09-21-2009, 07:26 PM
Each and every one of our Fish-A-Thon anglers just did a rocking good job. Buddy Johns – God Bless him – his team sunk their 26’ pontoon. It sounded like a Titanic type experience, truly mortifying, and they’re still dealing with it.
Andre Xiong – he had a northern sink a treble hook right through his finger, but he cut the hook off and kept fishing. Hardcore. And chalk up another fan of single, barbless hooks! They tallied a bunch of fish for their efforts.
In other hand-and-finger related injuries, David and Nita Asher down in Georgia started off rough. In dropping off the kids at the babysitter, one of their boys closed the other’s finger in the car door. Yikes! It really put a damper in what they could do on the water, as Nita traded fishing time for ER time, and wound up having to wrangle a little one on the boat with them.
The Workman brothers not only caught a bigger diversity of species than anyone else, they sent before and after photos of the stretch of Gavin’s Point Tailwaters they cleaned, and it’s a testimony to what a couple people and a little time can do.
Fundraising rockstars were the Miller brothers in Nebraksa and the Noll-Willms team in Illinois / Wisconsin. We’re still tallying – it’s going to be a nailbiter on which one of them wins the trip of their choice. It’s clear that the Miller brothers have it in the fishing department between these two teams though, they scored a 28” catfish among a long list of catches. Zebra Mussels have annihilated the lake the Noll-Willms team fished, making for tough slow fishing for them.
The “Dragon’s Custom Rods” team featuring Arron Slater and family tallied scads of bluegill, not to mention bass and other fish from Timber Point in Nebraska. Arron put on a last minute fundraising blitz by putting up for raffle a hand-built rod. Nice! They are serious contenders in the AMI Calculator contest to figure out who did the best with their time on the water.
Also in that category, Adam Borgstahl, Steve Hart and Emma Lastine up in Minnesota. This team may sew up the win as well – they caught and released nearly 300 fish, a mix of bluegills, crappies, and a bunch of the other fish you’d expect to see in Minnesota.
Big fish of the contest? It’s not yet verified, but by the sounds of things a 10 pound northern came aboard Kevin Winkler’s boat on Lake Osakis. Word is he may exclude himself from the contest though, just to ensure that one of the other anglers walks with prizes. Heart of gold, that guy.
And speaking of excluding himself from the contest, Finn Horvath lost his partner to an overloaded work schedule at the last minute. Brutal. Finn still hit the lake, and a substitute, part-time partner (Recycled Fish Ambas
or Cory Stuart) stepped in to spend some time on the water. To dispel any uncertainties about integrity, Finn waived participation in the contest, but he still logged 24 (and more) hours. When I called him an hour after the contest ended to see that he got home okay, he said, “No, man, I’m still fishing – another good bite is starting.” That’s commitment, right there.
Who will emerge the victor in both fundraising and fishing? Teams have until 5PM Tuesday to report in, and then we’ll make the final tallies. Until then, they’re taking donations at [url "http://www.recycledfish.org/FishAThon"]www.RecycledFish.org/FishAThon[/url] and uploading photos to their Recycled Fish Cabins, also available through [url "http://www.recycledfish.org/FishAThon"]www.RecycledFish.org/FishAThon[/url].
Media presence was excellent, with nationwide press online, at print and radio. It’s far from over – we’ve got a nationally syndicated radio appearance already scheduled, and we’ll do a press release once we know who our winners are that will likely garner yet more attention.
Over $5,000 raised and over 750 fish caught and released – 24 Hour Fish-A-Thon year #1 looks like a success!
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Andre Xiong – he had a northern sink a treble hook right through his finger, but he cut the hook off and kept fishing. Hardcore. And chalk up another fan of single, barbless hooks! They tallied a bunch of fish for their efforts.
In other hand-and-finger related injuries, David and Nita Asher down in Georgia started off rough. In dropping off the kids at the babysitter, one of their boys closed the other’s finger in the car door. Yikes! It really put a damper in what they could do on the water, as Nita traded fishing time for ER time, and wound up having to wrangle a little one on the boat with them.
The Workman brothers not only caught a bigger diversity of species than anyone else, they sent before and after photos of the stretch of Gavin’s Point Tailwaters they cleaned, and it’s a testimony to what a couple people and a little time can do.
Fundraising rockstars were the Miller brothers in Nebraksa and the Noll-Willms team in Illinois / Wisconsin. We’re still tallying – it’s going to be a nailbiter on which one of them wins the trip of their choice. It’s clear that the Miller brothers have it in the fishing department between these two teams though, they scored a 28” catfish among a long list of catches. Zebra Mussels have annihilated the lake the Noll-Willms team fished, making for tough slow fishing for them.
The “Dragon’s Custom Rods” team featuring Arron Slater and family tallied scads of bluegill, not to mention bass and other fish from Timber Point in Nebraska. Arron put on a last minute fundraising blitz by putting up for raffle a hand-built rod. Nice! They are serious contenders in the AMI Calculator contest to figure out who did the best with their time on the water.
Also in that category, Adam Borgstahl, Steve Hart and Emma Lastine up in Minnesota. This team may sew up the win as well – they caught and released nearly 300 fish, a mix of bluegills, crappies, and a bunch of the other fish you’d expect to see in Minnesota.
Big fish of the contest? It’s not yet verified, but by the sounds of things a 10 pound northern came aboard Kevin Winkler’s boat on Lake Osakis. Word is he may exclude himself from the contest though, just to ensure that one of the other anglers walks with prizes. Heart of gold, that guy.
And speaking of excluding himself from the contest, Finn Horvath lost his partner to an overloaded work schedule at the last minute. Brutal. Finn still hit the lake, and a substitute, part-time partner (Recycled Fish Ambas
or Cory Stuart) stepped in to spend some time on the water. To dispel any uncertainties about integrity, Finn waived participation in the contest, but he still logged 24 (and more) hours. When I called him an hour after the contest ended to see that he got home okay, he said, “No, man, I’m still fishing – another good bite is starting.” That’s commitment, right there.Who will emerge the victor in both fundraising and fishing? Teams have until 5PM Tuesday to report in, and then we’ll make the final tallies. Until then, they’re taking donations at [url "http://www.recycledfish.org/FishAThon"]www.RecycledFish.org/FishAThon[/url] and uploading photos to their Recycled Fish Cabins, also available through [url "http://www.recycledfish.org/FishAThon"]www.RecycledFish.org/FishAThon[/url].
Media presence was excellent, with nationwide press online, at print and radio. It’s far from over – we’ve got a nationally syndicated radio appearance already scheduled, and we’ll do a press release once we know who our winners are that will likely garner yet more attention.
Over $5,000 raised and over 750 fish caught and released – 24 Hour Fish-A-Thon year #1 looks like a success!
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