COLUMN : BASS HISTORY bass fishing ’ s biggest celebrity
Junior Samples parlayed a fish story into national fame on Hee Haw
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ken Duke has been writing about all aspects of bass fishing for 40 years . When he ’ s not reading about , writing about , thinking about or talking about bass fishing , he ’ s usually bass fishing . ot long ago , a strange question popped into my head : Who is the most famous person who used bass fishing as a steppingstone to celebrity ?
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Now , this is not the same question as “ Who is the most famous bass angler ?” or “ Who is the most famous person to enjoy bass fishing as a hobby ?” The answers to those questions would be very , very different . The former is – without a doubt – Bill Dance , while the latter might be George H . W . Bush , The Rock or some high-profile athlete .
But the question of who used bass fishing to attain the highest level of celebrity eliminates those answers . It must be someone more famous than Bill Dance and someone who spring-boarded to mainstream fame through bass fishing – not politics , acting , music , or sports .
The answer I came up with surprised me , but no one I ’ ve shared it with has proposed a better answer , so I ’ ll take it as correct … at least for now .
If you ’ re “ of a certain age ” – perhaps 45 or more – you probably remember the television show “ Hee Haw .” And if you remember “ Hee Haw ,” you certainly remember Junior Samples , the stumbling , bumbling , overalls-wearing country bumpkin who posed as a used car salesman ( BR-549 ) or popped up out of an ersatz cornfield to deliver the occasional awkward one-liner .
Though it may be hard to believe , Samples was once one of the most famous comedians in the country and an absolute television star . He was seen – 52 weeks a year for 14 years – in more than 20 percent of all American households . And it all started with a joke about bass fishing .
Seriously .
26 MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM | FEBRUARY-MARCH 2023