David Letterman’s reign as the king of late night TV ends tonight. Which got us to thinking … hey, weren’t we on that show once?
Well, kind of.
Jerry McKinnis was on the Dave Letterman show back in 1987. (And we’ve got the whole clip for you below!)
And in honor of that connection (and because it’s fun), we asked our Facebook and Twitter fans to help us create a Top 10 list. Here it is:
Top 10 Excuses for Missing a Fish
10. The sun was in my eyes! (TJ Essig, Facebook)
9. These hooks aren’t sharp enough! (Sky Wooten, Facebook)
8. My drag slipped! (Chris Thuss, @ChrisThuss99 on Twitter)
7. Didn’t wanna stick him, I’m pre-fishing … (Matt Menzel, Facebook)
6. That stump was disguised as a fish. Clever, stump, very clever. (Joe Pollick, Facebook)
5. I did that on purpose. (Fred Jinright, Facebook)
4. I missed that fish because … I need a new boat … (Steven Priest, @lordofthepunks on Twitter)
3. The dog pushed me overboard. (Eric Ehn, Facebook)
2. Crochet and Poche were having a conversation behind me and I was distracted trying to figure out what language they were speaking. (Joe Pollick, Facebook)
And the No. 1 excuse for missing a fish is …
1. Did you see that Sasquatch? (Elliot Davidson, Facebook)
(You can see other contributions to the list here.)
Here is the video of McKinnis’ appearance with his memories of it below.
I guess today is David Letterman’s last day on the air and boy was I lucky. I got to be on the show twice and I talk about how that happened in the book (Bass Fishing, Brown Dogs and Curveballs). In fact chapter 22 is titled “From Saturday Morning, to Late Night.”
The first time I was on I was to be the third guest up, and the number two was a standup comedian. However, while in the green room getting ready, the comedian’s agent was having a fit because after the standup was over, that would be it. The comedian was not going to sit and chat with Letterman. The agent finally said If we don’t get a sit down there no reason to even be here. The producer then turned to me and said “you ready to go on early Jerry?” and of course I said sure. I ended up getting twice as must time as well. That was great for me but I sure felt bad for the comedian… Think I would have got a new agent.
Here is the segment I did with David Letterman that night and for more book information go to Jerrysbook.com.
Editor’s note: Be sure to check out that book link. McKinnis has a book coming out called Bass Fishing, Brown Dogs & Curveballs, that’s sure to be a big hit with bass fishing fans and beyond.