Fish Stories

Remembering Lost Friends at the 2019 KBF National Championship

During the Captain’s Meeting at the 2019 KBF National Championship, we all observed a moment of silence led by Chad Hoover. We all know the #goldenhour and the sunset/sunrise photos from on the water, an ongoing tribute to Rebecca Golden, a great KBF competitor and great person. The kayak fishing community lost Rebecca during the 2018 Championships at Toledo Bend. I only had the opportunity to briefly meet Rebecca in person at a KBF Trail event in West Virginia, but felt the loss nonetheless.

Day 1 of the tournament started with me on the bayou forgetting to remove a tangled knot from the rod. After taking the first cast I was abruptly reminded of it, and quickly rigged up another far older spinning rod, with the hot bait. I caught every fish but one of my limit on that old rod. The rod held up well, but I never did change back to the newer rod.

The rod and reel combo is probably pushing 15 years old. It’s a St. Croix 6’ 6” Medium Heavy with a Shimano Stradic 4000FH reel. This was the only fishing combo out of 7 I had with me that is more than 2 years old. It probably shouldn’t even still be in the arsenal, but the combo has caught me more fish than I can recall, and always seems to get the fish to the boat, assuming I’ve done my part with tying and checking knots.

Two weeks prior to the KBF National Championship I lost my friend of over 20 years after years of his suffering from numerous health issues. Ed Leone, an avid fresh and saltwater fisherman, and I met when I was about 18 years old soon after I had just purchased my first boat. It was a small 10’ jon boat with a 20lb thrust Motorguide trolling motor. We fished out of that little boat for a few years, me learning as much as I could from a more experienced bass angler and fisherman in general. The fishing was great, the constant joking and laughter was epic.

Eventually I was able to get into the local bass club he was in, Cape Cod Bass. Our friendship grew over the years. Ed attended family events; I even rented a room to him when he was in tough financial times, which coincided with my tough financial times so it worked out quite well for the both of us. He was the one there for me when my mother was ill, and when she passed away. Years went by but eventually his health issues caught up to him, too, and put him on disability. After numerous close calls, Ed changed up some things and then his health seemed to take a positive turn for a couple of years. He had a better diet, dropped the drinking, and was doing pretty well. He hadn’t been able to go fishing in years.

During this time, Ed contacted me on a couple occasions regarding needing money for this or that, which is not easy for a proud Italian man from Quincy, Massachusetts. On a couple of those occasions, he had offered fishing rod combos for low prices, and even accepted a couple packs of cigarettes for one. I took the deals, always assuming he would ask for them back someday when his health and financial status improved. One of those rods was the St. Croix / Stradic combo I brought to the 2019 KBF National Championship.

More years passed, and I moved from Massachusetts down to North Carolina. We kept in touch, mainly when there were health updates or I had some fishing stories to share. Our last conversation was after the Santee Cooper Pro Trail Event in February of 2019. Ed was curious how it went. We had a great conversation, and he had a good laugh at a 14 year old taking us old folks to school. Then the topic of the 2019 KBF National Championship came up, and all the excitement that the event brings. $50,000 for fishing out of plastic boats? Insanity!

His final health problem was pancreatic cancer, and the treatments were more than his already damaged cardiovascular system could handle. The news of his passing was shocking, yet not surprising, if that makes any sense. Over the years, I was always amazed by how he kept cheating death. After the news of his passing I made a point to fish until I got a good one. He always enjoyed me texting pictures of big bass I caught. I finally was able to get a good bite that Sunday afternoon, and let the emotions out, figuring that was what I needed for closure.

The loss of this friend however, continued to occupy my mind on the long drive from Raleigh, North Carolina to Shreveport, Louisiana. The road trip went pretty smoothly, so I had lots of time to think, pray and reflect on our history. I spoke with a mutual friend named “Duck” on the trip, or Don as anyone but Ed called him, and we discussed Ed’s final wishes and mentioned I was going to do my best to make him proud at the National Championship.

Ed would have been calling to see how I did if he was still here. I caught my limit on Day 2, made the Top 100 and caught a limit on Day 3, finishing just outside the money. The unplanned fate of using his St. Croix / Stradic rod combo I purchased for a couple packs of cigarettes to catch every non-culled fish could be just a coincidence, but I felt like I had my buddy there cheering me on, like he did in that little jon boat so many years ago.