Bill Dance reply to corps ban

[url]http://surfky.com/index.php/communities/muhlenberg/51-top-news-for-all-sites/25619-famed-fisherman-bill-dance-contacts-army-corps-of-engineer-over-dam-issues[/url]. BILL DANCE WEIGHS IN

Very well said Bill, you are and always have been a class act. Personally, there's no way in heck I'd get in those waters, but if someone else wants to then be my guest. It's got to be safer than the idiots you see every spring running down the lakes at 60+ mph while dodging logs and other trash that usually floating around after heavy rains.

Dear Bill,

Curious...when did you film the fishing show below a dam in KY ot TN? Just don't recall seeing that episode.
Bill you are a great person and a fine fisherman.. We appreciate your comments and will appreciate them more when we have seen the episode where you fished below a dam, wore a life jacket, since you never do that on any episode I ever saw, and demonstrated observance of the warning signs below a dam any where on earth.

Thanks for writing, best of luck....and PS: Wear a jacket on a couple of your episodes and then you can talk to me about safety.

When you saw him on his show ??? We as fishermen need all the help we can get & I sure welcome the NATIONAL CELEBRITY that he is when trying to help out fishermen. Some seem to complain about everything from boating safety to tournament fishermen in just this thread alone. Do you guys keep your navigational lights on at all times when your out at night Striper fishing??? Speaking about boating safety is your life vest on each & every time you get above an idle ??? You ever turn a legal Striper loose to try to catch more ??? I Striper fish & tournament fish both. Although I never fish below the dams I sure don't want to see it shut down if it can be avoided because others like to. Dang guys we're all fishermen & we shouldn't be taking verbal punches at all other fishermen that do things that don't agree with our own beliefs. Heck old Bill may be talking about mostly Tennessee waters, but as a whole we need all the representation we can get.

I mostly fish for bass but one time when I visited an old (and older) friend in TN we went striper fishing. He took me below the dam at Lenoir City. Tellico I think. We had a blast. We didn't catch any that day but I had something big on for a few seconds after we moved into the current. I hope the Corps reverses their decision on this and will leave things the way they are.

The only way to reverse the decisions of power hungry big shot elites like the The Corp of Engineers is to put as much political and social pressure on them as possible. Identify the primary individual who is responsible for pushing the decision and let the poop roll uphill and work on getting him fired.

[QUOTE=Les Young;509441]When you saw him on his show ??? We as fishermen need all the help we can get & I sure welcome the NATIONAL CELEBRITY that he is when trying to help out fishermen. Some seem to complain about everything from boating safety to tournament fishermen in just this thread alone. Do you guys keep your navigational lights on at all times when your out at night Striper fishing??? Speaking about boating safety is your life vest on each & every time you get above an idle ??? You ever turn a legal Striper loose to try to catch more ??? I Striper fish & tournament fish both. Although I never fish below the dams I sure don't want to see it shut down if it can be avoided because others like to. Dang guys we're all fishermen & we shouldn't be taking verbal punches at all other fishermen that do things that don't agree with our own beliefs. Heck old Bill may be talking about mostly Tennessee waters, but as a whole we need all the representation we can get.[/QUOTE]

In short, hardly ever wear a jacket, and it's no voilation of law to release a Striper. Of any size. In my own opinion, celebrities that speak out on an issue like this are just trying to grand stand. I personally doubt Bill Dance has a dog in teh fight, but speaking out might get him a couple more viewers. JMHO, and yep, I could be wrong.

I would agree that celebrities talking about stuff they have no business talking about and doing it in a public manner is pretty off base. But since Bill Dance DOES know as much or more about the issue below that dams in this area than probably anyone, and the letter was sent to a judge and the Corp, I don't see how this can be derived as off base. Dance has been the largest ambassador for fishing in this region than arguably all others combined. The guy has fished TN and KY his entire life and to assume he doesn't care about this region would have to be inaccurate at best. The Judge leaked it. His message is pretty clear, inform people on what they should do, safety-wise and let people make up their own minds. It is pretty much the same message most here have. I can't see how the fact he wears a life vest when he's fishing his own private ponds factors in at all about anything. And there are several times I've seen him fishing rivers and such where he had a jacket on; but again, why is that a factor here?

[QUOTE=HURRICANEBOB;509435]Dear Bill,

Curious...when did you film the fishing show below a dam in KY ot TN? Just don't recall seeing that episode.
Bill you are a great person and a fine fisherman.. We appreciate your comments and will appreciate them more when we have seen the episode where you fished below a dam, wore a life jacket, since you never do that on any episode I ever saw, and demonstrated observance of the warning signs below a dam any where on earth.

Thanks for writing, best of luck....and PS: Wear a jacket on a couple of your episodes and then you can talk to me about safety.[/QUOTE]

Why would you feel that wearing a life jacket, other than below a dam or while running the combustible engine, constitutes "Safety"? I am fairly sure that it is not common practice or considered unsafe to NOT wear a life jacket while simply being on the front of your boat fishing.

If the outboard is running, I have the jacket on. If the water is rough and I'm fishing, I'll have it on. If I'm fishing and the water is not rough the jacket will be off. But that's the way I choose to use them. In reality we probably should have them on at all times and I admit that, but like most of us I don't always do everything the way that I should.

Something that is not required by law, at least on older boats is a boarding ladder. In my opinion I think we all should have one installed on our boats. Especially the ones of us that decides not to wear the jacket 100% of the time. Come to think of it, I've never noticed if any of the boats Bill Dance did his shows with had a ladder or not.

Someone needs to start a "favorite Bill Dance blooper" thread just for fun. I like the one where Bill's sitting in the boat and they back the boat down the ramp and into the water with the transom tie downs still connected. Here's a cool compilation of BD bloopers. [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqLbQp4xZVs]Bill Dance's classic bloopers - YouTube[/url]

[QUOTE=HURRICANEBOB;509471]In short, hardly ever wear a jacket, and it's no voilation of law to release a Striper. Of any size. In my own opinion, celebrities that speak out on an issue like this are just trying to grand stand. I personally doubt Bill Dance has a dog in teh fight, but speaking out might get him a couple more viewers. JMHO, and yep, I could be wrong.[/QUOTE]

I kind of agree with you. Most show host have one objective, attract viewers and that nut is a Tennessee sports fan.

[QUOTE=parker;509607]I kind of agree with you. Most show host have one objective, attract viewers and that nut is a Tennessee sports fan.[/QUOTE]Hey, I'll go along with the him being a nut because his allegience to UT. UT is right there with Auburn to us Bama fans/alumni.