Bill Dance used a Daiwa Procaster Sm 2A, and he sure caught a lot of fish. Whether I was convinced a matching rod and reel would bring me catches like Bill Dance's I don't really recall. I do know that his weekly program, Bill Dance Outdoors, was by far my favorite thing that the TV brought to our home in Clearwater, Florida, and I wanted to fish with the same stuff that he did.
The Procaster reel and matching graphite rod marked a major step up from simple spinning outfit and the Zebco 404 I had owned previously -- enough so that I had to ask for the reel for my birthday (in October) and the rod for Christmas. I didn't mind, and at first light on Christmas morning, I was standing in the front yard with a weight tied to my line, figuring out how to cast my delightful new rod and reel and how to pick out plentiful backlashes.
It's been a quarter century or so since that Christmas morning, and I still don't catch fish the way Bill Dance does. He got me started early with a good baitcaster, though, and taught me many things that helped me catch more fish at the time and that remain foundational to the way I make my living. And for that I am thankful.
