While Pat Richardson,  has won over 40 bass tournaments in his career, not one of them was on a Sunday, because he believes that day should be devoted to Church and family.

            “In fact, I’ve never fished on Sundays,”

That’s part of the reason the Louisiana man got out of being on a Tournament Pro Staff s a few years ago, he just didn’t want to be forced into doing boat shows or tournaments that seemed to fall on Sundays more often than not.  He stopped in the local boat dealer his program was run through and politely told the dealer to tell the brand manager not to send him a boat the next year.

            He still wanted to fish.  Then he remembered the boat his Dad had bought 64 years ago.  It was a Polar Kraft that had served its time well but had been sitting in his back-yard woods/briar patch for since probably around 1975.  Rather than go out and buy a smaller rig to use for fun-fishing, he decided to restore the old Polar Kraft as a memorial to his father that tragically died in a boating accident in 1976.

            “My Dad was also in WWII around 1944,” he said.  “People called him Mr. Clyde so I decided to restore this boat as a memorial to him.”

            For patriotic reasons, the colors of course, were red, white, and blue.

            “I got my tractor and pulled the boat out of the briar patch and started to work on it with a friend.  Basically, stripped it down to nothing, added the deck, the carpet, the trolling motor- everything.”

            And naturally, the red, white, and blue colors don’t run since he went with six coats of each for longevity.

            “There was really a lot that went into it because you just really don’t know how everything will balance,” Richardson said.  “But it turned out just fine.  I even installed some handles on the top that helped me get on and off the deck.  I mean, I’m almost 80-years old, you know.”

            The first day Richardson had “Mr.  Clyde” on the water and it helped him catch seven bass- all that were released.  In all likelihood, the real Mr. Clyde, was sitting shotgun some place in that rig for her maiden voyage too .  Richardson may not have known it, but he likely had his fishing buddy, back again.