Only In America - Fishing Fanatics in the USA



Can this man fish every day for a year?



We often look over to our fishing brothers (and sisters) on the other side of the Pacific and shake our heads. Americans sure love to fish-  catfish in the South, ice fishing in the North, game fish on both coasts, those guys are sure spoiled for fishing choices and there is no doubt that they have some absolute fishing fanatics, and we mean FANATICS!



Take Keith Miller for example. A lawyer from Texas, Kieth vowed in 2009 to catch one fish every day for 365 days! And he came so close! Up until December, he was right on target, but tragedy stuck, and he developed a hernia in the last month. His doctors advised him to have surgery, and  to Miller's dismay, the op was booked in for Dec 29. "I went fishing that morning. And I thought I'd be right back out there without any trouble the next day." said Miller. Unfortunately that wasn't the case, and Miller missed his target by just 2 days.

Miller is not beaten easily though, and on 1 April this year he set out again in a quest to achieve what many of us dream of - fishing every day of the year!



Is this the world's greatest fisherman?

 If you think that's fanatical, what about Minnesota native, Jeff “Kolo” Kolodzinski , who fished 24 hours straight in 2010  to land a record 2,160 fish?!

The catch was a hurculean effort, but in fact it wasn't the first time for Kolo, who had landed 1,628 fish in a previous recordbreaking attempt in 2008.

Kolodzinski set his record at Maynard's Dock at Excelsior Bay on Minnesota's Lake Minnetonka.

The purpose of the event isn’t fame or fortune- Kolodzinski is a big supporter of the Fishing For Life organisation, which works to recruit young anglers and sharing the love of the sport. Fishing for Life’s mission is to serve youth, family and community through fishing and outdoor programs.

 Kolo, a Marketing Executive had the good fortune to have  strong support from his employer, but of course he would, he works for Frabill, a fishing gear manufacturer.

And, before any one asks - catch and release, of course! 

Californian Man Catches 1000 Species

But wait, there's more.  Californian Steve Wozniak (not the guy from Apple Computers),  spent 10 years and visited 63 countries so that he could reah his goal of becoming the first person in the world to catch 1,000 different species of fish.

Its estimated that Wozniak spent more than $100,000 and 20,000 hours standing on riverbanks, piers, beaches and boats trying to catch species ranging  a tiny minnow to a 900lb shark. He has fished dozens of countries (he caughty virtually every freshwater fish native to Britain) and broke 12 International Game Fishing Association records along the way.  His fishing trek included Australia, where he landed a number of species including the pictured, Grouper of Western Australia. Wozniak hit the 1000 species mark when he landed a 2lb coalfish in Norway.

Know of any home grown fishing fanatics? We'd love to hear their stories.