Bill Dance is one of the biggest legends the fishing world has ever seen. A major part of the reason he’s so popular is that he never takes himself too seriously. He recently shared some good vibes on his Instagram account and wished his followers a happy Friday. The picture looks like he’s slipping on a banana peel. It was a solid reminder that the blooper reels of footage that’s been accumulated from his decades of filming fishing trips for TV are absolutely hilarious.
Bill Dance Outdoors first hit the TV airwaves in 1968. The show has been going strong ever since, tallying up more than 900 total episodes. Bill Dance is one of the most accomplished professional bass anglers in history. Bill Dance caught the very first fish of the very first Bassmasters tournament. He would go on to win 23 National Bass Fishing Titles and 7 B.A.S.S. championships. He was also named the B.A.S.S. Angler of The Year in 1970, 1974, and 1977. He’s a member of both the National Freshwater Hall of Fame and the International Game Fish Association’s Hall of Fame. He retired from competitive bass fishing in 1980 to focus on his blossoming TV career.
The Large Mouth Legend In The Tennessee Hat Is A Major Part Of Fishing History
Last spring, Bill Dance also joined Outsider’s very own Jim Casey for an interview. Topics include the one that got away, his favorite lures, conservation, and more. Back in 2021, Dance was also honored by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee who announced the launch of the Bill Dance Signature Lakes initiative to improve fishing conditions and promote tourism in Dance’s home state.
While his TV show does impart wisdom to viewers about fishing techniques and strategy, the show isn’t just educational. It’s also highly entertaining thanks to Bill Dance’s larger-than-life personality. Over the years he’s had some big names join him on the TV show, including plenty of country music singers like Porter Wagoner, Hank Williams Jr., and Jerry Reed. He also took former Super Bowl champ Terry Bradshaw out on the water a while back. At 82 years old, he’s still going strong. He recently even taught country music singer Stephanie Quayle how to bass fish.
Given his strong ties to the country music industry, it was about time that somebody honored the largemouth legend in a Tennessee hat with his own special song. While David Muir recorded the theme song for his TV show, Luke Bryan’s underrated smash hit Bill Dance is a musical tribute well fit for the fishing icon. The music video is absolutely epic. In addition to Luke Bryan and his two sons, it also includes big-time bass fisherman Kevin Van Dam and legendary Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris.
Bill Dance Bloopers Are Sure To Get You Laughing
Back to Bill Dance not taking himself too seriously. He has hosted one of the most popular fishing shows on television for more than 50 years. While his show is must-watch TV, some would say the outtakes and blooper reels from that show are even more entertaining than the show itself. That’s thanks to Bill Dance’s hilarious attitude, jocularity, and ability to find humor in situations when things go bad.
Ask anyone who loves to fish about Bill Dance, and his epic blooper reels are likely to come up in conversation as quickly as any of his other accomplishments or endeavors.
The blooper reels have racked up millions and millions of views on YouTube. The full collection of videos are online as part of a 5 part series. Go check ’em out. Here are Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3, Volume 4, and Volume 5. Bill Dance also recently made a new video shedding some light on the origin story behind how the blooper reels got started.
