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| This past weekend my 14 year old nephew Calob and I fished in the Indiana Muskie Classic. The 1st day I caught a 40.75 on Webster late in the day, which got him fired up. That was the only fish that day. That evening we found at tournament headquarters we were in 5th place. The 2nd day at Tippy we had just one follow and nothing caught, plus it was mid-80's, and we were fried. At this point I'm worried that the heat and slow action, and long days might ruin his fishing spirit. That evening we talked to Steve Heitig, and Steve asked Calob if he had ever caught a muskie before? Calob said yes, then Steve told him that whenever things got tough for him that he would envision a muskie strike on every cast and that would help keep him interested. It must have worked, because the next morning at Barbee Calob caught a 36 incher on a figure eight. I had even prayed that morning that God would allow Calob to catch one. You see last September 11th Calob lost his father in a car accident. We finished 6th after going fishless the remainder of the day. I had to share this to prove that prayer does work even when it's about fishing. He is already talking about next year. |
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| awesome story. i will be out there this weekend with my boys trying get their first. props to u for putting him under your wing. |
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Posts: 415
| Great story, I cant wait until my nieces/nephews are old enough to be able to take them out. |
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Posts: 1168
| Cool story...
At 14 I think we underestimate just how tough kids that age can be. The guy lost his father, dealing with a hot day when you don't have much action is nothing compared to the loss of his dad. He was probably the tough and resilient one in the boat that day.
Catching that fish and having success in that tournament are footnotes to the better part of that story and the one he appreciates more....having an uncle that will take him out to do stuff like that. Catching the fish is exciting and something to brag about but deep down having a positive male role model is going to leave a stronger mark on this kid than catching one, ten, or one hundred fish in a day. |
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Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Very cool story. Thanks for posting it. |
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Posts: 303
Location: WI | Good job Mr. Swain. Great story. |
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| On the anniversary of my brother Matt's tragic death. I wanted to bring this thread back up. We miss him so. |
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Posts: 238
Location: Rhinelander | Great story about being a true father figure to your brother's son. The fish is secondary to the leadership and guidance you have shown your nephew.
Great job and it's nice to now there still is good people doing the "right thing". |
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Posts: 61
Location: Anoka | That is a great story and it sounds like you are a great uncle congrats! |
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Posts: 1887
Location: syracuse indiana | hey rick , still this is a very hard day for you and your family with the loss of your brother, and calobs dad. but i can say this. he is such a good and decent kid. with a good head on his shoulders. for the times i have met him , i can tell that. and you my friend let me tell you. you have gotten your wing's for what you have don for your brothers kids. i am proud of you for that and to have you as a friend.. and today on the anniversary of his death. you guys will be in our thoughts and prayers.. talk to you soon.....bill |
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| Thanks Bill |
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Posts: 86
Location: colorado | your story brought back memories of my own loss of a father when i was in my teens. sitting here today at age 50. I can tell you that positive male roll models got me through those years. They also started my life long passion for fishing. calob will never forget your kindness and will grow into a fine man. |
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Posts: 1060
Location: Palm Coast, FL | Great story! |
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Posts: 171
Location: indiana | got to spend a week with rick this year on lotw and fished with him a few other occasions. he shared his story of his brother and fishing with calob. maybe we can get calob up to lotw sometime. proud to share the boat with him. rick is a class act. |
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| Love your story, would give anything for one day on the water with my Dad again. I am lucky enough that I will be leaving Tuesday for Green Bay and the PMTT Championship. Best part I am flying my son from Columbus Ohio in on Friday night so he can fish it with me. He is older now and a freshman at The Ohio State University and cant miss classes. So dad gets to drive the boat up and back and he just gets to fly in and fish and fly home what a life. I thought about the cost and thought I dont ever want him to sit and wish what if about fishing with me some day. PMTT entry 250.00, Motel for the week 350.00, Gas for boat and truck 500.00, Flight from Cplumbus to Green Bay 470.00, If we dont boat a fish and end up not placing, PRICLESS. Doug |
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Posts: 437
| Nice story and KUDOS to you for helping him share and expand his fishing interest. Its good to hear that even after the tragic loss of his father, he has a great person like you around to step in and help him out. Sounds like good times!! |
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Posts: 1220
| The thing that actually brought me back to the angling life 13 years ago was my wife suggesting that I maybe take our then 8 year old son on a fishing trip. By the time he was 11 or 12 we were regularly fishing bass tournaments together and then switched to my old love of muskies. It was well worth paying all the entry myself to have those experiences. Well, when he turned 16, got hold of a car and learned that girls take rides in cars...that all went South. He's now 21, I fish tournaments with other older guys who take pity on me and my skill level, but I have found other kids to take fishing..even in tournaments. You don't have to take your own kid to make a meaningful difference in someone's life and share in the future of angling. There are all sorts of opportunities. I even have a photo of 25 inner-city kids with me on my Ranger (not on the water) that makes me smile every time I remember the day of them swarming my boat. Took them fishing too in smaller groups and the look on their faces when the Ranger began to scream across the water...kids that had never set foot in a boat...well, it's priceless. Take a kid fishing!!! |
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Posts: 121
Location: Plymouth IA | great example we all can learn from |
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| Thanks Todd. You have too many kind words and I enjoyed LOTW alot. I don't believe we have been skunked yet. Have we? Sorry we haven't got together for the league but with Calob playing football and his sister Heather playing volleyball we have missed some lake time, especially on the weekends. Getting together with you has not been forgotten. |
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Posts: 171
Location: indiana | i don't think we have been skunked rick. we will get together soon enough. my kids are busy too. looking forward to it. |
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| Calob and I fished the Classic again this year. We finished 5th and are already talking about next years tournament. Congrats to the teams that finished ahead of us. Big thanks to Jeremy and Scott for putting another great show. |
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Posts: 123
| Good on you to keep him interested into the great sport we all share. It can be hard to keep a kids attention at times and on a long fish-less day that is a real chore. I hope he keeps his good spirits up. |
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Kids and tournaments