Daily Limit: Fishing with Han Solo

The good, the bad and the ugly of social media all have a spot in this week's Daily Limit.

A Facebook photo of actor Harrison Ford posing with B.A.S.S. director of events Eric Lopez made one wonder what those two were doing together.

At first glance, with Star Wars Episode VII coming out in Dec. 18, it was postulated that the Bassmasters might have contracted to hold an event with Han Solo fishing on Dagobah, or maybe an Elite was being challenged to hook Admiral Ackbar with spinning tackle.

But no, it was actually a post about Ford hiring an Uber ride – not sure that would ever happen – and his driver (apparently Lopez) was deaf, so Ford Googled how to sign thank you and it touched the driver so much he began to cry. The post, supposedly written by Ford, finishes:

“He shook my hand firmly with two hands, wiped the tears from his eyes and signed back ‘Thank you’ several times. Something simple that I did meant a lot to someone else. It was a good day.”

Although it sounds like something Ford might do, the post was totally false. Before it was taken down, it had more than 64,000 likes, 8,800 shares and 1,800 comments, some of which were ridiculously sentimental.

The post had me fooled at first. I looked twice, thinking it sure looks likes Eric Lopez. He’s even wearing an ESPN jacket, but I know Eric’s not deaf and probably wasn’t moonlighting as an Uber driver.

Tyler Wade, the social media guru at B.A.S.S., clued me in that Lopez had indeed posed with Ford for that photo, but it was at a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation function in 2008. Ford was honored for his work in and appreciation for the outdoors. Mystery solved. Meme destroyed.

Makes you laugh when someone backs a story by saying, “I read it on the Internet.”

A fishing dance, of sorts

Wade sent along a Twitter meme and assured me it was funny. Drake, whoever that is, is shown doing a bunch of crazy stuff with a fishing pole, including catching a lunker off a dock.

Seems a bunch of photoshoppers are having fun making fun of whatever it was he was originally doing, and now a bass fishing photoshopper took his turn. Say, this is kinda fun. Nice fish, too. And yeah, I remember seeing this somewhere before.

Legend Clunn talks legends

Being a semi-egotistical writer, I check on how my stories play in social media. You know, kinda get a pulse on how they’re connecting with readers. It’s nice to have some feedback.

I figured a look at the legends Roland Martin, Bill Dance and Jimmy Houston would garner tons of Facebook likes and comments. The article was first published on Oct. 28 but didn’t  move the needle much. Disappointing.

Looking at the site over the weekend, it had popped atop the Most Commented section. Wha? Apparently someone linked it up somewhere last week and folks started commenting, including Rick Clunn, a legend himself.

Clunn won ESPN’s Greatest Angler Debate in 2005. After Kevin VanDam tied him with four Classic titles, I remember being at the Lewisville Open and asking Clunn if the debate should be revisited. He basically called that a bunch of hooey.

He said there’s really no realistic way to compare anglers from different eras. You’d have to do the impossible of getting everyone together in their prime. It’s good debate, like would Bart Starr beat Tom Brady? Who knows? You can’t go there in reality.

Of his comment to the story, Clunn seemed super appreciative to have fished against the likes of Martin, Dance and Houston.

“Proud to have been on this amazing journey with these three,” Clunn wrote. “I have won Classics that they haven’t won but I would trade one Classic to be the great ambassador that Bill Dance has been. I would give up another Classic to be as smart a businessman as Jimmy Houston. And I would give up another Classic to be as great a competitor as Roland Martin is.”

That’s powerful.

Ike’s celebration not giving up

Mike Iaconelli’s celebration in the 2003 Bassmaster Classic is epic, and “Never give up” is not giving up much ground. It ranks high on the Washington Post’s short list of the most entertaining sports celebrations of all-time.

The Post put together its list on the heels of Toronto slugger Jose Bautista’s bat toss after a three-run homer in October. While Ike’s moment wasn’t viewed by as massive an audience, it still has legs.

Ike had just talked about what a big fish would mean before hooking “a big one.”

“It’s the winning fish,” he claimed while reeling it in. He screamed long in jubilation once he got his hand on it, crowed like a rooster and delivered his now famous “Never give up!”

It’s up there with some other neat celebrations, like Serena Williams wearing her Wimbledon trophy like a hat, Michael Jordan giving Mutumbo the finger wag and Joe Carter’s 1993 World Series walkoff. To see the post, click here.

Your biggest drop?

Last week we took a look at the things lost overboard by our Bassmaster crew.

About the time it was first published, I was on Lake Fork with James Niggemeyer … and ironically, or maybe moronically, dropped my iPhone. I was fortunate it bounced right. If it had gone left, into the water, I would have felt like the biggest idiot.

Say, forgot in that article to ask you to share details of your worst loss overboard.

Culling

  • Photo of the Week comes from Elite angler Dennis Tietje. While in a duck blind at Grosse Savanne Lodge in Lake Charlies, La., Tietje used a lull in the hunting action to get in some fishing. He posted a video of himself casting out of a blind and quickly hooking and landing a bass. He was kind of surprised the video went viral, with more than 100K views. He posted the fin and feather photo above on his Facebook page, reporting he actually filled out a limit of fish from the blind. Not so sure about the ducks. You gotta click on the video below.
     

    It’s tough trying to duck hunt with a BASS Elite Series Pro. They are always trying to catch a fish. Dennis Tietje – Professional Angler

    Posted by Grosse Savanne Lodge on Saturday, November 21, 2015

  • President George H.W. Bush, Billy Murray and Gary Yamamoto will join the current 59 members when they are formally inducted into the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame (BFHOF) next March at the Classic. (See inductees story.) Not only did Bush do so much for fishing, but he also really loved to fish. In 2008, there was  some controversy surrounding Bush’s outing for tarpon, chronicled in this story, “All the President’s Fish.”   
  • Derek Remitz, aka the Wolverine, is going to sit out the 2016 Elite series to concentrate on guiding on Lake Guntersivlle. He will fish the Opens and try to catch back up with everyone at a Classic. Good luck, Derek.
  • David Walker’s truck was on display at SEMA vehicle show in Las Vegas, and he came up with an interesting and humorous piece, “Dude, where’s my truck?”
  • Being on time is critical in bass fishing tournaments, Bernie Schultz learned the hard way. A miscalculation of the tide cost him a berth to last year’s Classic, he writes in “Rules are rules: the late penalty.”