Dearal Rodgers had spent so much time walking on the roofs of buildings he never even thought about falling. But all it takes is one miss-step and the world can change in split second.

Rodgers, who owns an environmental business in Camden, S.C., with his wife, when he is not fishing bass tournaments, was doing an asbestos inspection in an old shop building in Spartanburg, S.C., on Friday, Sept. 13, when the roof caved in.

“I was on the roof of this building which was about 20 feet high when I fell through a skylight. The skylight, which was made of fiberglass, appeared to be stable, but it was not.”

The deteriorated fiberglass shattered and Rodgers tumbled 20 feet to the concrete. His pelvis was fractured in four places and his right wrist was broken. Luckily, his hard hat saved him from serious head injury.

Although he has endured two months of pain, Rodgers has maintained an upbeat outlook and he plans to rejoin the FLW Tour next year, although not at the level he had hoped.

“To fall 20 feet to concrete and to be able to walk and not be paralyzed is a miracle. The biggest thing is to get my stamina back. I am a long way now from having the energy to practice daylight to dark,” he said. “I would not even feel comfortable competing in a tournament at Lake Wateree right now. It takes a lot of energy to do that and I am not there yet.”

Rodgers, who won the FLW Tour Co-Angler of the Year Award in 2009 and the FLW Tour’s Championship, the Forrest Wood Cup, as a Co-Angler in 2010, had planned to fish the 2014 FLW Tour Pro Division to try to qualify for the Forrest Wood Cup, which will be held on South Carolina’s Lake Murray Aug. 14-17. He qualified for the Co-angler side in the Forrest Wood Cup the last time it was held on lake Murray in 2008.

Rodgers said his lack of stamina was the determining factor in the decision he made with his wife to fish the Co-Angler Division in 2014 instead of the Pro Division.

“I hated to do that, but the fact is I am just not going to be 100 percent physically. I didn’t want to go out there if I could not compete at full health,” he said. “This way if I want to practice for a tournament I can and if I want to take a day to rest I can.”

Rodgers said he gets his drive to fish in spite of his physical problems from the time he spent rooming and practice fishing with Clay Dyer on the FLW Tour. Although Dyer was born without any lower limbs, no arm on the left side and a partial arm on the right, he never let those limitations dampen his determination or limit his competitive spirit in bass tournaments.

“I was in a wheelchair and unable to walk, but I had traveled with Clay for a year and seeing him do the things he did made me realize I could do anything I wanted to,” Rodgers said. “I feel like I can recover fully.”

While he continues to recover, Rodgers plans to keep on fishing as much as he is able and he even plans to take on some guide parties on Lake Wateree.

“I enjoy taking people fishing, but I will probably fish less myself than I used to when I was guiding before,” he said.

Meantime he gets on Lake Wateree as often as he can, hoping to set the hook in a keeper bass. And, Rodgers said, this is one of the best times in the entire year to catch a big Wateree bass.

“I am excited about how the fish have grown up in Lake Wateree the last few years and now through December is one of the best months to catch a really big bass,” said Rodgers, who attributed the growth spurt for bass to the proliferation of shoreline grass in the lake.

“The fish will be shallow and hopefully they will stay shallow. Sometimes, if a major cold front moves through, they stop biting, but they stay shallow. If it gets too cold they might slide off the ends of the docks to the deeper brush out in front of the docks.”

This time of year, he said, look for Wateree bass around rocks, in shoreline grass and under and around the myriad docks on the lake.

“The other thing to remember is that the fish will start grouping up this time of year, so whether I am fishing rocks or grass, if I catch a fish in that area I expect more to be there,” he said.

There is lingering pain and the body is not as agile as it was before the fall, but Rodgers says he will fish through the pain to reach his goal, but also because fishing is such a big part of his life..

“I plan to keep on fishing. I want to be out there every chance I get,” he said. “I know now that I will enjoy it even more and appreciate it more.”

For information on the tournament fishing career of Dearal Rodgers or to inquire about a guided bass fishing trip on Lake Wateree or other South Carolina lakes, check out his website: www.dearalrodgers.com.