Nebraskaland

40 Nebraskaland • May 2025 occasionally pull it from the drawer to run it through the catch of the day. With its familiar wooden handle, conditioned by about 40 years of handling, this fi llet knife has been with me for most of my fi shing days, and my history with it is rooted in a favorite celebrity encounter. It began when my dad took me to McCook's new Walmart (back in the early '80s when the L and M were still separated by a star) to see a living legend in action. As a preteen kid who loved to fi sh, I was excited. Behind a small table near the sporting goods section stood the same grandfatherly fi gure who had shared his fi shing adventures with me through the television set on many a cold winter Saturday. It was Harold Ensley, the founding host of the "Sportsman's Friend." At the time, Ensley was about 30 years into a remarkable 48-year run of the television program he began in Kansas City in 1953. In his hand was the same model of knife prominently hanging on a display rack nearby. Its wooden handle, decorated with an autograph facsimile, and straight blade now seem as practical as the Ford Country Squire station wagon he drove. Its Japanese construction and plastic sheath seemingly bridge one generation to another. We watched closely as he pulled bluegills from a cooler and gave us pointers on fi lleting fi sh. While doing it, he extolled the assets of his knife's design. Of course, we each left with a new cutting utensil that day. Ensley is recognized as a pioneer in outdoor television — and television in general. He capitalized on the medium as TV sets were just becoming common in homes. His approach to it seems worlds apart from today's shows. An ordained minister with roots in the western Kansas town of Healy, he used a soft-spoken delivery to narrate over the top of the action footage from a cabin- themed studio. When he started, video cameras didn't record audio, and there was none of the whooping and hollering, or amped- up music, that have become staples of today's programming. Just a guy showing us experiences of doing what he loved with friends and family. He closed each episode by hanging a "Gone Fishin'" sign over the fi replace. Bill Snead of the Lawrence Journal- World related Ensley's impact in a profi le piece: "Ensley's show and his athletic, teetotaling image helped change the public's perception of hunters and fi shermen," Snead wrote. "Many non- sportsmen thought most outdoorsmen were usually an arm's length from a case of beer or within range of a no- hunting sign fi lled with bullet holes. Ensley helped bring a new level of respectability to outdoor sports." The show took Ensley to premier fi shing and hunting destinations and brought him considerable fame. He fi shed with some of the biggest celebrities of the day and even appeared in guest roles on "Gunsmoke" and "The Beverly Hillbillies." Of course, he was named to the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame and garnered countless other honors. With Ensley's proximity to Nebraska, some readers surely have fi rsthand memories of the "Sportsman's Friend." Cutting Back to Another Time By Justin Haag I

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