John N. Felsher's Bass Fishing Adventures
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Guy Eaker, a professional bass angler from Cherryville, N.C., lands a
largemouth on a crankbait. He fished with two President Bushes.
largemouth on a crankbait. He fished with two President Bushes.
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| Bass Articles |
Angler survives bloody encounter
with the president of the U.S.
with the president of the U.S.
Few people would probably feel comfortable sitting in a boat just a few
feet from a bloody president of the United States as heavily armed Secret
Service agents watched from just yards away.
Guy Eaker, a veteran professional bass angler from Cherryville, N.C.,
knows what that experience feels like. He also knows what it feels like to do
the president a favor.
In 1992, Ray Scott, founder of the Bass Angler Sportsman’s Society,
invited President George H. W. Bush to a charity fishing tournament held at
Scott’s private lake in Alabama. The president and other celebrities paid to
fish with some professional anglers with the money they raised going to
build a church in the community. The tournament organizers drew names
to pair up the celebrities with the bass pros and Eaker drew the then sitting
president as his partner for the day.
Before the two could fish, though, divers working for the Secret Service
and armed agents checked out the boats from all sides including
underwater. They investigated the lake and looked into anything else that
might harm the most powerful man in the world. Sharpshooters positioned
themselves at strategic vantage points ready to drop anyone who might
pose a threat to Mr. Bush’s life. Armed Secret Service agents in another
boat followed Eaker and Bush as they fished, sometimes scaring the fish
and people.
Not far away, communications officials kept the president in constant
contact with anyone who might need to receive an executive decision in an
emergency. Military officers carried “the football,” the secret codes that
could enable the president to launch nuclear missiles against any threat if
necessary and other equipment vital to national security. Other members
of the entourage, including the president’s personal physician, also closely
followed. In office, the president never goes anywhere alone, even to fish.
Despite all of that going on around them, everything seemed to go well
for Eaker and Bush, at least for a while. Then, the president suffered one
of the oldest of fishing maladies. He impaled himself with a hook in his
finger. Out in the open boat, Eaker sat just a few feet away from the
president of the United States spurting blood with every Secret Service
agent and sniper in the state training their sights on him.
“He was sitting in the back of the boat and blood started going
everywhere,” Eaker remembered. “I knew that if we took him to the doctor,
she would take him to the hospital and our fishing would be done for the
day. I told the president that I could get that hook out of his finger. He said
‘let’s do it.’”
A veteran of many Bassmaster Classics and a lifetime of fishing, Eaker
had extracted a few hooks from various body parts, his and others, over the
years. He pushed the hook barb through the president’s finger and then
cut the hook off with a pliers. In the process, the president uttered a few
choice remarks, probably remembering some words from his Navy days
during World War II, Eaker said.
“He had a few words to say, when I pushed the hook through his
finger,” Eaker remembered discretely. “The doctor came over and put
something like glue on the president’s finger and patched it up and we
continued fishing.”
Eaker also fished with the 43rd president. At the time, the younger
Bush was governor of Texas. The governor broke a couple of Eaker’s rods.
“He said he wanted to pay for the rods, but I told him that wasn’t
necessary,” Eaker said. “I get rods free from my sponsors, but he wanted
to do something for me. I’m a big Nolan Ryan fan and I knew Mr. Bush
owned the Texas Rangers, so I asked him to send me a baseball
autographed by Nolan Ryan. He did. It’s one of my prized possessions.”
Eaker still keeps in occasional contact with both Mr. Bushes. On
another occasion, the older Bush, then out of office, called to see if Eaker
would take him fishing on a particular day. However, Eaker could not
accommodate the president’s request because of another prior commitment
at the time. Instead, he called one of his friends, another bass pro, to take
the president fishing.
When asked which president was a better fisherman, Eaker resisted
making a direct comparison. However, he did say that the senior Bush “was
more into bass fishing than his son.”
feet from a bloody president of the United States as heavily armed Secret
Service agents watched from just yards away.
Guy Eaker, a veteran professional bass angler from Cherryville, N.C.,
knows what that experience feels like. He also knows what it feels like to do
the president a favor.
In 1992, Ray Scott, founder of the Bass Angler Sportsman’s Society,
invited President George H. W. Bush to a charity fishing tournament held at
Scott’s private lake in Alabama. The president and other celebrities paid to
fish with some professional anglers with the money they raised going to
build a church in the community. The tournament organizers drew names
to pair up the celebrities with the bass pros and Eaker drew the then sitting
president as his partner for the day.
Before the two could fish, though, divers working for the Secret Service
and armed agents checked out the boats from all sides including
underwater. They investigated the lake and looked into anything else that
might harm the most powerful man in the world. Sharpshooters positioned
themselves at strategic vantage points ready to drop anyone who might
pose a threat to Mr. Bush’s life. Armed Secret Service agents in another
boat followed Eaker and Bush as they fished, sometimes scaring the fish
and people.
Not far away, communications officials kept the president in constant
contact with anyone who might need to receive an executive decision in an
emergency. Military officers carried “the football,” the secret codes that
could enable the president to launch nuclear missiles against any threat if
necessary and other equipment vital to national security. Other members
of the entourage, including the president’s personal physician, also closely
followed. In office, the president never goes anywhere alone, even to fish.
Despite all of that going on around them, everything seemed to go well
for Eaker and Bush, at least for a while. Then, the president suffered one
of the oldest of fishing maladies. He impaled himself with a hook in his
finger. Out in the open boat, Eaker sat just a few feet away from the
president of the United States spurting blood with every Secret Service
agent and sniper in the state training their sights on him.
“He was sitting in the back of the boat and blood started going
everywhere,” Eaker remembered. “I knew that if we took him to the doctor,
she would take him to the hospital and our fishing would be done for the
day. I told the president that I could get that hook out of his finger. He said
‘let’s do it.’”
A veteran of many Bassmaster Classics and a lifetime of fishing, Eaker
had extracted a few hooks from various body parts, his and others, over the
years. He pushed the hook barb through the president’s finger and then
cut the hook off with a pliers. In the process, the president uttered a few
choice remarks, probably remembering some words from his Navy days
during World War II, Eaker said.
“He had a few words to say, when I pushed the hook through his
finger,” Eaker remembered discretely. “The doctor came over and put
something like glue on the president’s finger and patched it up and we
continued fishing.”
Eaker also fished with the 43rd president. At the time, the younger
Bush was governor of Texas. The governor broke a couple of Eaker’s rods.
“He said he wanted to pay for the rods, but I told him that wasn’t
necessary,” Eaker said. “I get rods free from my sponsors, but he wanted
to do something for me. I’m a big Nolan Ryan fan and I knew Mr. Bush
owned the Texas Rangers, so I asked him to send me a baseball
autographed by Nolan Ryan. He did. It’s one of my prized possessions.”
Eaker still keeps in occasional contact with both Mr. Bushes. On
another occasion, the older Bush, then out of office, called to see if Eaker
would take him fishing on a particular day. However, Eaker could not
accommodate the president’s request because of another prior commitment
at the time. Instead, he called one of his friends, another bass pro, to take
the president fishing.
When asked which president was a better fisherman, Eaker resisted
making a direct comparison. However, he did say that the senior Bush “was
more into bass fishing than his son.”