In today’s Friday Finale historical photo, we teeter on the edge of what might be considered a traditional personality for the site. Yet if you ask a lot of “old timers” who were their early influencers growing up, this name often gets mentioned. He had one of the earliest fishing television shows, frequently mixed in bass fishing trips amongst a host of other species filmed, and visited pretty much every state in the country at some point. Of course, we’re talking about R. Vernon Gaddis, more commonly known by the monicker, “Gadabout Gaddis.”
Today’s picture dates back to 1965, and features Mr. Gaddis digging through a tackle box, holding what appears to be a couple bass plugs in each hand.
Born in Illinois, the son of a construction engineer, young Gadabout moved around the country rather frequently, dropping out of school at the age of 16. He enlisted in the Army at the start of World War I, passing flight examinations at Kelly Field, TX. He served at several air bases during that time, earned his pilot license, and maintained it after the war.
He eventually got his own plane, hence the name, “The Flying Fisherman,” was befitting for his television show.
The show came about after working at a sporting goods store opening. That eventually led to a job as a tackle salesman in the New England area, for Shakespeare, from what I’ve read. That opportunity gave him the chance to fish five or six months of the year. Gaddis started filming his fishing exploits and showing them off while frequently doing seminars and shows around the country. From there, it was a short leap into the television world.
This is a fantastic picture and story, Brian. Gadabout Gaddis was before my time, but I have since learned about him and his TV show and really appreciate what he did and the kind of outdoorsman he presented himself as. As you allude to, his life story is a mighty interesting one. By luck I happened to be the recipient of a small fishing spoon with Gadabut Gaddis imprinted on it. I had no idea that he commissioned lures like this, but it makes sense (if I had a fishing TV show I’d want some lures with my name on them too!). I’ve also seen a good-looking topwater prop bait with Gaddis’ name on it. Gaddis is one of those early television pioneers of the outdoors whose story deserves to be more widely known and appreciated. Referencing your first couple sentences about teetering on the edge of personalities for BFA, I’d say Gaddis most definitely fits the mold. Although most of what he did wasn’t bass-centric, he was one of the guys who helped lay the table for guys like Dance, Martin, Houston and others. Great image and great post for this Friday Finale.
Thanks again, David. He was before my time, too, but the old videos are fun to watch, not to mention the memorabilia “rabbit hole” you could go down as a collector.
After viewing this photograph and reading the text, I went online, found and purchased a copy of Gaddis’ 1967 book, The Flying Fisherman. Looking at the table of contents and a couple of pages, it looks like it will be an enjoyable read.
My father and I watched “The Flying Fisherman” regularly. Sometimes he caught lots of fish and occasionally he didn’t. That was one thing that was different than later shows as well as an emphasis on using a flyrod for bass, something we don’t see today on television. His delivery was understated and friendly. No holding a bass up in your face and gloating. His program was always seen n our house in black and white though like most folks we did not have a color television.