成人X站

For 20 years 鈥� from the late 1970s to the late 1990s 鈥� a live Sunday night radio show on what is now 成人X站 Newsradio dug casually, yet deeply into fishing, hunting, and other Northwest recreational pursuits. It was called 鈥淥utdoor Line鈥� and the host was the late Bill Davis. The family of the popular outdoorsman and broadcaster contacted 成人X站 Newsradio recently with a special request, and we鈥檙e now turning to our listeners for help.

鈥淚 think he just really enjoyed the community and the relationship building,鈥� said Josh Linke, Bill Davis鈥� grandson. 鈥淭here were literally hundreds and hundreds of people that reached out to my mom and my uncle when [my grandfather] passed who shared their condolences.鈥�

Many people are familiar with a show heard Saturday mornings on Seattle Sports 710 鈥� also available as a 鈥� called 鈥淥utdoor Line鈥� and also 鈥�.鈥� That program was introduced around 2011 and is a clear descendent, in a way, of the original radio show which began in the 1970s.

That long-ago decade was a different time and a different era for broadcasting. Infomercials or 鈥減aid programming鈥� hadn鈥檛 been invented yet or at least weren鈥檛 as prevalent, and streaming audio or podcasts on the Internet, or even satellite radio were decades in the future. This meant that there was a lot more time on the local radio clock, especially on the weekends, that needed to be filled with programming.

In those days, there were often folksy local shows about all kinds of topics, such as home improvement, car repair and maintenance, and gardening 鈥� which is not unlike what Cisco Morris was doing on 成人X站 Newsradio until very recently. Typically, the hosts of these shows were not primarily broadcasters 鈥� they had day jobs or businesses that required their specific expertise and industry contacts, and so that expertise and those contacts 鈥� along with a helping of personality 鈥� often lent themselves to hosting a weekly radio show, which could even attract paying sponsors.

Bill Davis was the laid-back host of 鈥淥utdoor Line鈥� from its debut 鈥� which is believed to have been in late 1977 鈥� until the show went off the air in 1997 after Davis had bypass surgery. He lived another five years and passed away 20 years ago this week Sept. 4, 2002. Bill Davis was just 64 years old when he died.

Before he hosted the radio show, Bill was a fishing guide and had even worked in taxidermy in the 1960s when he first arrived in the Seattle area from his native Pennsylvania, after a brief stint in Arizona. Along with the guide work, he had a day job for years with GTE as a draftsman, and he was also a talented illustrator.

Davis kept busy. While the show was on the air he was a frequent presenter at big events, such as boat shows and other outdoor-recreation-focused gatherings. All these years later, it鈥檚 not exactly clear how 鈥淥utdoor Line鈥� came to be a fixture on 成人X站 on Sunday nights, but it鈥檚 easy to imagine how hosting a weekly show fit right into his interests and schedule.

Bill and his wife lived on the Eastside and had a couple of kids and several grandkids. He was particularly close to his daughter鈥檚 son 鈥� his grandson 鈥� Josh Linke, who was just a teenager when Davis passed away.

鈥淚 don’t want to say he was Santa Claus, but in some ways, he was more of a gray Santa, you know, like he just had the rosy cheeks, he always had the belly,鈥� Linke told 成人X站 Newsradio.

鈥淗e loved to cook, and one of my most fond memories and something I carry on to this day is the smoked salmon recipe he had,鈥� Linke continued. 鈥淗e was always giving it out to friends, family, whoever, and it was just something we loved so much.鈥�

That smoked salmon recipe is still pretty famous 鈥� and still sounds tasty 鈥� featuring a brine with soy sauce, apple juice, brown sugar, salt, and water with the 鈥淟ittle Chief Smoker鈥� (a specialized electrical appliance which is still the pride of Hood River, Oregon) doing the rest.

鈥淔ood was a big part of his life, for sure,鈥� Linke said.

鈥淥utdoor Line鈥� covered fishing and hunting and related outdoors topics like boating safety and camping. One highlight came early in the show鈥檚 history when they flew Bill Davis around and over the region鈥檚 popular lakes in the 成人X站-Copter in April 1978 to do live traffic reports on the Sunday morning opening of trout season.

Along with the show and its wide range of outdoors topics, grandson Josh Linke says it was fishing in Alaska or on his beloved Skykomish River that Bill Davis really loved. Oh, and he really loved the tackle and the gear, too.

鈥淗e created lures in his garage and he had like a whole [work] station when he passed that we had to go through where he would paint and create his own lures,鈥� Linke said. 鈥淎nd he worked as a tackle rep in his spare time, and had probably 300-plus rods and reels just hanging out in his garage.鈥�

鈥淚t was his life,鈥� Linke said. 鈥淭he outdoors, fishing, and hunting . . . [but] really fishing was really, really just what he loved.鈥�

Josh Linke is in his mid 30s. He moved away from this area not long after his grandfather died and nowadays lives in Arizona. Along with missing the grandfather who taught him to fish and who he spent a lot of time with as a kid, Linke is clear about Bill Davis and what 鈥淥utdoor Line鈥� represented to a part of the community which seemed more visible in those simpler years.

Looking back, it seems that for the local listeners, 鈥淥utdoor Line鈥� may not have been unique in terms of a radio show about outdoor recreation 鈥� there were probably similar shows in other parts of the country 鈥� but Bill鈥檚 enthusiasm and his unique personality and the social and cultural realities of that particular era, from the 1970s to the 1990s, are pretty distinctive in Northwest history. Especially given how much has changed, and given how digital technology has shifted when and how people listen to specific programs.

鈥淭here was something about that era, and long before then, of the Western Washington area that was so different then . . . [there was] a different vibe, I feel like, than a lot of other parts of the country,鈥� Linke said. 鈥淚’ve lived in the South, I’ve lived in the Southwest, and I feel like it’s kind of like a dying thing, like people just don’t understand the regionality or locality of different places and what culture was like in those places in those times.鈥�

Linke must be on to something. Clearly times have changed 鈥� and no radio station has done traffic reports from a helicopter for the opening day of trout season for many decades.

As for the family鈥檚 special request, Josh Linke contacted 成人X站 Newsradio because he would love to hear the sound of his grandfather鈥檚 voice again.

鈥淚 don’t have anything at all,鈥� Linke said, referring to audio recordings of his grandfather鈥檚 show. 鈥淲e went through everything and tried to find a tape or something, but I guess it was just the nature of the show. People didn’t record it . . . it was more about the engagement and less about preserving it.鈥�

鈥淚 guess that’s why I was hoping that 成人X站 maybe had something like even the old reel-to-reels or something from way back then, but I guess maybe you all didn’t record it either,鈥� Linke continued.

Unfortunately, Linke is right. If recordings were made, 成人X站 Newsradio has no known recordings of 鈥淥utdoor Line鈥� now 鈥� or much of anything else from the pre-digital 1970s to 1990s.

This is a longshot, but Linke is hoping that some current 成人X站 Newsradio listeners might have intentionally or inadvertently made even a short recording of the show. Perhaps they were fans of 鈥淥utdoor Line,鈥� or maybe someone they knew appeared as a guest, or they worked for a tackle company who may have advertised on the show. Hopes are that someone has a shoebox of old cassettes just gathering dust.

It sure would mean a lot to Josh and the rest of Bill Davis鈥� family if those tapes existed and if someone was willing to share.

鈥淚t’s been 20 years since he passed, and while I can still remember him and remember his face, remember his jokes, remember just who he was, to hear his voice again, would be insanely special for me,鈥� Linke said. 鈥淚’m sure it would probably bring my mom and my uncle to tears, and it’s just something that would really touch me and my family, for sure.鈥�

If you have tapes 鈥� or even if you think you may have tapes 鈥� of Bill Davis and 鈥淥utdoor Line,鈥� please reach out to Feliks Banel via my contact information below. 成人X站 Newsradio would be happy to convert just about any vintage format to digital. If anything turns up, we鈥檒l share it with Bill Davis鈥檚 family and play highlights on Seattle鈥檚 Morning News.

As former FBI director James Comey 鈥� who鈥檚 likely an outdoorsman and probably would have loved 鈥淥utdoor Line鈥� and Bill Davis鈥� smoked salmon 鈥� once said, 鈥淟ordy, I hope there are tapes.鈥�

You can hear Feliks every Wednesday and Friday morning on Seattle鈥檚 Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O鈥橞rien, read more from him鈥�here, and subscribe to The Resident Historian Podcast聽here. If you have a story idea or questions, please email Feliks鈥�here.