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Fishing around the clock and around the nation
By FishRecycler | September 23, 2009
THANK YOU FOR ALL OF THE ANGLERS, VOLUNTEERS, PARTNERS & SPONSORS WHO MADE THIS FIRST EVER EVENT SUCH A SUCCESS!
September 18 & 19, 2009
Fishing around the clock and around the country.
Raising awareness for the problems facing our waters.
Raising money to help them.
READ AND CHIME IN ON A FINAL COMMENTARY DISCUSSION HERE
Meet the Fish A Thon Angler Ambassadors & Learn about important issues:
Bluegills weren’t the only thing this team caught, but they caught a ton of them. Proud to have a team who fished as a family, which speaks to the important legacy and the culture of fishing. Arron Slater is a Youth Fishing Instructor in the state of Nebraska and he also owns a custom rod building business called Dragon’s Custom Rods. Their family brought hundreds of fish to hand, and it was enough to total 14,149 points. They also raised nearly $750 and took our runner-up prize in the fishing contest, winning a Berkley Prize Pack.
Angler Ambassador: Arron Slater
State: NE
Partners: Erin Slater (wife), with Ron Slater, John Siegrist, Laurel Pruit, Shi Slater, Faith Slater
Water being fished: Timber Point Lake
Spotlight Issue: Getting Kids Outside
See their catch and learn more about this team at Arron’s Recycled Fish Cabin powered by AMI or at the Dragon’s Custom Rods website.
Click here to give on behalf Arron and his family’s effort.
Arron Slater owns and operates Dragon’s Custom Rods and is a Youth Fishing Instructor in Nebraska
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These guys had a horrible struggle. Their 26′ Pontoon developed a leak in the pontoons and sunk in the middle of the lake. They spent 18 hours battling the boat out of the water. They still managed to catch and release one bass, and took a Berkley Prize Pack for our lowest scoring team. Read the team’s whole painful story here.
Angler Ambassador: Buddy Johns
State: PA
Partners: Aaron Kopta, Eric Goldstrohm and Randy Cochenour
Water being fished: Lake Wilhelm
Spotlight Issue: Introducing new people to fishing (Click to learn more)
See their catch and learn more about this team in Buddy’s Recycled Fish Cabin powered by AMI
Click here to give on behalf of Buddy’s Team’s effort
The Noll / Willms team was also a fundraising powerhouse, bringing in over $1400. Unfortunately, their fishing wasn’t as strong – but this doesn’t rest squarely on their shoulders. Jeff commented that fishing the same lake 10 years ago, they could load the boat in the course of a few hours. In the intervening years since, Zebra Mussels have been introduced into the lake. Water clarity skyrocketed, but that didn’t mean more and bigger fish – it meant the bottom falling out of the food chain. It’s another great reason to read up on their featured issue – invasive species.
Angler Ambassador: Jeff Noll
State: IL / WI
Partner(s): Pete, Brian and Matt Willms
Water being fished: Big Cedar Lake, West Bend WI
Spotlight Issue: Invasive Species / Zebra Mussels (click to learn more)
See their catch and learn more about this team in their Recycled Fish Cabin powered by AMI
Click here to give on behalf of the Jeff & Pete team’s effort
Jeff Noll is on the Recycled Fish Volunteer Staff.
Kevin is a professional outdoor guide, outdoor writer, photographer and videographer. His 24-hour quest is different than some of our other anglers in that he not only fished around the clock, he was GUIDING around the clock. He essentially donated (6) 4-hour trips, back-to-back. Learn more about Kevin at his website here.
Kevin also withdrew his fishing from the contest portion of the activities, he was fishing just for the purpose of awareness and fundraising. It worked! He generated a bunch of media in Minnesota, and raised funds that will be used to put in signs teaching people how to prevent the spread of Zebra Mussels, which are now in Lake Osakis.
Angler Ambassador: Kevin Winkler
State: MN
Partners: (6) Guests on his boat
7PM – 11PM – Guest 1
11PM – 3AM – Guest 2
3AM – 7AM – Guest 3
7AM – 11AM – Guest 4
11AM – 3PM – Guest 5
3PM – 7PM – Guest 6
Water being fished: Lake Osakis
Spotlight Issue: Invasive Species / Zebra Mussels (click to learn more)
Secondary Issue: Fish Handling to improve post-release survival rates
Adam, Steve and Emma also fared very well on the water. Together, they caught and released something like 200 fish. A phenomenal effort, and this personified what it means to have quality urban fisheries. Fishing from a canoe, they scored over 11,500 AMI Points and their fundraising efforts yielded over $400 for the cause. Unfortunately, a memory card malfunction means that we don’t get a great look at all the fun they had on the water, but visit their cabin to see a portion of their catch.
Angler Ambassador: Adam Borgstahl
State: MN
Partners: Steve Hart & Emma Lastine
Water being fished: Schulze Lake and McDonough Lake (they are connected)
Spotlight Issue: Urban Fisheries
See their catch and learn more about this team at Adam’s Cabin here.
Click here to give on behalf of Adam, Steve & Emma’s effort
The big story with Finn’s outing was the last minute loss of his partner. Here’s a special thanks to Cory Stuart. He is one of our ambassadors in Illinois who stepped in to fish with Finn when Pike Smith was unexpectedly unable to fish. Super cool, Cory. Finn’s specialty seems to be bullheads, but Cory brought to hand a number of bass. Most notably, Finn’s focus on fishing is so great that when hour 24 rolled around, he just kept on fishing into hour 25…and 26… “The bite started up again,” he said. “Can’t stop now.
Angler Ambassador: Finn Horvath
State: IL
Partner: Michael “Pike” Smith
Water being fished: UPDATE: Lake Arlington
Spotlight Issue: SAFE Angling Tackle and Tactics
Finn Horvath is the Recycled Fish Director of SAFE Angling
Learn more about Finn in his Recycled Fish Cabin powered by AMI
Click here to give on behalf of Finn’s effort.
Pike, walleye, catfish and a host of carp and sucker species. These guys did a number on the fish of Canon River, and one fish did a number on Andre! A Northern Pike shook as Andre was releasing him, burying a treble hook deep in Andre’s finger. True to his mission, Andre cut off the hook and kept fishing. That’s endurance. And another testimony to the benefits of single barbless hooks! This team raised over $350 and earned over 9,000 points on the AMI Fishing Calculator, not to mention scoring a ton of media.
Andre also wins a Frabill Conservation Series Net in our “Best Hero Shot” contest for the walleye photo at the top of this page.
This husband-wife team deserved some time together, as David is only recently back from an Afghanistan deployment. While 24 hours on the water might not have been all R&R, it would have been nice. Unfortunately, in dropping off the kids at the babysitter, one of those unfortunate circumstances of childhood unfolded. One kid shut the other kid’s hand in the car door. Ouch! Instead of being able to focus on fishing, Elsie made a run to the ER. It put a damper on the event, but they fared better than our PA boys with their sunken boat. Bass and bluegill totalled to over 1,000 AMI points and their fundraising efforts brought over $150 to hand.
Angler Ambassador: David Asher
State: GA
Partners: Elsie Asher
Water being fished: Grassy Pond
Spotlight Issue: Water Conservation
Learn more about David and Elsie and see their catch at their Recycled Fish Cabin powered by AMI.
Click here to give on behalf of David and Elsie Asher’s effort.
David Asher is active duty in the US Armed forces and has just returned from a tour in Afghanistan.
Contributions can also be made on behalf of any Angler-Ambassador team by sending a check to:
Recycled Fish
Attn: Fish-A-Thon
3025 9th Ave #B
Council Bluffs, IA 51501
Be sure to put your sponsored angler in the memo line.
Have you taken the Recycled Fish Sportsman’s Stewardship Pledge? If not, it’s an easy way to advance the Stewardship Ethic. Catch and Release best practices and Selective Harvest are important, but conservation and stewardship of our waters means preventing the spread of invasive species, SAFE Angling or “green fishing,” and other angler ethics. The truth is, the stuff we do every day – even off the water – matters just as much, because our lifestyle runs downstream.
Stewardship Tips are available here.
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