Terri Clark has a problem. At least, that’s what her band thinks.
The country music legend loves fishing so much that she’s taken to practicing fishing knots on her tour bus. And apparently, her bandmates have some thoughts.
“My band is just like, ‘You can get therapy for this. There’s a problem,'” Clark joked during an exclusive interview with OutKick OutDoors.
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She blames Instagram. Every time she opens the app, the algorithm feeds her another video promising to teach her the strongest fishing knot known to mankind. Naturally, she has to try it.
But if Clark’s fishing obsession requires professional intervention, she’s about to find herself in excellent company.
On Sunday, the Grand Ole Opry member will participate in The Champions Celebrity Pro-Am on Old Hickory Lake near Nashville, where she’ll share a boat with one of the world’s top professional bass anglers.
The Pro-Am follows a three-day championship that brings together 60 of the sport’s best anglers competing for a $3.25 million purse.
And Clark, who has spent years honing her skills on Lake Erie, can’t wait to see how her own fishing knowledge stacks up.
“Everybody thinks I’m such a great fisherwoman,” she said. “I’m like, they have no idea the level that these guys operate at. I mean, they’re professionals. They make a living doing this.”
Watch Terri Clark’s whole interview with OutKick OutDoors here:
The difference, she explained, is that she has the luxury of knowing her home waters. Professional anglers, on the other hand, have to figure out unfamiliar lakes, study underwater topography and adapt to whatever conditions they encounter.
“I’m going to be taking a master class in bass fishing, which will be super fun.”
Clark is particularly interested in learning more about fishing electronics. She owns a Humminbird MEGA Live 2 system but hasn’t installed it on her boat because, as she put it, she doesn’t want to spend all day staring at a camera.
Still, she recognizes how useful the technology can be. And if Sunday’s fishing lesson happens to reveal a few productive spots on Old Hickory Lake, she certainly won’t complain.
“I live in Nashville, so maybe I need to mark all the spots we go to so I can go back to them with my kayak later,” she joked.
The one that got away… for now
While Clark is looking forward to learning from the bass fishing pros, there’s another fish occupying an awful lot of space in her brain these days.
A musky. Preferably one measuring more than 50 inches.
She recently returned from a fall fishing trip to Lake Erie, where she’d hoped to finally land one of the elusive predators. Unfortunately, Mother Nature wasn’t particularly cooperative.
Strong easterly winds kept her off the water for much of the trip, while warmer-than-usual lake temperatures appeared to have delayed the muskies’ typical fall movements.
But Clark isn’t about to admit defeat: “I’m gonna get one though. I’m gonna get one.”
She’s even considering chasing muskies on Tennessee’s Caney Fork River, closer to home.
In the meantime, she’s got plenty of other fish to keep her busy.
Lake Erie’s multi-species fishing is one of the things she loves most about the lake. On any given day, she might find herself catching bass, northern pike or walleye — sometimes on the same lure.
And she has some pretty impressive catches to her name.
In 2022, she landed a 16-pound northern pike, a fish so memorable that she had a replica made for her wall after releasing it.
But one of her favorite recent fishing memories belongs to somebody else.
Over the summer, Clark took comedian Kathleen Madigan out on Lake Erie, where Madigan landed her personal-best bass: a five-and-a-half-pounder.
“The fish was bigger than Kathleen,” Clark laughed.
And watching her friend’s excitement was every bit as satisfying as catching a giant fish herself.
“When they get something big and they get excited, it’s just as exciting as if I caught it myself.”
Conveniently enough, Madigan will also be competing in Sunday’s Pro-Am.
PARKER MCCOLLUM WANTS HIS SONS TO LEARN THE LESSON HUNTING AND RANCH LIFE TAUGHT HIM GROWING UP
Not your average relaxing hobby
For someone who describes fishing as a meditative experience, Clark has a pretty intense approach to it.
“I will dehydrate myself because I won’t even stop casting long enough to take a drink of water,” she admitted. “I’m so zoned in on it.”
She’s had pike launch themselves out of the water to grab a lure right beside her boat. She’s cut her hands badly enough to need bandages while fishing. And she’s developed enough knowledge of Lake Erie that she keeps several weather apps handy to make sure it’s safe to head out.
Even when she’s touring, the fishing bug follows her.
On days off, she’ll hire a guide or find someone willing to take her out on a nearby lake. She generally avoids fishing on show days, though, because the possibility of a boat breakdown causing her to miss soundcheck isn’t a risk she’s willing to take.
But it’s not just the thrill of landing a big fish that keeps her coming back.
“It’s not just about catching fish. It’s not just about fishing,” she said. “It’s about being surrounded by nature.”
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After more than three decades in a career that involves bright lights, loud crowds and constant travel, Clark finds something entirely different on the water.
She described watching the sunrise over Lake Erie at 6:30 in the morning, with the water perfectly still, and being so overwhelmed by the beauty of the moment that she’s been moved to tears.
“It’s almost like you’re part of nature’s heartbeat at that time, and I don’t know a better way of putting it.”
That’s also an experience she hopes more women and young girls will discover for themselves.
“I think that we need more female anglers out there,” she said.
Her advice for beginners? Don’t overcomplicate it. Find someone knowledgeable who can teach you, start with basic equipment and build your skills over time. And don’t underestimate the humble wacky rig, which she says still catches bass as reliably as just about anything else.
As for Clark, she’s still learning, still chasing bigger fish and still looking for the next excuse to get out on the water.
Her remaining bucket-list goals include headlining Colorado’s iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre and landing that 50-plus-inch musky.
And when asked about those two dreams, Clark made one thing very clear.
“Don’t ask me though if I had to choose Red Rocks or the musky. Don’t ask me which one.”
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