by George Henson

Without a doubt, Clay Dyer makes a great ‘catch.’

Earning a living with a rod, reel and tricked-out bass boat — complete with a fancy paint job paid for by a sponsor — Dyer’s life is the kind many men would envy, except for one detail. He was born with no legs and no left arm. His right arm stops above the elbow.

Doctors performed numerous tests on Dyer when he was an infant, but they never determined the cause of his disability. So the Hamilton, AL-native decided early in life to “take lemons and make lemonade,” he tells The Associated Baptist Press. At the age of four or five, he began to realize other children could run and do things he couldn’t. But that didn’t stop him. “I’d find the balls they were playing with and figure out how to make them work for me,” Dyer recalls. “I tried to be independent in everything I did.”

He even played T-ball and basketball, always using the same equipment as everyone else because he didn’t want any special allowances. The same is the case for the pro fishing tour. His reels, lures and boat are just like anyone else’s, with no special tools or tailoring. Dyer started fishing for catfish and bream at age five and began competing in tournaments at about 14.

“I’ve tried not to ever let adversity get me down but [to] push through [it],” Dyer says. “There came a time when I realized either I can choose to be independent or I can be codependent and have someone else meet all my needs. I decided I wanted to be independent and show people that I could do things.” One of the things he did was attend church with his family. But like many young men, he relates, he did things he now regrets.

“During my teenage years, I got sidetracked and got involved in things I shouldn’t be doing, but thankfully never drugs or anything like that. Mostly, I was running with the wrong people,” Dyer recalls.
In June, following his high school graduation, Dyer was invited to a youth rally where he made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ.
He recalls that day vividly, remembering that he felt unnaturally nervous and apprehensive.

Throughout the rally, he says, the feelings only got more severe.
“I just couldn’t get comfortable, and when they had the prayer at the end . . . I looked up and I was all by myself; everyone else was at the altar,” he says. He followed. Up front, a man he had known for most of his life greeted him.
“How’s life going?” he asked. Dyer replied, ”It’s going good.” “No, it’s not,” the man responded. “I had never had anyone talk that boldly to me before,” Dyer remarks. He made a profession of faith that night and has never looked back.

“When you feel that much power, that much peace, there are no words to describe it,” he remarks.
Since that decision, 28-year-old Dyer says he’s been on “the most incredible ride” imaginable. After asking God how He wanted to use him, Dyer vividly remembers a dream in which he saw himself in a shirt with sponsor patches all over it. “The only two types of people who I had ever seen wearing those kind of shirts were professional fishermen and NASCAR drivers, and I had a feeling it wasn’t NASCAR,” he quips with a grin. But there was an obstacle.

“Pro bass fishing takes two things, one of which I did not have. It takes a whole lot of commitment and . . . it takes a whole lot of money,” he explains. That year, Dyer collected all of his savings and competed in the Alabama state championship bass tournament. After the tournament, some companies contacted Dyer to see if he would represent them, and since they were reputable, he said yes.

“It’s not about the national exposure . . . but a means of drawing people to Christ,” he comments. “People ask me why I fish, and I tell them, ‘It’s my . . . platform for testifying about what God has done in my life and what He can do in other people’s lives.’ ” While he loves fishing, Dyer says it’s more important to know he is in the centre of God’s will for his life. “I ask God each day, ‘God, is this your will for my life?’ And over and over, He has confirmed it for me.”

Not only has God allowed Dyer to be a witness on the weigh-in stand, but also in the boats with his fellow competitors — many of whom are not Christians. Dyer has fished primarily in the Strand fishing series, but he has also competed in big-time Wal-Mart FLW events as well.

He’s had 25 first-place finishes and another 25 to 30 top-10 finishes in his career — quite an accomplishment for a guy who ties lures many times each day using only his lips and tongue. One question Dyer often gets asked is whether he’s ever been angry at God for the body he was given. Dyer always responds in the same way: “I don’t like drawing attention to myself, but I’ve often felt like God has made me this way so He could use me the way He wanted. If I had been born differently, I probably wouldn’t have the opportunities I’ve had.”

this article was printed in Living Light News, distributed in Alberta, Canada
photos courtesy SMG Outdoors