by Dave Kooser
SFC Jon Spiller, his wife and three children attended the first Ft. Carson Kids Fishing Day in 2006. That year Jon fished with his son on Alex Farkas’s boat. The trio focused on bass and landed quite a few, including the largest bass of the day. Shortly after the event, Jon was deployed to Iraq. While deployed the summer of 2007, he missed the fishing outing but his family attended. Jon returned from Iraq last fall safely. We were fortunate enough to have the entire family attend the 2008 Ft. Carson Kids Fishing Day. At the opening ceremony before heading out on the water, Jon gave a few words of wisdom to first time attendees as well as appreciation to the volunteers and sponsors. According to Jon, deployed soldiers appreciate the support this event shows to military families who have a father or mother deployed. Events like this provide an opportunity to these families who would not normally have the access nor opportunity to go fishing. Jon and his son Tyler fished with Sam Heckman and caught over 60 walleye including 2 keepers that went home with the Spillers.
This year 58 kids and 35 parents from Ft. Carson were guided by 38 volunteer boaters from the CWA, Colorado TBF, BASS plus a few boaters not affiliated with any clubs. Weather conditions were perfect, 80 degrees, cloudless and very little wind as the kids and boaters were paired up by Frank Weston. Pueblo Reservoir was extremely generous to the kids as everyone caught fish and quite a few keeper walleye were bagged in ice and made the trip back to Ft. Carson.
A timeless and classic picture in every fisherpersons mind is that of a kid using a Zebco 202 combo, red and white bobber and a worm. This vision became a reality as Jim Klibbe and Zebco provided the combo’s again for the young anglers. In addition to Zebco, we would like to thank the following sponsors; Aurora Gander Mountain, Walleye Central, Mack's Lure, Colorado Springs Sportsman's Warehouse, Outlaw Bait and Tackle, Pure Fishing, Bass Pro Tracker Boats, Ranger Boats, Lil' Caesars of Pueblo, Coke, Wells Fargo, Ferguson Pontiac, Salmo, Colorado State Parks, Colorado Division of Wildlife, Pueblo and Pueblo West American Legion, Baja Broadband, Matzuo, Ft. Carson MWR and Ft Carson Outdoor Recreation. Without the help of these sponsors, this event would not be possible.
