{"id":8188,"date":"2014-01-26T08:00:02","date_gmt":"2014-01-26T14:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/?p=8188"},"modified":"2014-01-26T02:34:20","modified_gmt":"2014-01-26T08:34:20","slug":"tennessee-wildlife-resources-agency-honors-fishing-icon-bill-dance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/2014\/01\/26\/tennessee-wildlife-resources-agency-honors-fishing-icon-bill-dance\/","title":{"rendered":"Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency honors fishing icon Bill Dance"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TennesseeNashville, TN<\/strong> – Bill Dance, a Tennessee native and national fishing icon, has been honored for his many contributions to the sport of fishing and as a long-time proponent and supporter of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and its efforts to manage and improve fishing in the state.<\/p>\n

The Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission and TWRA expressed their gratitude to Mr. Dance with a resolution during the January TFWC meeting that was held at the Ducks Unlimited National Headquarters in Memphis, TN.<\/p>\n

\"Bill<\/a>

Bill Dance is pictured with TFWC Chairman Jeff McMillin (left) and TWRA Executive Director Ed Carter after he received a plaque with a resolution noting his many contributions that include the sport of fishing, the TWRA, and the state through the years. The honor came at the January meeting of the TFWC.<\/p><\/div>\n

TWRA Executive Director Ed Carter read the resolution that listed many of Mr. Dance\u2019s contributions and accomplishments through the years and presented him a plaque engraved with the resolution.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is an honor and privilege to have known Bill for so many years and honor him,\u201d Director Carter said. \u201cHe has brought people into our state to enjoy all the different things it has and so many people into the sport of fishing. We (the TWRA) have called on Bill many times throughout the years.\u201d<\/p>\n

A native of Collierville, Mr. Dance is known as Bass Fishing\u2019s \u201cFirst Superstar.\u201d He is the winner of 23 National Bass titles, and Bassmaster Classic qualifier eight of nine years with an \u201cin the money\u201d finish percentage so high he was able to retire from competition at age 39.<\/p>\n

He has enjoyed a television career spanning more than 45 years, producing more than 2,000 educational and comedy \u201cblooper\u201d programs. His popular television series have included Bill Dance Outdoors on Destination America and Bill Dance Saltwater, which airs on The Outdoor Channel.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am blessed to have received several awards in my lifetime, but this one here is absolutely truly special, more than most,\u201d said Mr. Dance. \u201cI don\u2019t think there is anything the TWRA doesn\u2019t know about taking care of our wildlife, so the fact that this plaque comes from a group that I have the utmost respect for is what makes it so incredibly special for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Dance wears the famous \u201cPower T\u201d hat on every show which has raised a greater awareness for the University of Tennessee and the state. He continues to be a spokesman and ambassador for Tennessee through the Department of Tourism, inviting visitors from across the United States and around the world to come to the state and fish and enjoy all the beauty and activities that the state offers.<\/p>\n

Mr. Dance, winner of the Congressional National Water Safety Award, has always been willing to appear on-camera promoting the safe use of life jackets for boaters and fishermen. He has produced an instructional video outlining the dangers and potential detriment to Tennessee fisheries by Asian carp.<\/p>\n

He is regarded as the true father of the \u201ccatch and release\u201d practice adopted by many anglers. He also has promoted the pursuit of trophy catfish which has resulted in an increase of angler interest and participation.<\/p>\n

Mr. Dance has written articles for most major outdoor magazines. He also has authored seven books. His accomplishments, techniques and fishing prowess have been publicized in most of the nation\u2019s largest newspapers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nashville, TN – Bill Dance, a Tennessee native and national fishing icon, has been honored for his many contributions to the sport of fishing and as a long-time proponent and supporter of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and its efforts to manage and improve fishing in the state. The Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[8923,8717,3621,8925,8924,1619,284,261,8633,7197,608,973,343],"class_list":["post-8188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community","tag-bill-dance","tag-collierville-tn","tag-ducks-unlimited","tag-ed-carter","tag-jeff-mcmillin","tag-memphis-tn","tag-nashville-tn","tag-tennessee","tag-tennessee-department-of-tourism","tag-tennessee-fish-and-wildlife-commission","tag-tennessee-wildlife-resources-agency","tag-twra","tag-university-of-tennessee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8188"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8189,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8188\/revisions\/8189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}