Words and Pictures by
Michael Koester
”
“
YOU ARE CRAZY!!!
Have you ever heard someone say that to you? Well, when I load my car
with all my carp-related crap, my neighbors always asks me if I'm
leaving home or going overseas! This is a running gag and I'll try to
explain what I mean...
I started fishing at the age of 6, did a lot of matchfishing from the
age of 14, and in 1989, I started carp fishing and have been
addicted ever since...this was 36 years ago! As you can tell, fishing
has and will always be a big part in my life.

Now, going back to my carp fishing beginnings...I read all the
stuff that was available at the time and copied all the VHS cassettes
I could get my hands on. In 1995, I heard about the fabulous fishing
complete
in America for the first time. I bought a cassette about fishing the
it
mighty St. Lawrence. I was knocked out when I saw it! During this
time, my fishing buddies were headed out to France, a one-way trip of
about 1500 km to Cassien. When I first spoke with them about going to
USA /Canada instead, they thought that I was smoking something, no
joke! You had to pay about $1,800 for a one week
package, including the round trip flight. They said
was too expensive to do, etc. When I explained
that their expenses would be about the same during
their 3000 km round trip by car, they could not
understand....However for me, the idea was
born...but it took me 2 years to do it. When I
Chicago 1999
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