Pro bass angler has no legs and just one arm, but he has "a heart, a soul and a mind'

JASPER --

Like most young boys, Clay Dyer dreamed of becoming a professional athlete. Unlike most young boys, Dyer did.

"I'm a competitor at heart," Dyer said as he prepared for the FLW Tour stop at Smith Lake this past week. "I really wanted to play something else, but the NFL wasn't looking for linebackers my size."

The 29-year-old Hamilton native was born without legs or a left arm. He has only a short portion of a right arm. Still, he fishes at professional bass fishing's top level.

He drives his boat using his partial arm to steer and an arm-control gas pedal. He uses his tongue to tie his fishing knots, and casts with pinpoint accuracy with his fishing rod wedged between his neck and shoulder.

Now in his second year on the FLW Tour, Dyer is popular and admired among fans and fellow anglers.

"Clay fishes at the level just below the top pro tours in the field," said former Bassmaster Classic winner Jay Yelas, a close friend. "I am amazed that someone with his limitations can play at that high of a level."

Dyer is a daily inspiration, Yelas says.

"He never complains about anything. He just looks forward to each new day and each new challenge with eager anticipation. I know of no man who has gotten more out of his potential than Clay Dyer."

Dyer's attitude toward life has also made him popular as a motivational speaker. He shrugs off all accolades with a matter-of-fact approach.

"People ask how I have managed to adjust to my situation and they don't realize that I haven't ever had to adjust because I've never had legs or good arms to lose," he said. "This is all I've ever known. I use what I have just like everyone else.

"There are a lot of folks a lot worse off than me. People that have lost limbs or have become paralyzed have it a lot worse than I do."

No clue to deformities during mom's pregnancy:
Clarence Dyer, Clay's father, remembers the trauma of his son's birth.

"I wish I had known his story would turn out like it has on that day 29 years ago," he said. "It would have made that day much easier."

There were no hints of problems during his wife Beverly's pregnancy and not until 30 minutes before his son's birth did doctors suspect anything amiss, the father says.

"A doctor came out and got me and told me that there were some problems," Clarence said. "The doctor said one of the arms wasn't fully developed and I might want to be with my wife during the delivery.

"To this day, I don't know if the doctor thought that was all that was wrong with Clay or if he was preparing me for the worst."

Dyer admits he was devastated after his son was delivered.

"All I could think was what will happen to this child?" he said. "I thought: `Look at him. He can never have a normal life.'

"It really hurt."

How to raise a child with such disabilities initially tormented the Dyers.

"We decided to treat him like our other son and see how it worked out," Clarence remembers. "He's never had any problems with anything he has ever tried to do."

Clay says his parents are responsible for him having what he considers a normal life.

"My family is the reason I am where I am," he said. "Never did they look at me and say that maybe I shouldn't try something."

And so he did. He played T-ball and swung a bat with it placed between his shoulder and neck. He even played youth football and basketball. He moved by waddling around with his body.

"I wasn't the quickest one out there," he said, laughing. "But I could throw a spiral by letting the football roll down my right arm and giving it a push."

Hooking a 26-pound catfish got him hooked:

At age 6, Dyer experienced a moment that likely set the course of his life. Fishing at a private lake with his grandfather, he caught a 26-pound catfish. It was a 45-minute battle that exhausted him, but it got his competitive wheels turning.

His weekend mornings were soon consumed with watching fishing shows on TV. By age 15 he was fishing in bass tournaments. He decided to go pro in 1995 after winning more than 20 tournaments on the state level.

Dyer is constantly contacted by people who have seen him in action and have ideas for inventions that might make his fishing easier. He politely says no.

"I thank them and tell them that I'm sure there is someone somewhere who can use it, but I've become comfortable doing it my own way," he said. "I've been fishing like this since I was four or five years old. I don't want to change now."

His career goals are to place in the money in an FLW tournament and eventually qualify for the FLW Championship tournament.

Most people who know him, including his father, believe he'll eventually reach those goals.

"I watch him tying fishing knots with his tongue like someone ties a knot on a cherry stem," Clarence said. "I watch him take Berkley Power Baits you can't even be in the room with because of the smell and put them in his mouth and tie them on.

"He's a remarkable son. He never has a bad day."

Clay says there is nothing remarkable about him at all.

"I tell people that all you really need is a heart, a soul and a mind," he said. "Then you say, `OK, this is what I've got' and make the best use of it."

Dyer's biography entitled "The View From Down Here Is Just Fine" recently was released. It is available from Amazon.com or at his Web site www.teamdyer.com.

Photos by Joe Songer