started the role, Memphis, Jackson, Baton Rouge, Paducah
57:27
And then we went off into syndication. So it worked out a dream that if you set your mind to it
57:38
if you want to do something and you work real, real hard at it, you can accomplish a lot once you set your mind to it
57:44
So that really opened the door for me. And then I continued to fish tournaments
57:52
But the television show was just getting bigger and bigger and bigger
57:55
and how I wanted to do the show in the format. And that's where we are today on saltwater and freshwater
58:07
Good for you. I had no idea he was in Strike King. I didn't end up going on Strike King
58:12
Bill, listening to that story, do you think that those opportunities are there today for young kids
58:20
who want to grow up into this business of ours? Do you think that they can still aspire to do what you did
58:27
Well, you know, it's amazing what you can do if you set your mind to it. But the competition is so, so much greater today than it was when I started
58:38
And I get a lot of emails and texts from young fishermen that said
58:45
I want to get into this and how do I go about it? And I said, well, the first thing you've got to consider is your education
58:56
And once you get a good education, you'll be able to do a lot of the things you can't do without a good education
59:03
And I said, it's hard. You have to come out on top
59:11
And sponsors look at it. Well, what are your credentials? What have you done
59:17
And back then, I was real lucky that I was winning tournaments and placing high in tournaments
59:27
And that's what opened the door for me. But I keep telling people, younger people that want to get into this business, get your education first and then really concentrate on trying to be the best you can possibly be
59:44
And that's what sponsors look at. If they want to look at a guy that's got a good personality
59:49
a guy that can sell himself, a guy that's got a good track record
59:55
it knows how to promote product and knows how to sell himself to the public and it's it's funny it's it's a lot tougher today than it was when i started
1:00:07
yeah or when we started or when jimmy started we stay the same thing uh all the time but it's funny
1:00:13
the common denominator seems to be and that's the part i said at the beginning of when we brought
1:00:19
you on i said there's one thing i didn't know about bill and that's what i want to just touch
1:00:24
on now the common denominator for all of us seems to be tournament fishing oh it's big time right
1:00:31
it i mean we we owe our our careers that's how we met to tournament fishing there's no question
1:00:37
about it you just told us the same story i know roland is the same jimmy is the same like everybody
1:00:43
that's in this industry owes their i think if not their success certainly the opportunity came
1:00:51
through tournament fishing oh it really did it opened uh i wouldn't have i wouldn't be where i
1:00:57
am today had it not been for tournament fishing i was it opened doors and closed doors and opened
1:01:03
a bigger door and that when it closed it even another door swing and it i got a little bit
1:01:08
a little bit better and better and better with it so it was i got in at the right time
1:01:14
and we say that all the time yeah yeah for sure you know the odd thing about us too though angie
1:01:20
is is when you you just mentioned that and and for for everybody it's tournament fishing and it's
1:01:26
bass tournament fishing it's by the u.s it makes sense but with us bass tournament guys that in a
1:01:31
country that's very walleye oriented a very trout pike musky everything else yet we still based it
1:01:37
on bass tournaments so that's kind of it's odd but it's it's true though it's cool i did not know
1:01:42
bill i did not know all these years i've known you i did not know that you caught the very first
1:01:47
BASS bass i had no idea or that you won the very first angler of the year in 1970 i never knew
1:01:56
well second second second first first first that's a pretty good start to that i don't think you can
1:02:01
go wrong with that deal holy god wow oh my goodness yeah yeah hey bill how many 10 pound
1:02:08
or 10 pound plus largemouth bass have you caught in your life have you got a number on that
1:02:12
The biggest one I ever caught, I caught here in my home state of Tennessee
1:02:19
It weighed 14-1. Oh, my God. And the biggest smallmouth I ever caught, I caught here in my home state of Tennessee, was 8-5
1:02:27
Oh, my God. But I've been fortunate to have caught, well, several over 10
1:02:36
And I remember I had a, I had a one time I had a 13 pounder and a couple of 12s and several tens, but I've never kept up
1:02:50
I could probably go to my fishing log and look back and probably count
1:02:56
Have you, do you feel, do you feel you've accomplished everything that you set out to do that 55 years ago
1:03:05
Do you think you've reached to where you wanted to be? Are there still moments in Bill Dance's life where he says
1:03:14
man, I've still got to do this? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I love it
1:03:22
When you get to a point when you start saying, well, I can't do this, you start turning brown
1:03:27
Well, I'm still green and I'm still glowing. When you turn brown, you're dead
1:03:33
are you tired i have a lot of things that i enjoy doing and uh
1:03:41
uh i've got a couple of new techniques i can't wait to uh oh i like that to florida that i want
1:03:49
to try on on bass that would apply to any place you fish in the united states canada mexico wherever
1:03:56
Is there an opportunity here to break some news? Well, no. It's just a different technique that I use on crappie
1:04:09
And then I've got a show titled Crappie, Why Not Bass? So when fish are suspended, I found that this technique works extremely well on suspended fish
1:04:26
And I'm anxious to try it. And if it works out, it'll be one of the new shows that we ��
1:04:35
That's cool. You know, you've got everybody right now listening that's got their ear to the speaker
1:04:44
so they don't miss any of this. You can't just say that without giving us a little bit of information
1:04:51
Well, it's just – I can't tell you this much. It's just a technique where you can present a bait to a suspended fish
1:05:00
which is not aggressive. Right. And keep your offering in one spot
1:05:07
And it's not a float. It is a float. It is. Okay
1:05:11
Yeah, I knew it was good. Okay, good. Nice little slip float
1:05:16
Yeah. But I did this one time years and years ago, and I found that I had fish on about a 7-foot or 10-foot contour line
1:05:29
and the fish were laying in about 7 feet. And I went down this section of bank and I caught quite a few fish
1:05:36
a few nice fish in 7 feet of water. Well, the next day we had a front that blew in
1:05:43
We had blue skies, strong north winds. and I went back to that bank and I went down it and I don't think I even caught a fish and I went
1:05:53
to a similar bank I went down it and I didn't catch a fish and I came back to that bank and
1:05:58
as I dropped my trolling motor I started in and I looked on my graph and it was I saw fish suspended
1:06:05
at seven feet well the front didn't change the water temperature it just changed the mood of the
1:06:12
fish with the pressure systems and all they did was to leave the seven foot water and move straight
1:06:19
out i mean just straight out seven feet deep over 18 feet of water and that's when i got the idea i
1:06:27
tried crank baits i tried suspending baits running stuff through it and i said am i above them or am
1:06:33
i below them and bass like to feed in an upper position and uh i've seen them go down on something
1:06:40
and then kind of back up and look at it a little sideways to see it better
1:06:46
So their eyes are fixed to feed up. But anyway, I tried this method for about 20 minutes
1:06:56
and I got kind of discouraged because I just knew it would work. Well, it didn't
1:07:02
And after about 20 minutes, I told the cameraman in the back of the boat
1:07:05
I said, doggone, there's got to be a way to catch these inactive baits
1:07:10
and I tried to throw out and count the bait down and swim it through them and
1:07:16
wouldn't touch it. So I came up with the idea to use this method and another
1:07:24
method where I could present a bait right on their depth level or just a shade above their depth level and make them bite it Well about the time I was just about ready to quit and do something else boom I caught one
1:07:44
And I got so excited about it. And these were some really nice fish
1:07:50
They'd go from, well, I caught one nine-pounder doing it. And I hung 11, hung 12 fish doing it
1:08:00
I jumped one off, one broke off, and two jumped off. So I caught nine
1:08:09
I caught nine with this technique, and they went from three to nine pounds
1:08:15
And I thought, boy, this technique, this is some bad stuff. This will really work on suspended fish that are inactive
1:08:24
and you can keep your offering in front of them or just above them for as long as you want to
1:08:31
Eventually, you can make non-aggressive fish bite. So it worked, and I'm going to do it again with a little bit different twist
1:08:40
It works like crazy. And you get started on crappie, which is the perfect way to learn it
1:08:47
You know, you watch the crappies, you put it above their heads, and they can't resist it
1:08:51
But I remember years ago, I think you were on the shoot with me
1:08:56
I can't remember for sure, but we were hurting bad, and we were in a really remote lake
1:09:02
But for whatever reason, we couldn't get, and we were walleye fishing. We couldn't get those fish to bite
1:09:07
And eventually, somehow, we started floating. Do you remember this at all
1:09:13
We started floating. Well, we've used up floats for walleye with leech so many times
1:09:17
particular but this particular one and it was the only way we could catch them in a in a bit of a
1:09:22
narrowed down area of the lake between an island and mainland in manitoba in manitoba that's it
1:09:28
that's it you remember that yep it was so uncanny bill these fish would not bite any way at all
1:09:35
except with this float yeah yeah yeah and it had to be very precise i can see that a hundred i can
1:09:43
yeah they were suspended and they were feeding up yeah exactly what bill said exactly what you said
1:09:49
yeah it's uh yeah no we throw a crankbait and a pike could eat it yeah hey we couldn't get any
1:09:54
wall in that we get a pike get out of there so bill i i i have to i hate doing it because you've
1:10:01
been asked about this a million times but i need you to tell the audience the significance of that
1:10:06
hat that you wear. I was going to say the same thing. Well
1:10:11
my love for Tennessee kind of grew up with Johnny Majors. I grew up in the
1:10:20
same little town that the Majors Johnny Majors became an All-American. He went to Pittsburgh
1:10:28
became, he left Tennessee, he went to Pittsburgh and became Coach of the Year, came back to
1:10:34
Tennessee, and everything I did, I just loved Tennessee football, college football
1:10:40
And I ran around with one of his younger brothers, Larry Majors
1:10:47
But John's first job, he did quite a bit of work for my granddaddy
1:10:53
And they lived next door to my great-grandmother. so the love for the sport
1:11:01
knowing the majors Shirley Majors the daughter Shirley Majors
1:11:11
Shirley Ann was the daughter but her daddy was Shirley Majors and Shirley Majors
1:11:19
was the coach of the Lynchburg Raiders for undefeated for four years Wow
1:11:27
And then he left and he went to Huntland, Tennessee, and became a coach
1:11:34
And then they asked him to come to Sewanee, Tennessee, in college
1:11:43
But then he moved on to the University of Tennessee as a head coach
1:11:47
But at that time, John, they had a big family. John was playing football
1:11:55
He had already left Tennessee. and he was playing pro and he played for a Canadian league right after that
1:12:02
So at this time, he was playing for a Canadian league. Joe, his brother, was playing at LSU
1:12:11
He had another brother, Larry, which was my age, was playing at Hunt
1:12:20
No, he was playing at Sewanee and then went on to UT as a tailback when they ran a single wing
1:12:28
And then he moved on. His younger brother, Bob, was at Huntland
1:12:36
And Elizabeth Majors, the mother, she was in charge of ticket sales at Huntland
1:12:44
Shirley Ann, the daughter, was a cheerleader at Huntland. And the dog was the team's mascot
1:12:54
So everybody in that family was related with football. So I got a call one day after John had left Tennessee
1:13:04
And a guy said, I'm going to ask you something. His name was Doug Matthews
1:13:11
He said, can you help us? And I said, well, what can I do
1:13:16
And he said, we got a young man that has mixed emotions, whether to sign with LSU or Florida, Alabama, whoever it was, or Tennessee, and he likes to fish
1:13:31
Would you call him and talk to him? So I called him, and I started talking to him, and I told him what Tennessee had to offer, our great state and our lakes and our rivers and our creeks
1:13:43
from the University of Tennessee on the bank of the Tennessee River
1:13:48
And I was dead serious when I said, if y'all play Memphis State at that time
1:13:55
call it the University of Memphis now, and you come, maybe we could spend a half a day
1:14:03
and I'm sure the coaches would allow it. We'll go somewhere and go fishing
1:14:09
And I was serious about it. Well, his schedule never could line up with my schedule
1:14:16
and my schedule couldn't get with his schedule. But we communicated, and he did sign with Tennessee
1:14:22
His name was Randy Sanders. And then Randy eventually became offensive coordinator for Tennessee
1:14:29
and then he moved on. But we kept a close relationship. So one day in the mail, I opened a box
1:14:39
number two t caps in there just like this like this one and uh
1:14:44
I wore that cap to one I can't remember the first tournament I wore I think it
1:14:53
was we all scoring it anyway I want I wore it and I won that tournament and somebody said you know that your lucky cap And I just started wearing it Wow I called Doug Matthews
1:15:06
I said, Doug, I need a few more of those caps. And he said, okay. Mine look like they need an oil change
1:15:11
How many have you had through the years? How many caps do you figure you, because they got to wear out
1:15:18
Well, they do, but we buy about 2,500 caps. and we autograph so many caps for people
1:15:27
Oh, that's cool. We sell the cap. Nice. That's cool. But we've gone through a million of them
1:15:35
Bill, have you ever wore another cap in your fishing career? Is that the only one you wear
1:15:41
Is there any sponsored cap or anything else? Do you restrict Tennessee
1:15:46
Back in those days, I had a cap that said Perkins Automotive Sales
1:15:52
and I wore that cap up until I started wearing this teacab
1:15:59
But, you know, it's kind of been a blessing. Sponsors would say Mercury or whoever it is, Bass Pro or whoever it was
1:16:09
an agency would be doing commercials and you'd have one of the agency people says
1:16:15
can we shoot that without your cap on? And other agencies would say, uh-uh
1:16:21
sponsor wants him to wear that cap and so i got away i didn't have to wear a bunch of different
1:16:28
caps yeah like yeah it's become it's become part of your persona i mean you without that hat i would
1:16:34
like no yeah that's why i asked because i mean in our situation we were we were at the mall and
1:16:38
plus our own uh fish in canada hats but but billy's got uh billy's got the old t the t cap
1:16:44
forever. That's so awesome. That's a great story. I remember Doug Dickey sent me
1:16:53
he was the Doug Dickey was coach at UT and that's when I got those first two teacups
1:17:04
and then Doug went on he left Tennessee and went to Florida. I think he coached Florida
1:17:11
and then he was University of Florida's AD. Then he came back to Tennessee
1:17:18
It's Tennessee's AD. But Doug, Coach Dickey now, is living in Tallahassee, Florida
1:17:23
And I talked to him a couple times last year, and he's just a – he's retired
1:17:30
And he lives in Florida, but his heart's in Tennessee. So – We interrupt this program to bring you the much-anticipated bonus code
1:17:48
for the latest Fishing Canada giveaways. This week's code is DANCE. That's all capitals D-A-N-C-E, DANCE
1:17:57
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1:18:10
Click Contests and sign up for all the latest Fishing Canada giveaways. And now, back to the episode
1:18:17
Speaking of Florida, off the cuff, I want your very best Roland Martin story
1:18:26
Well, you know, I fish for the fish that eat the fish he fishes for
1:18:32
so that's all you have to say right there oh that's so awesome you can tell rolling that
1:18:39
oh god what'd you say i said fish for the fish that eat the fish you fish for
1:18:45
what what does that mean rolling is a good friend and he's a great guy we've had uh we've
1:18:54
had a lot of great times together he's a fan he's a phenomenal bass fisherman oh yeah he can adapt to
1:19:01
lowland lakes midland lakes highland lakes summer fall winter spring cold water hot water
1:19:06
cold water muddy water clear water hot water he can roland can he's just amazing
1:19:13
in his ability to catch fish so we have been good friends for a long long time and we do
1:19:22
a lot of promotions together for our sponsors, Bass Pro. I'm trying to think
1:19:35
I remember we were one night, we were at SeaWorld in Florida
1:19:43
and it was rolling four or five of the fishermen on TNN
1:19:49
And we were doing interviews there from SeaWorld. And they had a big lighted area and everything
1:20:00
I had one of the producers come over and say, Bill, I want you to tell us about water and how fish relate to water
1:20:12
Just come up with some kind of crazy thing. And I said, okay, I know what to do
1:20:16
And so the camera came to me and said, what are one of the, can you think of anything that you could tell the public that would help them with their fishing
1:20:30
And I said, well, let me say that, and I just started rambling
1:20:37
I literally started rambling. And I said, well, you know, when you take neutrality of water at seven parts per million and anything above that runs toward acidity and anything below neutrality relates to plankton or a plankton
1:21:00
and he said, and I was just making stuff up, and I said, now, when you get an updwelling of water
1:21:09
it forces a strange occurrence because cold water is heavier than warmer water
1:21:17
And when this strange occurrence takes place, cold water follows through warmer water
1:21:26
And I said, you get these updwellings and these stratos that formed
1:21:30
And I said, wait a minute. This question is so simple. It is just so simple
1:21:36
I'm going to let my good friend, Roland Martin, answer it. And he looked at me and said, what
1:21:43
Like a cow looking at a new gate. I said, yeah, it's so simple, Roland
1:21:49
You know that answer. And he went, I don't even know what you're talking about
1:21:56
That's awesome. I mean, I use terms that I don't even know what I was talking about
1:22:01
Oh, that's hilarious. And another guy sitting on the set, they looked at me like
1:22:06
what is he talking about? I got Roland pretty good, you know, and he said
1:22:13
you ever do me that way again, I'll kill you. But Roland is, he's special
1:22:21
He's special. Oh, he's special, for sure. Yeah yeah Jimmy Houston tells us a story just hilarious about the three of you not that long ago a few years back we on a boat fishing together shooting a show i i don
1:22:37
know whether it was for jimmy for you or for roland and uh roland um got hung up he went to
1:22:45
make a cast and his back cast got caught up in your in your hat or your head or whatever
1:22:50
and he wanted to take the hook out well when jimmy tells that story i'm telling you the funniest
1:22:55
thing it's the funniest thing you've ever heard in your life he we were all in the boat together
1:23:00
and roland just gets so excited you know when just uh and he had a two ounce oh god he had a
1:23:09
two ounce lead head oh my god and uh lead head jig on yeah and he turned he said well there's a
1:23:17
strong current going there. Look, look, look, look. That's got to be a good spot. And he said
1:23:22
and he made the cast, and that gig hit me right in the back
1:23:26
of the head. And it went, like that. And I went, and he went
1:23:31
I said, don't jerk. Quit jerking. Quit jerking, Roland. And he said, huh? I said, quit jerking
1:23:40
The hook's hung. He said, I know it. Where is it? I said, it's hung in my head, dummy. And
1:23:45
And he said, I'll get it out. I'll get it out. I said, no, wait a minute
1:23:49
Wait a minute. I know how to take a hook out. I can pull it out at a 60-degree angle the way it went in
1:23:54
and it won't bleed very much, and it won't tear up any tissue
1:23:59
Well, he runs back there like Dr. Good know-it-all, and he had a pair of needle-nose pliers
1:24:07
And he said, hold your head down. And he said, quit jerking
1:24:12
And Jimmy was over there screaming in blood. It was just running down the back of my neck
1:24:17
And he said, I'll get it out. And I said, well, you jerk that thing one more time
1:24:22
I'm going to stick those pliers where the sun don't shine. I said, quit jerking
1:24:27
And finally, he said, it went in and it's got to come out
1:24:31
And he popped it out and blood just poured out. And Jimmy over there was just howling
1:24:37
He tells that story, Billy, I'm telling you. It's just the funniest thing in the world
1:24:43
You'll hit a pretty good job of it right there, I got to say. I had my hands up there like this
1:24:50
Jimmy had his hands in there. And then Roland had pliers. It looked like I was in surgery with all these nurses and doctors with hands moving
1:24:57
Oh, my God. Oh, my goodness. We've had some good times. They're good friends
1:25:06
We do a lot of promotional work together. You know, I got to tell you something
1:25:12
And I've told Roland this and Jimmy, and I'll tell you, I've been blessed with knowing you guys for a number of years since I got into business
1:25:22
Thank you. And aside from your personalities, which goes without saying, you guys are just incredible characters
1:25:29
But what I love about you guys is the camaraderie that the three of you have, considering that you are your competitors
1:25:39
Yeah. Right? Yeah. You compete against each other at all levels, professionally during tournament days, getting into the broadcast business
1:25:48
You're competing for broadcasters. Sponsors. You're competing for sponsors. You're competing for audience
1:25:53
Yeah. Like, you guys are the biggest competitors on the planet between the three
1:25:57
And yet, you can see the genuine love. You can see the affection that you have
1:26:03
And I look at it from afar, and I admire it so much
1:26:07
To me, it's the biggest, my opinion, it's the best thing about the three of you guys
1:26:13
is the friendship that you have and the way you. Absolutely. You know, you got to throw Hank in there, Parker
1:26:20
Yes. I love Hank. But we've got, we try to help each other
1:26:30
I've helped Jimmy with sponsors and he's helped me. I've helped Roland
1:26:36
Roland's helped me. We do stuff together from, they know that I've got a particular sponsor that doesn't conflict with
1:26:47
with their sponsorship. And they'll even mention my sponsor to try to help me out
1:26:52
Right. And we kind of work, we work that way together, but that's pretty awesome
1:26:56
It's wonderful. It doesn't happen here. That's what friends do. They try to help each other
1:27:02
Yeah. You're right. And I've helped Roland. Roland's helped Jimmy. Jimmy's helped me
1:27:06
I've helped Jimmy. week and uh i remember uh i can remember a tournament one time uh roland told me he said
1:27:18
are you doing are you doing any good and um i said uh uh dog on the phone uh
1:27:26
you hear that you hear that loon no it didn't even come through you're good
1:27:32
you're good but what was I saying Roland asked you if you were doing any good in the tournament
1:27:43
oh yeah and he said you found anything and I said no
1:27:48
I don't think they're on a shallow pattern he said Bill they're not he said you need to get out in deeper water
1:27:55
and he said I'm telling you it's a big difference these fish have moved a considerable distance
1:28:01
And I was down here two weeks ago practicing, but they dropped off into deeper depths of 15, 18 feet, whatever it was
1:28:10
And I said, and they want a slow presentation bait. And I said, like a worm or a jigsaw
1:28:15
And he said, absolutely. Well, he helped me. And I ended up, I felt bad because
1:28:25
You beat him, right? I beat him. I didn't it doesn't happen often
1:28:31
but I beat him I gave him credit I said he got me on the right pattern
1:28:38
on the depth pattern but I remember rolling we we roomed together
1:28:45
at Table Rock Lake back in 1970 70 or 74 in those early 70s
1:28:54
and we were at Table Rock and a cold front moved in
1:28:58
And I mean a bad one. And it was in the fall, late fall
1:29:03
And Roland and I were standing, I don't know, under a tree or wherever we were
1:29:11
We were outside. And he looked and he said, look at that little dumpy guy all wrapped up
1:29:19
And he said, I don't know how he can fish. And I said, well, he, that ain't he
1:29:24
That's a girl. And he said, what? And I said, that's a girl
1:29:28
And he said, it's not a girl. A girl ain't going to be out here in this kind of weather fishing
1:29:33
And I said, Mary Ann. She said, hey, Bill. I said, come here a minute
1:29:39
And she walked up, and she had a toboggan on, and she pulled it off
1:29:43
and she had long black hair, and she just kind of shook her head, and Roland went, oh
1:29:49
And I said, this is Roland Martin. She said, how are you, Roland? And Roland said, I said, just to ask you a question, Roland
1:29:57
I'm rolling wings. And we talked there a minute. And she said, glad to meet you, Rowan
1:30:05
And Bill, I said, her name was Marianne Colbert. Yeah. Colbert. And she went on, and I went on, and I said, is your daddy fishing the tournament
1:30:16
Paul. And she said, yeah, daddy is. And I was just out trying to look around and see if I could find a few fish for him
1:30:22
And she walked away. And Roland said, that's the prettiest girl I've ever seen in my life
1:30:30
I mean, she's beautiful. And I had to go back talking about it
1:30:35
He said, do you not hear what I just said? I said, yeah, you said Mary Ann was a beautiful girl
1:30:43
And you're right, she is. So we got back to the cabin. Roland said, I wonder if she'd go out on a date with me
1:30:51
I said, all you got to do is ask her. So he changed clothes
1:30:56
You know what's coming, right? Where was she staying? I said, Kevin's five or whatever it was
1:31:01
And he put on his little smell good perfume or cologne. And he took off and he went out the door
1:31:09
And he comes running back and he said, she said, she go out with him
1:31:13
We're going out tonight. We're going over to Kimberly City and have a Coke and maybe eat a sandwich
1:31:19
And I said, great. So he did. and he came in and it's all I could talk about
1:31:26
She's the sweetest thing. I'm telling you what, man, he just couldn't get over
1:31:31
So the next night, I said, why don't you, you don't want to let a good thing go by
1:31:38
I want you to tuck her out again. You know, I think I will. So he runs over there
1:31:43
She said, sure. So they went out again. Well, the next night was the tournament
1:31:51
And he said, guess what? we're going out tonight. And I said, okay
1:31:57
Well, he stumbles in about 1 o'clock in the morning. Before the tournament blast off, right
1:32:04
We got a tournament. Yeah. And so I said, good night, Roland, I tell you
1:32:12
So he goes in the bathroom, brushes teeth, whatever he was going to do
1:32:17
And so I reached over, and I turned the alarm. I turned it
1:32:23
up an hour. And I said, good gracious. And he said, turn the light on
1:32:31
I said, no, wake me up. He said, okay, I'll find. I said, you know, we got to get up at 530
1:32:37
And he said, yeah, I know it. I know it. I got to get some sleep. Well, the alarm goes off
1:32:43
an hour earlier. You know, and he says, I feel like I'm just going to bed
1:32:48
I said to myself, you did. And so The next night, I set it back an hour and a half
1:32:56
We weren't supposed to get up until he'd be getting up at 3.30
1:33:00
He took her out again that night before. He got up the next morning, and he says
1:33:07
Boy, I am wore out. He said, What time is it? I said, We ain't got very long to go
1:33:14
We've got to get over to the weigh-in. They've got a briefing up at the marina
1:33:20
Okay. And we go to, and I knew if I was going to do good in that tournament
1:33:28
I had to beat one guy. Roll it. Doggone right. And so we went, we got, we walked out, and he says, boy, it's cold
1:33:39
And I said, I know it was 28 degrees, and it was cold down here
1:33:44
And I said, okay. So we get over to the marina, and he said, where is everybody
1:33:51
And I said, oh, they'll be here probably in the next few minutes or so. He said, you sure this is where we're supposed to meet
1:33:57
And I said, yeah, I know we are. Then at that time, a couple of guys started coming in
1:34:03
The drone was going, oh, man, I feel like I didn't get any sleep last night
1:34:10
I said, you did, you got two hours. And I believe the only way I thought I won that tournament
1:34:18
and he finished second. Oh, my God. He said, I have never in my life fished a time where I was so tired
1:34:29
And I said, oh, that's a shame. That's a shame. And I didn't tell him that for several years, and I told him what I did
1:34:37
And he said, you know how to beat you if you hadn't have done that. I couldn't concentrate
1:34:43
I sit in the boat as cold as it was, you know, and my eyes would just start closing
1:34:47
And I'd shake my head and even put my hand in the water and rubbed it on my face
1:34:52
Of course, it was cut. I'm telling you, it was bitter to cold. But anyway
1:34:57
Oh, man. You know, those are some of the great stories that you can only get from, I think, from involving yourself in tournament fishing
1:35:07
Because I got so many of those stories that we gone through You imagine how many him and Jimmy and Roland and Hank Parker have all together That would be a whole life of stories man
1:35:21
That's unreal. Bill? McKenna's one night, he comes in. We were rooming together, Jerry and I, on Lake Ouachita
1:35:30
We had a big tournament there. And he comes in the room and he says
1:35:34
Bill, you're not going to believe this. You're not going to believe this. I found the biggest school of bass I've ever found in my life
1:35:39
You think they'll stay there until tomorrow? And I said, I don't even know where you're fishing
1:35:43
He said, I'm fishing up Big Blakely. And I said, oh, okay. He said, you know that big, big point on the right that comes in, that timber point
1:35:50
And I said, yeah, and there's a big field. Looks like a mowed field out behind it
1:35:55
He said, yeah. He said, I pulled up there, and it is loading the bass
1:36:00
anywhere from two to five feet of water. and I said and I've never seen Jerry so motivated and so happy and went to bed that night and he
1:36:11
got up the next morning he says oh wow I hope they stay there I hope they can stay there I said well
1:36:16
if they're not there they're either going to move down the bank in toward the cover they're going to
1:36:21
move out out or come out deep just food around there and go a little bit deeper go down the lake
1:36:27
a little bit off the point and go the other way. He said, okay, okay. So that afternoon we came in, and I saw him walking down the dock
1:36:37
He had his head down. And Jerry, just after the old Jerry, he just, he gets so depressed
1:36:45
And so he walked by and I said, how'd you do? Oh, my goodness
1:36:51
I pulled up there, and there was 25 cows waiting around on that pole
1:36:56
And I said, what? He said, yeah, there was at least 20 or 25 cows walking up and down that two and three foot water
1:37:04
And he said, it killed it. I never caught a fish there
1:37:09
And I said, well, I'll be, I said, where are you going
1:37:13
He said, I'm going to go around here and get my boat and take it on over to the marina where it was
1:37:21
And I said, okay, I'll see you at the cabin a little bit. So I was fortunate
1:37:26
And I won that tournament. And so I was in my room in cabin seven
1:37:33
I mean, not cabin, but I was in room seven. It was a big area at that motel there at the marina
1:37:44
At Blakely Mountain, they had rooms and marina and everything. But I was in room seven
1:37:50
well when I walked in the room Nan Jerry's wife was standing
1:37:57
there and I said good night what are you doing here and she said Jerry
1:38:01
called me last night and he was so excited they said never found a
1:38:05
bunch of big fish before and he thinks he's going to do real good in the tournament tomorrow and I said
1:38:09
yeah unfortunately an accident they moved she said well congratulations I hear you
1:38:15
did well and I said yeah I'm that lucky and so So we were standing there, and I heard Jerry walking down the walkway
1:38:26
In cabin five, Ray Scott, the promoter of BASS, the founder of BASS, he was in room five
1:38:35
And I could hear him talking. And I said, come here quick, man, come here quick. And I grabbed a bedspread, and I just threw it back
1:38:41
I said, jump in that bed, jump in the bed real quick. So she jumped in bed, and I jumped in with her
1:38:48
and you could hear Jerry still talking to Ray. And I said, get on the cover, get on the cover
1:38:53
So I pulled the cover up over our heads, and Jerry walked in, and he says
1:38:58
Who is that over there? Bill. And I pulled the cover just right up to my eyes, and I looked, and I said
1:39:06
Oh, my God. And I threw it back over my head. I said, Oh, my God
1:39:11
She said, What? And I said, Your husband's at the door. He's coming in the room
1:39:18
She said, oh, my gosh. He said, what's going on? So she pulled the cover down
1:39:25
So we pulled the cover down. Here she is laying beside me. He just busted out
1:39:34
He just broke him down. He just started laughing and getting over that defeat
1:39:39
And he stuck his head back and he said, Ray, Ray, hey, Scott, come here
1:39:44
Come here quick. Come here quick. so Ray comes running down there and Ray stuck his head in the room and here we are
1:39:50
playing in bed together and Ray said that's just like him I've known him for years
1:39:57
dance you're nothing but a pervert and then he walked off we had so many
1:40:05
funny Christian stories and tales people don't realize that that happens on tournament circuits all the time
1:40:12
and it's the back story that you never hear about but it's to me
1:40:15
it was every bit as fulfilling as as those days out in the water competing it what happened when you got off with your with your buddy with your competitor just wonderful memories uh i wonder if it still goes on in the modern era of tournament fishing I don know It hard to say
1:40:31
There's great guys out there. We know some of them too. Speaking of modern eras though, Bill, I have to ask you this question because
1:40:39
not because you're old, God forbid, but what in Europe, you've seen everything in the fishing world from start to finish, right
1:40:48
We were from where we were using one rod with a piece of string on it and catching fish
1:40:54
And now, of course, we're into some of the most incredible cutting edge technology available
1:41:00
What do you think has been the biggest, the one biggest improvement that mankind has made in fishing that we've been able to take advantage of
1:41:13
You know, there's a lot. and I look, when I look back, I look back at the outboard motors
1:41:21
I look, now that we've got four strokes, wider motors, better fuel efficiency. I look at the boats that we've got today, how well built they are
1:41:29
and how much storage they have, how much more comfortable they are to ride in rough water
1:41:35
I look at our rods today. They're lighter. They're more sensitive. They're strong
1:41:41
I look at our reels, faster gear ratios. I look at the advancement in fluorocarbon lines, braided lines, monos
1:41:48
I look at our hooks. We've got inner wire hooks that are extremely sharp that penetrate quick
1:41:55
I look at all the things, but the one thing that I did not mention is our electronics
1:42:04
Our electronics are so far advanced today compared to what we used to use, a flasher
1:42:11
I used a flasher. I couldn't read if it was fish or if it was brush, but I could read the depth
1:42:17
And that's what I concentrated on back in the early days when I had a flasher unit
1:42:22
But today, with the advancement in our technology in graphs, it's absolutely amazing
1:42:34
The GPS features, the waypoints, the fish it shows, the definition of how accurate they are and how they can even draw
1:42:47
We're using them on the Mississippi River for catfishing, for instance. You can almost make a catfish out his body
1:42:54
The things are so accurate. You see bridges. You see sunken cars
1:42:59
You see that fishermen are capitalizing on that. And now with our graphs compared to what we had from depth finders now to graphs, I look at the side views of all the technology that Garmin is my sponsor
1:43:27
And their technology is just phenomenal with what they're doing now and what they've got on the drawing board
1:43:35
Yeah. As far as what they're going to introduce and what they will be introducing
1:43:39
Yeah. The power of our trolling motors, we've gone to 36 volts
1:43:44
Our batteries now, we're not using acid cell batteries as much as we're using
1:43:55
Can't even think. Lithium. Lithium. Lithium. That's it. That's the word. The biggest two words I know are Chevrolet and mayonnaise
1:44:04
I can't even spell it. Lithium. That's the word. Don't ask me to spell it
1:44:09
Our advancements in technology and in our equipment and how we fish bodies of water
1:44:17
Absolutely. Absolutely. The education that we've learned makes it so much easier than it was way back yonder
1:44:24
Yep. Yep. True enough. for sure um my friend i can't thank you enough for uh sharing this time with us we've gone way
1:44:34
over what we asked you to give us and and we appreciate that so much uh i'm looking forward
1:44:41
to the next opportunity that we have uh to do some face-to-face time probably at icast in july
1:44:47
coming up. I say this with my heart and every fiber in my body
1:44:56
if we could ever do anything here in Canada with you, I would love the opportunity
1:45:04
to show you some of what we do here. I'd love to see
1:45:09
So if we can ever make that happen, I know you're an incredibly busy man
1:45:14
but if you ever can't, ever think about it, let us know. we would love to spend some time with you up here
1:45:21
Well, that's sweet of you, and I certainly appreciate it. If you ever come close to our great state of Tennessee
1:45:29
just anything we can do for you here, let us know. We got a wonderful state We got some great lakes with a multitude of fish to fish for us So if you get close and I can help you please give me a call Great on Thanks Bill
1:45:44
Bill, thank you very much. We will chat at you soon. You take care
1:45:49
Say hi to everybody down there for us, and we'll talk, Dave. I will. Thank you all
1:45:54
I enjoyed talking to you and to your listeners. Thank you. Take care. Thanks, Bill
1:45:58
Bill Dance. The legend. The extraordinary, the living legend, Bill Dance. What a great guy
1:46:03
What a great guy. stories that when that when bill starts telling stories well that story that he was talking about
1:46:09
roland oh roland had told me that already right yeah so i knew where it was going and well didn't
1:46:15
jimmy tell it the first time maybe jimmy told us i don't know because jimmy get even more animated
1:46:19
i think than anybody but it is so funny oh my god the three of them is just just imagine but just
1:46:25
like bill just said stop jerking just the way he would be oh my god it would be so good
1:46:31
you know i i i i don't know whether it would have ever been possible um
1:46:36
maybe the maybe the the dynamics were all different i don't know but boy would have
1:46:42
it would have been great to have that kind of relationship that the three of them have growing
1:46:48
up in the i mean they built the industry of course they did you know that is it wouldn't it have been
1:46:52
great to have that kind of relationship that they had here in canada with our peers growing up
1:46:59
we tried you and I and you and I and Mikey Burris and I and Reno and yourself you know what I mean
1:47:05
and I'm sure the other the competitors that we've had throughout time they maybe have had but it's
1:47:09
never been a real big group effort and it was certainly not uh not like they love each other
1:47:15
yeah they love each other to this day they still do that's the best part of it you know what I mean
1:47:18
it's lasted that long you know and and they all all of these guys have done so well and they've
1:47:24
And they've done tons for the industry. Oh. You know, I mean, tons. And maybe a lot of the Canadians that are listening here might not
1:47:31
now the younger people might not know so much about Bill Dance, but I'll tell you what, historically, man, those guys
1:47:38
Did you hear his stories about the people that he grew up with
1:47:42
How does he remember all those names? Oh, my God. One thing about Bill I will tell you
1:47:47
Wow. I told you this before. It's uncanny. You can, he remembers stuff so clearly
1:47:56
It's spooky. People's names, you know how you and I are bad for names
1:47:59
Oh, my God. He remembers people's names from, you know, that he hasn't seen in two, three years
1:48:05
He talked about that whole family there in the football. Exactly. Every name is like the dog's name
1:48:10
Exactly. It's like, God, good for him. But that's Bill Dance. That's part of his makeup, right? Yeah
1:48:16
That's part of what. Yeah. Anyways, long overdue. I've been dreaming about this moment
1:48:23
when we could have him on the show. Obviously, I'm a little bit giddy, like a big fan
1:48:27
But I'm a big fan of his. Any idea how old Bill is? He's 83
1:48:32
Okay, well, that's up there, though. Yeah, he's the same age as Roland. I think he's two months older than Roland
1:48:39
But... Good for him. 83, still going? Talking to him. 36. What is he, 36 shows a year
1:48:46
Now, I think he's at 36. 39. Or 39? Yeah. Whatever it was, that's at 83 years old
1:48:53
I can't even imagine. My God. I cannot even imagine that. We can't even do 13
1:48:58
Dean, are you over the big fan shock? Yep. I was nervous as well
1:49:06
That's great, man. And I noticed you didn't push any of those buttons while it was time
1:49:12
I was nice and quiet. Should have done a bunch of bullshit to Bill. i didn't know how you'd take it yeah good call on that one he'd probably laugh his ass off at it
1:49:23
he's got a great sense of humor so anyways uh thank you very much for sharing that with us
1:49:28
through the audience i'm talking now it was a great moment for us and p wait you know what
1:49:34
can i say write into us let us know what you thought of bill and uh if you knew him from
1:49:39
prior to this or if you just met him on this podcast uh i'd be interested to find out your
1:49:46
views i think everybody knows bill from the bloopers tapes too right yeah we never even got to the bloopers 4 million plus views on youtube on each volume of his bloopers so
1:49:55
that's one thing you get like you get a lot a lot of these uh social media memes and stuff like that
1:49:59
little videos and they'll some somebody that doesn't really know bill to send you or i this
1:50:03
is one of the bill falling in the lake exactly bank or whatever like that oh yeah that's yeah
1:50:07
we know that one. Do you want to see this one? Yeah. So. Anyways
1:50:11
I want to thank everybody for making this a wonderful, the wonderful show
1:50:16
that it is. Our entire crew, Volvo there behind the camera, Nikki absent in the seat
1:50:23
and Dean, quiet. Come on. I can hear him breathe. There you go
1:50:27
There he is. Dean's back. Give me a hell yeah. Oh, is he back now? Look out
1:50:31
And of course, my co-host, Peter Bowman. On behalf of all of those guys
1:50:36
I'm Angelo Viola. Thanks, folks. We'll talk to you soon
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