DHF meets with "The Man"

A few weeks ago Stephen took me to meet up with an old friend of his, the man who every die-hard smallmouth fishermen has dreamt of being at least once in their life - David L. Hayes, World Record Smallmouth Bass holder. As soon as we walked in the door you couldn't help but wonder, "Where is it?", but we weren't really there to see the fish, we were there to see the man. David started laying right into Stephen with the jokes, and for a man who's getting up there in age, he's sharp as a tack. He told us some great stories of back in the day about him and his fishing buddies, and every one of those stories had a punch line that put us in tears laughing.

He told us about his piloting days and how he once flew his own Cesna over Dale Hollow, and over the spot. As he was talking about that particular flight, I couldn't help but notice that he had a different look in his eye, as if the flight over the beauty that is Dale Hollow was more fulfilling to him than the day he was several thousand feet below and made his mark on history. Honestly, it wasn't very surprising though. It only takes a few minutes talking to David to realize how humble the man really is, and how to him, it was just a fish, a really-really good fish, but still just a fish...

Then of course he got into the story about the fish that he calls Ol' Joe. You would expect a man (especially a fisherman!) who accomplished something that no other man had, and hasn't for nearly 55 years, to talk about how he overcame the odds and was victorious over what was an unbeatable opponent...but not David. Instead, he told us how hurt he was when his record was taken away because of a lie. He told us how much it hurt him to hear some of the things people said about him "over a damn fish!". And it was understandable.

While he was talking he made a gesture with his head toward the wall behind me. I had been fixated on David since we got there listening to his stories, but what I didn't realize was that Ol' Joe was right behind me the whole time, and when I turned around I kid you not, the hair on the back of my neck stood up and I had the worse case of goose bumps I ever had in my life. I've seen pictures of the fish before, but pictures don't even come close to doing this fish justice.

Stephen was laughing at my reaction because he had met with David many times before and of course has met Ol' Joe before too. Before we left David was gracious enough to sign some hats and books for us, let us snap some shots of him, and let us get OUR picture taken with Ol' Joe - that blew me away. He asked us to get him down from the wall, and I've gotta be honest, I was sweating bullets - I was so afraid I would drop that fish and break a fin off or something - after all, this was the holy grail of Smallmouth Bass fishing!

We got our shots and autographs, shook David's hand, thanked him a million times, and he escorted us out. It was an opportunity of a lifetime, and a day I'll never forget. Below are some pictures of our day with David.

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