By RAY NORRIS, Clay County Chamber

CELINA-For a period of about four hours a crew from ESPN network was here last Wednesday at the Clay County Chamber of Commerce filming a show for future broadcast. 

The subject was, of course, fishing and the participants were local businessman Stephen Headrick and local fishing guides Bob Coan and Bobby Gentry. 

Headrick, owner of the Dale Hollow 1-Stop market and Punisher Lures–which combine to employ 23 local workers, is the renowned “guru of smallmouth fishing” on Dale Hollow Lake. 

Headrick has contracts with Bass Pro shops and Gander Mountain to supply his Punisher brand fishing lures, as well as 100 private stores in many states.

He is also a mainstay on www.Bassmasters.com, where he writes a blog called “Think Smallie” for the ESPN Bassmaster website.

The show filmed was a discussion regarding the float and fly fishing method, a way to catch wintertime smallmouth initially developed by Charlie Nuckols from East Tennessee in 1995. 

Also included in the filming was D. L. Hayes of Litchfield, KY, who is the world record holder for the largest smallmouth bass ever caught.  He landed the 11-pound, 15-ounce ‘bronzeback’ here on Dale Hollow Lake in 1955.

In December of last year, Headrick was also filmed by Midwest Outdoors TV in a fishing demonstration event here on the lake, which is scheduled to air on sports channels at the end of February and December of this year.