I find things like this amusing. Elaborate schemes to do a fishing show? Logic tells you that its harder to have people under water with pens of bass while a diver waits for Bill's lure to come by, they hold on to the hook, underwater, with limited visibility, open the pen, hook the fish, and then wait for Bill's next cast to do it all over again. Seriously? Conspiracy theories concerning Bill Dance. I assure you that there are no elaborate schemes going on here.....

Here in Fl. that rumor has floated around for decades but about Roland Martin.  Here in SW Fl. every tackleshop you go into will tell you about it.  I see you go to FGCU, right here in the mist of it.  We've both probably heard these rumors from the same negative naysayers.  Theres tons of cheating going on in tournaments in this state, salt and fresh. The press is full of it lately, folks are even starting to get jail time.  But to say it specifically about a said person on the web especially this volatile forum... you could be a bigger troll than I am.

I agree with birdseyelespaul.  That seems like a TON of work when you can use that time to just fish it.  LOL

I remember when i was little like 8-10 years old and one of my friends his theory the reason the fishing shows catch so many fish numbers and big ones, was that they already have all these fish caught in a cages tons of them throughout the lake cause you know not every fish is going to bite, so underwater the diver will wait for the pro to throw his lure near one of the cages then release the fish and one out of the dozen or so in the cage will surely bit this lure, rinse and repeat. LOL

 

I mean how else do catch all those fish in less than 30 mins, we had no concept at that age about editing and video productions. lol

I remember many years ago watching Bill Dance fish Okeechobee with a guide, using bobbers and big live shiners. When a bass would move off with that shiner, the guide would make Bill wait, not letting him set the hook, and it drove Bill crazy watching that bobber take off thru the grass and wasnt able to set the hook.

It was nice seeing him, in a way, out of his element, and still reminds me that right about the time Ive gotten as good as Ill ever be, theres still different methods that Ive never attempted yet.

I bet he was antsy to set that hook!

Here in Fl. that rumor has floated around for decades but about Roland Martin.  Here in SW Fl. every tackleshop you go into will tell you about it.  I see you go to FGCU, right here in the mist of it.  We've both probably heard these rumors from the same negative naysayers.  Theres tons of cheating going on in tournaments in this state, salt and fresh. The press is full of it lately, folks are even starting to get jail time.  But to say it specifically about a said person on the web especially this volatile forum... you could be a bigger troll than I am.

 

Agree, no accusations against specific names. That said, as far as I know, there have been documented cases of various shenanigans by TV hosts.

They  lease a large private lake about 30 miles from my home that many of the shows are filmed on.  I went to school with his son who has worked as a cameraman and runs the web for Bill.  In his early TV days many of his shows were filmed on some area Mississippi river Oxbow lakes but not so much lately.  His early shows were very educational to me but the newer shows just seem like one continuous commercial.

Bill is not a real nice guy in real life, but you have to give him credit for making a very good living doing what many of us only dream of doing.