Page 94 - South Mississippi Living - October, 2018

SPORTS & OUTDOORS revved up
FISHIN’ & RACIN’
with a NASCAR Legend
story and photos by Frank Wilem and photos courtesy of Jeff Hammond
Anyone who follows NASCAR has heard of Jeff Hammond, the NASCAR legend. So, when our good friends at Island View Casino had him in town for a meet and greet with their guests, I jumped at the chance to spend a few hours fishing together.
On Friday evening before our Saturday fishing trip, I listened to Jeff speak at the casino and was amazed to learn more about his NASCAR career. Starting as a tire-changer, Jeff quickly rose to crew chief with NASCAR champions Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Terry Labonte, and Kurt Busch. His team won most every major NASCAR race including the Daytona 500 and Winston Cup Championship. When Jeff and Waltrip raced together they were the top driver-crew chief combination in NASCAR, winning 43 races!
Jeff is not only a seasoned NASCAR pro and Fox Sports NASCAR analyst but an avid outdoorsman as well. So, he was as excited about the chance to chase specks and maybe catch his first redfish as I was about meeting him.
Okay, well maybe not quite as excited. Capt. Alex Smith, a member of the
Find Your Outdoors charter team, knows how to fish. I’m certain that he has filled the box more times than I can count. He even pre-fished the day before — without much luck — which had me worried. But I figured when you have great weather, a great charter guide, and a terrific fishing buddy, you’ve just got to catch lots of fish. Sometimes it happens, but then again, sometimes it doesn’t.
We met Capt. Alex in Gulfport Harbor early Saturday morning and headed out to fish Cat Island. Wind was blowing out of the north, so we rounded the west tip of the island to work the bayous on the south side. We proceeded to cast what seemed like a thousand times between the three of
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