Steve Harvey may have made a name for himself in comedy, film, and game shows. But in his personal time, the comedian is all about fishing. He loves spending time by the water, catching a bite.
Speaking with Hook & Barrel, Harvey opened up about his love of the craft. It's something he once relied on for food when he was homeless and living out of his car.
"I traveled with a rod, reel, tackle box, skillet, some charcoal, cornmeal, and grease," Harvey said. "When I caught bass, crappie or brim, I'd clean them on the bank, stop at a rest area, and cook them on those cast-iron grills. That's how I pretty much survived. Fishing wasn't fun for me. It was about staying alive."
Harvey reflected on catching six fish by a lake when the owner of the land approached him. He ended up having to throw back his catch.
"He said, 'This ain't your lake. Why you fishing over here?'" Harvey remembers. "I apologized and pulled my line out of the water. Then he said, 'Those ain't your fish. Throw them fish back.' That was my dinner. I got in the car, a little teary-eyed, and I told God, 'One day I'm gonna buy me a piece of land with a pond on it, and can't nobody throw me off. And I'm gonna fish whenever I want to.'"
Steve Harvey Talks Fishing
That's exactly what Harvey did in Texas. It was one of his greatest joys in life.
"That was the greatest joy of my life," he says. "I had my land, my pond, and couldn't nobody tell me nothing."
Now, Harvey is passing down the joys of fishing to others and has even created a fishing certification program.
"You can get certified to weld. To be an electrician. To fit golf clubs," he says. "But there's no certification for fishing. I want kids to learn knots, lures, water patterns, everything, and walk away qualified to work in the outdoor industry, whether that's apparel, equipment, technology, or retail at places like Bass Pro Shops or Academy Sports."
"If we talked more about our similarities instead of our differences, we could solve a lot," Harvey says. "Fishing is a common place to meet. You don't see many fights out on a lake."
