Fishing celeb Bill Dance fishes Destin
He wasn’t on the docks around the Destin harbor 10 minutes before someone spotted him.
Wearing his trademark Tennessee ball cap while launching his Nitro bass boat at Destin Marina a couple was walking by and said “Hey, isn’t that Bill Dance?”
“Hey … I watch your show all the time,” the guy said as he walked by.
Dance, of the popular fishing show “Bill Dance Outdoors,” was in town for a couple of days fishing and filming with local Capt. Josh Nelson of Out-Cast Fishing Charters.
“Destin has been our playground from the mid-south,” Dance said as they got the boat ready to launch at Destin Marina Wednesday afternoon. “It’s the closest saltwater we have … say in mid-America and we call it our playground, our saltwater playground.
“I’ve known Josh Nelson for 10 or 12 years and when we want to do saltwater, this is where we come. It’s one of our favorite places,” Dance added.
Nelson said he first met Dance while he was working with Capt. Daniel Pike of Inshore Angler.
“He hooked me up and gave me my start,” Nelson said.
Since then Nelson has been taking Dance out for the last seven years.
Nelson said Dance will stay two or three days until he gets enough footage for two 30-minute shows.
“It’s good times,” Nelson said. “He’s top notch, the best you’ll know … he’s as good as they come. He’s genuine … what you see is what you get.
“There’s never a dull moment. He’s a trip on the water,” Nelson said.
As a matter of fact, “I wish we had a camera going 24/7 instead of when we just hook a fish,” Nelson said.
Dance and Nelson, along with a film crew, headed out Wednesday around 2 p.m.
“We want to get our arm stretched and get it done,” Dance said. “You’ve got tremendous inshore fishing as well as offshore fishing, so Destin is a great place.
“It’s a great place to bring your family … it’s just a great place just to come and have a good time,” he added.
Their primary target for trip to Destin is redfish.
“This time of year is good for spawning redfish near the Destin Pass … so it’s good times,” Nelson said.
And that’s exactly where they headed first.
Nelson said a few years ago they caught a couple of redfish over 40 inches that were about 40 pounds.
Of course those were well over the slot limit, which is nothing less than 18 inches and no more than 27 inches to keep.
“All we do is catch and release,” Nelson said, noting it’s all about the enjoyment.
Although they were getting a bit of a late start Wednesday, Dance had full confidence in Nelson.
“We’re going to get it on,” Nelson said.
Dance replied, “You heard it straight from the fish's mouth … we’re going to get it on.”
No air date has been set for the Destin-filmed episodes of “Bill Dance Outdoors,” which airs on the Sportsman Channel.
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