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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nDespite his physical stature, Dyer has chased after and participated in life, without hesitation. He started fishing for catfish at his grandparent\u2019s pond at the age of 5. He would cast by tucking his Scooby-Doo rod, given to him by his grandfather, under his jaw. In a quick motion he would whip his body around, with the support of his partial arm, and cast. Dyer would reel in by holding the end of the rod under his chin and use his partial arm to crank. However, it didn\u2019t take long for this young man to become bored catching catfish. Dyer, at the age of 10, craved greater challenges and had set in his heart much bigger dreams. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThankfully, I had parents who didn\u2019t try to wrap me up in bubble wrap, so to say. They let me live life and let me play sports.\u201d Up until his freshman year of high school, Dyer was a three-sport athlete. He played\u00a0baseball, football, and basketball. For the baseball team, he was either occupying first base or was the catcher. On the football team, he played both sides of the line. He was a fullback on offense and a weak side linebacker on defense. \u201cI used my right shoulder and right jaw to hold and swing the bat in baseball. I used my right arm and right side of my face to aim and throw and hold the basketball or football.\u201d He shared, \u201cWhile I always dreamed of and wanted to be a professional athlete, I didn\u2019t see the NBA, MLB, or NFL drafting me because of my physical size and stature. However, I wasn\u2019t going to let that stop me from making my dream of becoming a professional athlete come true. I chose fishing because it gave me the best opportunity to get to the top.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With a goal in his mind, Dyer didn\u2019t waste much time. He began competing in fishing tournaments as a pre-teen. Then on the weekends when he wasn\u2019t on the lake fishing, he would watch bass fishing shows. These shows stirred within him, the desire to go bass fishing. Dyer shared, \u201cWhen trying to figure out how to catch a bass, there are many more pieces to the puzzle. It\u2019s a bit more of a challenge. I love challenges, and I am so driven anyways.\u201d That, plus the fact that bass fishing is much more lucrative, became the determining factors that solidified Dyer\u2019s decision to pursue a career as a professional bass fisherman. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Dyer was 18 years old, he had a significant health scare on a night that he claims changed the course of his life forever. \u201cIt was a Friday night. A friend and I were going to a youth revival at church. Earlier that morning, I had woken up with symptoms similar to a heart attack victim.\u201d Dyer continued, \u201cwhich was strange because I was 18 years old and in the best physical shape of my life.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Dyer had been raised in church his entire life. He shared that he was consistently taught the values of reading the bible, studying, and praying. Like many teenagers though, Dyer confirmed he just strayed off and was stubborn and hardheaded. He said, \u201cThe way I looked at it, I didn\u2019t know what I was missing. I had just always been independent, stubborn, and trying to do it my way. People had lovingly tried to tell me the blessings you receive when you lived for the Lord, but I honestly just didn\u2019t see it like that at the time.\u201d From the sound of it, Clay did not want to admit his dependence or need for Jesus because that would make one more person he would have to rely on. If you can\u2019t tell by now, Dyer is one incredibly driven man, especially when doing things on his own or for his family. He shared, \u201cI\u2019ve always tried to be the type of person that I don\u2019t like to have to depend on anybody, but God really got ahold of me that night.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI remember laying there. In my right ear I could hear this rough, gruffled voice saying, \u2018Suck it up, be a man.\u2019 In my left ear I could hear the most incredible, strong, loving voice repeating, \u2018Come to me, son, and I\u2019ll make you a man.\u2019\u201d That night at church, Dyer shared that he kept staring at the back of the room, repeating, \u201cI\u2019m tired of this. I am ready to know you. I\u2019m sick of this mess.\u201d Dyer recalled, \u201cI got up out of my pew, went to the altar, and started praying. I voiced the sinner\u2019s prayer and asked Jesus into my heart. Immediately, the heart attack symptoms were replaced with a peace, love, and a joy that no words could ever adequately describe.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Years later, Dyer confirms, \u201cI didn\u2019t realize what I was missing with Jesus. I thought I had it as good as it could get. I never realized how Jesus could work in your life because of a thing called faith. Now, freedom for me comes from our Lord Jesus Christ, and my life is more full than ever.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n To date, Dyer has competed in over 300 bass fishing tournaments and has won 32 on the local and regional level. He currently competes on the B.A.S.S. Southern Opens circuit. He has goals to qualify for the Bassmaster Elite Series, like his stepson, Brandon Lester. When he is not fishing the Bassmaster Open Series tour, he and his adored bride, Kim, are home in Fayetteville, TN, enjoying their grandchildren or on the road for ministry and motivational speaking engagements. Clay has been on ESPN, Fox, CNN Headline News, Versus, the Outdoor Channel, Fox Sports South, the 700 Club, and CBS. Published articles about Dyer have appeared in USA Today, Newsweek, Bassmaster, FLW Outdoors Magazine, etc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" HOW DOES a man without any lower limbs, no arm on the left side, and a partial arm on the right side, become a Bassmaster professional angler? Many would speculate the fisherman would have to use some sort of adaptive equipment. Others, upon hearing this, have made assumptions, saying, \u201csurely he utilizes prosthetics.\u201d Yet those […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":12678,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cover"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/DSC00648-2-1-683x1024.jpg\")
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