The Dewey Mullins Story

                                                                                                                               



Dewey on the job--minding the West Neck Marina Store.

By Ken Testorff

In case you haven’t noticed, there are two new signs at the entrance to West Neck Marina. Both identify the premises as “The home of Dewey Mullins bass fishing tournaments”—specifically, the Dewey Mullins Tribute Bass Tourney Series. The new signs are a way for marina owners, David and Teresa Winfree, to honor the man who runs West Neck Marina like a well-oiled machine.

A native of West Virginia and an 18-year U.S. Navy veteran, Dewey has deep roots in Virginia Beach, where he once owned and operated a gun shop and was service manager for Princess Anne Marine. His love for both hunting and fishing has earned him the respect and admiration of a wide circle of sportsmen in the more than 50 years he has lived here.

He’s also known as a long-time lure maker, with his patented Dewey Mullins “Special” Spoon perhaps being his crowning achievement. This spoon gained considerable notoriety during those not-soon-to-be-forgotten days of the ‘70s and ‘80s, when anglers from every part of the country were flocking to Back Bay for a chance to catch some of those legendary 8-plus-pound bass. Dewey’s spoon accounted for a large number of those citation catches, including his own 13-pound 3-ounce largemouth, caught in September 1979—the mounting hangs on the wall of the West Neck Marina Store today. It doesn’t take much to engage Dewey in a conversation about that fish, as well as events leading up to it and what happened afterward, too.

The Duey "Special" Spoon

As Dewey explains, he lost an even bigger bass the previous day. He had gotten that fish to the boat and was reaching for the net with one hand, while keeping pressure on the line with the other, when he accidentally allowed just a smidgen of slack in the line, and when he looked back over the side, the bass had spit the lure and was swimming away from the boat. Dewey then was kicking himself for two reasons: First of all, he hadn’t even put a net in the boat that day. And second, of course, he was upset that he’d allowed that ever-so-tiny amount of slack in the line. These lapses might have disheartened some anglers, but not Dewey. He simply made up his mind to return to the same spot the next day with his fishin’ buddy, John “The Barber,” and try again.

And so, sure enough, the next day found Dewey and his buddy camped out on the same stretch of Back Bay water. Dewey says they were fishing along when he started noticing an area up ahead where something big really was roiling the water as it chased pods of baitfish. He never saw the fish—just the huge commotion it made in the grass and water each time baitfish swam by. Dewey kept his cool, though, cause the action just kept repeating itself, over and over. When he finally was within range of the spot, Dewey said he let loose a long cast and went on full alert as his spoon dropped through the grass and settled toward the bottom. In the blink of an eye, the much anticipated strike came, and Dewey responded with a solid hookset. The battle now was on, and Dewey had made up his mind this fish was going to be his—even though (yep, you probably guessed it) he suddenly realized he once again had forgotten to put his net in the boat. Methodically, he worked the big bass to the side of the boat, where he then rammed his hand in the fish’s huge mouth and snatched him aboard with the gills.

A page from the U. S. Patent Application

Dewey then says John “The Barber” spent several hours that day, walking around the launch site with Dewey’s fish slung over his shoulder like a sack of patatoes, showing it to everyone he met. Hours passed, according to Dewey, before word reached a local tackle shop, and they, in turn, contacted Dewey about bringing the big fish in for measuring, weighing and preparing the necessary citation paperwork. Turns out the 13-3 bass measured 25” in length and was 25” in girth.

Unfortunately for Dewey, however, his record Virginia fish never got the recognition it deserved, because, as luck would have it, another angler in a different part of the state caught a bigger one before officials could get Dewey’s catch registered in the books. As Dewey jokes, though, all was not lost in this paperwork glitch. First of all, he still has the mounted fish on the wall—a citation, at that—and he often gets to relive that moment in his life when he did what so many other anglers just dream of doing. Besides that, says Dewey, “I still have some of those Tom Mann’s 6-inch jelly worms stashed around here some place,” as he points around the store. Dewey’s reference here is to a whole, giant cardboard box crammed full of jelly worms, in every color of the rainbow, that arrived at his door, courtesy of Mr. Mann, a few days after word spread about the record catch. You see, Dewey had used a 6-inch, white jelly worm as a trailer for his spoon that September day.

Dewey's 13-3 largemouth

And while we’re discussing how the word spread about Dewey’s catch, there’s another related tale worth repeating here. Like many of Dewey’s fishing experiences back in the ‘70s and ‘80s, this one again involved his good friend, John “The Barber.” The two of them had spent yet another day on Back Bay and just had arrived back at the ramp, when Dewey hopped out of the boat and told John he would back the trailer in the water, and let John drive on the boat. There was just one problem: It had been a long, tiring day, and Dewey hadn’t stopped to notice the angle of the boat trailer and vehicle parked next to his. He simply got behind the wheel of the truck and started backing, when all of a sudden, he heard some awful grinding. He stopped, got out of the truck, and saw that he had backed into the adjacent rig. Dewey got back into his truck, and he and John completed the boat-recovery operation without further incident.

Then Dewey went inside the marina to leave his name, address and phone number with management for the person whose vehicle he had damaged. Before Dewey could get out of the parking lot, though, that person showed up and confronted Dewey, who immediately offered to pay for all damages. The response he got wasn’t what he had expected. The other person retorted, “Oh no! You ain’t gettin’ off that easy!”

Dewey shot back, “What’s your problem?”

The other guy then said, “You gotta take me fishin’ and show me where you caught that big bass. Then, we’ll be even.”

Dewey complied, and that guy and his partner went out a few days later and won a tournament, fishing that same area where Dewey had caught the 13-3 bass, and true to his word, that guy wiped the slate clean as far as Dewey owing him any other payment.

Those stories and a lot more are still fresh in Dewey’s memory today. It’s a combination of those stories, Dewey’s personality, and his love for the outdoors that make West Neck Marina Store a popular gathering place for hunters and fishermen alike. Of course, it doesn’t hurt, either, that Dewey continues making lures and servicing guns for some. Among his current list of fishing products are spoons, jigs, spinnerbaits, and chatterbaits, as well as a couple versions of the increasingly popular umbrella rig. It also should be noted that he not only services local customers but fills orders for many out-of-state clients, too.

Dewey relaxes in front of the store after conducting yet another successful tourney weigh-in.

All this being said, you probably aren’t left with any questions about why both the Winfrees and West Neck Marina bass-tourney anglers have chosen to honor Dewey as we begin this 2012 fishing season. We all simply wanted to bestow some long-overdue recognition on a man who has given so much to hunters and fishermen alike. We salute you, Dewey.