Guys. As most of you know, I fish for BIG catfish. And what a lot of folks don't know is that Bill Dance is also a great catfisherman. I met Bill a few years ago at one of the Bass Pro Shops Big Cat Quest Tournaments on the MS river. It was the day prior to the tournament, we had all pre-fished of course and it was over 100 degrees. Bill, myself and about 4 more guys were standing around and talking catfishing. A young lady came up with a boy about 10 years old, it was her brother, and stood very politely off to the side not wanting to interrupt us. When Bill noticed her standing there, he excused himself and went over to talk to them. The little boy was a huge fan of Bills, and Bill went to his truck and got a photgraph of himself (he carries a stack of them) and autographed it for the boy and gave him a autographed hat. He talked to that little boy untill the boy was finished. There was no HURRY UP in Bill at all, he was just as happy talking to the boy about fishing as he was talking to us about catfishing.

Bill and his partner, James Patterson won that tournament with a awesome weight. When they were annoucing the winners, they got to the first place team of Patterson/Dance and called them up to the stage. Bill couldnt be found. They had to call him 4 times to come up to the stage. Know where he was? In the Coca Cola tent, talking fishing with about 20
boys/girls about fishing and signing autographs and having a blast. He ran up on the stage and said thanks, but i gotta get back to the tent, I have some folks I am talking to.

Bill is a class act. There is NO pretense about him, what you see is what you get, he is all about promoting the sport of fishing, whether it be bass or catfish. I have fished several catfish tourneys against him, and i have NEVER seen him turn his back or snub his nose up at anyone. After prefishing for 3 days and a 1 day tourney in over 100 degree weather, I was smoked and I know he was too, but he stayed in that tent untill the last kid was ready to leave. And he gets them involved, he doesn't just be polite and play the part, he askes them why a fish does this, does that, gets them to thinking about fishing.

On a final note, He is a riot, funny as all get out. And his bloopers, well I would say the majority of them are prob for real. He is a klutz in the boat, and will be the first to admit it. Three years ago, Bass Pro put a cameraman on my boat for the World Championship of catfishing, and he said he went out with Dance/Patterson catfishing for a day and said he prob didnt get 5 mins of video, because he was too busy laughing at Bills antics on the boat.

And the man can flat out catfish.