What Was Your Favorite One On Saturday Morning?

[GTN-NY]

Bill Dance(bloopers were the best) and Hank Parker were my favorites. Bassmasters put me to sleep. 
I met Bill Dance at a Fishing University two day class. I learned how to use a baitcaster from him. Man that was a longtime ago. 
There was another show nobody mentioned called Fishing University. I don’t remember who hosted it anymore. It was a very technique based show not just look how many big fish we caught. 

[billmac]

Being a Yankee, the fishing shows available to me in the 70s and 80s were few and far between.  Although I was a huge Roland Martin fan from Bassmaster, I never saw his show.  Mostly we had two local shows, Rod and Reel, and Rod and Reel Streamside, which aired on public television.  Rod and Reel was (as I remember) mostly downrigging in Lake Ontario.  Rod and Reel streamside was more my type of fishing and I watched that quite a bit.  Since we mostly got Canadian television, we also watched the Red Fisher show regularly and that was pretty good.  I think I might have been able to see a little In-Fisherman but I'm not sure.

[Mobasser]

My favorite was Virgil Ward, Championship Fishing. My dad and I also watched Harold Ensley each week too

[TnRiver46]

 Bill Dance of course! I mean, when a guy is on TV wearing the same hat as everyone you know, and bass fishing??? Sold!!!

[Ogandrews]

Bill dance for me, liked it so much as a kid that I wrote him a letter and he ended up sending me an autographed picture of that exact pic the guy above me posted. Any of the linders shows were a very close second for me, especially being that their from MN

[bagofdonuts]

orlando wilson had the best song.

[the reel ess]

I'm so old, there wasn't even a Fox network until I was in my late teens. Bill Dance and Virgil Ward were the only ones I got and they were only on after noon Sundays after NFL season was over. I'm from the south, so naturally, Dance was my favorite. I thought he spoke the Gospel and walked on water. It didn't occur to me until years later the reason all his fish were bigger than mine is that he either owned the lake or it was a private managed fishery. I still love him.

 

 

[NittyGrittyBoy]

Bill had access to Phosphate pits in Central Fla that were mined from Mosiac. 

 

I grew up fishing similar private lakes. Loaded with bass, crappie, gills. 20ft drop offs straight off the bank. If anyone has had the privilege of fishing similar places they too understand Bill's success. 

[Columbia Craw]

On 2/15/2020 at 7:30 PM, A-Jay said:

I think he may have - the American Sportsman show often aired immediately following the

Wide World of Sports.

Certainly another Classic ! 

A-Jay

 

 

I was on one of the Wide World Of Sports intro clips. Just some worthless trivia for you A-jay.

[TnRiver46]

22 minutes ago, Columbia Craw said:

 

I was on one of the Wide World Of Sports intro clips. Just some worthless trivia for you A-jay.

Was that you that crashed those skis???

[the reel ess]

On 2/18/2020 at 6:01 PM, NittyGrittyBoy said:

Bill had access to Phosphate pits in Central Fla that were mined from Mosiac. 

 

I grew up fishing similar private lakes. Loaded with bass, crappie, gills. 20ft drop offs straight off the bank. If anyone has had the privilege of fishing similar places they too understand Bill's success. 

I fished a place like that in FL with a guide. It was full of big'uns. We caught bass and peacocks all day, including a 7 pounder. There's even a video on YouTube of Bill fishing it with another guide.

[volzfan59]

For me it was Bill Dance. Once we got cable TV, I really started enjoying The Fishing Hole too.

[new2BC4bass]

On 3/30/2014 at 11:06 PM, Long Mike said:

When I was a youngster, the only shows on Saturday mornings were cartoons; but then, we had only three black&white channels to choose from.  Not surprisingly, my brothers and I spent most of our time outdoors.  Those were great years - and we never got arrested.

Resurrected from the dead. 

 

Mike, you were way better off than we were.  We got one black & white channel.  TV wasn't usually turned on until after dark.  I can say the same thing about my brothers and I.

[NittyGrittyBoy]

@the reel ess - Yes sir, most of the pits were found in the middle of cow fields after they had strip mined it. Perfect conditions to grow Big Fla bass. Bill was wise to that and used it to his advantage and for that I applaud him! 

 

My dad and uncle helped managed some cattle and fixed and ran fence for several ranchers and that's how we gained access. We were the only ones who had permission to fish them. Oh the story's and memories I have from those pits, most wouldn't believe them ?

 

After going back to visit family over the years the cow fields are subdivisions (housing) and the ponds/lakes are growed over. That's progress though

[OkobojiEagle]

How many of you can remember the local "paper boy" who delivered the morning newspaper to your front door 7 days a week... then knocked on your door each Saturday morning to collect the few cents you owed him for the previous weeks deliveries?  I began delivering papers at age 8 or 9 and can count on my brother-in-law's hand the number of Saturday mornings since that I've not been working.  (He cut two of those fingers off in a beef production line accident.)  

 

Cable came to our little town about the time my wife was birthing our family, so we treated ourselves to a new 19" color TV and subscribed.  A few years later we could afford a VCR machine and my bro-mance with Larry Nixon began.  40 years later I'd love to sit down and watch every one of those episodes.

 

oe

[DanielG]

3 hours ago, OkobojiEagle said:

How many of you can remember the local "paper boy" who delivered the morning newspaper to your front door 7 days a week... then knocked on your door each Saturday morning to collect the few cents you owed him for the previous weeks deliveries?

 

I was that kid. Twelve years old. I walked 6 hours on Thursday nights after school delivering 200 îpapers for 15 cents each. I had to knock on the door to collect. When I got home I had to roll all the coins and walk about a mile to bring them to the tribune office, and I kept 1 cent for each paper. I made  $2 for that six hour walk. After awhile, I saved up enough to purchase a 12 lb thrust electric trolling motor from Sears. That was a big day. I had an 8 ft flat front aluminum boat at the same lake and same place I live now (thumbnail picture on the left).

Rereading this it sounds like that story about 'when I was a kid', and having to walk to school five miles, uphill, both ways while holding off a bear attack with my loose leaf notebook.

 

Yup, still got the faceplate from the square head of the motor. That was 53 years ago. Man, I'm old. And my boat is still electric.... sigh....

[Ratherbfishing]

On 4/1/2014 at 1:06 PM, tatertester said:

The show that makes me chuckle just thinking about it was Virgil Ward....He always had this fish tank where he and his goofball kid would display various lures and their action ,etc.....The photography was nothing to brag about and there always was a scene where the fisherman were at the boat dock, float plane and all, talking about their latest venture.The wind would be howling making it difficult to hear ,but they always soldiered on.

I use to love his show and that fish tank of his was the bomb!  Watching him bounce a hair jig off the bottom of that enclosure was almost more then I could take!  This was at a time when I was confined mostly to bullhead fishing off a bridge a 10 minute's bike ride away but dang! I wanted to be like him (still do, actually).  I can still hear his theme song ("From the lakes of Northern Canada....") playing happily in my head.

[DitchPanda]

My favorite growing up is still my favorite now...Bassmasters...I remember reading the magazine's over and over and watching the shows every chance I got...always liked the anticipation around the tournament's and still do

[The Bassman]

1 hour ago, Ratherbfishing said:

I use to love his show and that fish tank of his was the bomb!  Watching him bounce a hair jig off the bottom of that enclosure was almost more then I could take!  This was at a time when I was confined mostly to bullhead fishing off a bridge a 10 minute's bike ride away but dang! I wanted to be like him (still do, actually).  I can still hear his theme song ("From the lakes of Northern Canada....") playing happily in my head.

And he always closed by saying "So long and good luck with your fishing".

[feebleyardbird]

Loved Hank Parker Outdoors. Learned to fish from that guy since no one in my immediate family fished.

 

[DAVID WHITTENBARGER]

What was the name of the T.V. fishing show. He was from Missouri or Arkansas. Smallmouth specialist. Him and Coach Bobby Knight were big buddies and they fished together often on his show. He was my all time favorite and I cannot remember his name. 

Don't forget Kurt Gowdy, The American Sportsman! Awesome show. 

[A-Jay]

1 hour ago, DAVID WHITTENBARGER said:

What was the name of the T.V. fishing show. He was from Missouri or Arkansas. Smallmouth specialist. Him and Coach Bobby Knight were big buddies and they fished together often on his show. He was my all time favorite and I cannot remember his name. 

Don't forget Kurt Gowdy, The American Sportsman! Awesome show. 

Hello David and Welcome to Bass Resource ~

Are you thinking of Jerry McKinnis perhaps ?

A-Jay

[leinad]

crusader rabbit ( cartoon,  nyc  tv stations ) , no fishing shows on tv that i remember ( late 50's early 60's ).

[N Florida Mike]

I don’t remember the timeline of the shows but Bill Dance was my favorite show, and it came on at a time where I could watch it the most. I got Rolands show too, and Hank Parker.  I liked in fisherman even though they were way up north and fished for strange fish ( to us) like walleyes etc. I also got “ O’neal outdoors “ ? I think was the name of it. I know he was based in Georgia.

We had a local show too that was called “ Out the door “ with Monroe Campbell. He lived near me, and always had time to talk fishing. His shows were especially interesting because they were all done around here.

[T-Billy]

Dance always was, and still is my favorite. I was looking for an all mesh summer fishing hat last spring, and thought of Bill's T hat. Looked online and found Bill has a store run by his daughter Pam. Bought a hat, and got an e'mail from Pam asking if I'd like it autographed. We had a very nice e-mail conversation, and we actually discussed watching her dads show, after saturday morning cartoons, and before big time rasslin. Few days later I recieved my hat.