May 22, 2023 • 33 mins
What an amazing nonprofit organization Wounded Waters is! I can't say enough good things about them. They take wounded veterans, retired veterans, and really anyone in need out on the water, on all expenses paid fishing trips, and on diving adventures. It's quite an amazing group of people. You can find them at woundedwaters.org or at woundedwaters@gmail.com
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(00:00):
And then we had, you know, a quick cold front come through and
we had like a one week loal. But truly, all through May was
really really good fishing. I'm allabout, first of all, everything outdoors.
It's just, you know, partof who I am. I love
to hunt and fish and dive andspearfish that imports all the century blanks into
the USA. And he called meup and he said, hey, Frank,
(00:23):
and I talked to you, andwe started talking one night about the
blackfish rock and I was absolutely obsessedfrom that moment on and stop fishing entirely
for any other species and just learnedand obsessed and became really driven to just
fish this really elusive fish that's likesuper rare. Welcome back to another episode
(00:52):
of Anglers Anonymous Podcast. This isyours, truly Aaron Snyder, sitting down
with some of the world's leading tacklemanufacturers in the business, Captain's first mates,
and anyone that loves the outdoors asmuch as we do. So I
hope you guys get as much asI've gotten out of sitting down with some
of the guests that I've had thepleasure of interviewing. Stay tuned, guys,
(01:17):
much more to come, how longhas Wounded Waters been around and how
did you guys get started? Man, So officially it's been around since twenty
nineteen. We started doing it yearsprior. So basically it started off.
I was up stationed Fort Campbell,Kentucky, was in the Army and came
(01:38):
back from bad deployment and trying tofigure out something to do just to get
the guys out of the barracks andstuff like that. So I grabbed some
guys took him out of the barracks. We went out and went fishing and
had a good day. Didn't catcha whole lot, but I mean,
we just still had a great day. And when I was loading stuff up
in a truck, this one guyI've known for years, young kid,
came up to me and said thankyou. And I didn't think nothing of
(02:00):
it, no big deal, andstarted throwing more stuff in a truck and
he stopped me and he said no, thank you, And that was really
weird. And I asked him.I was like, is everything all right?
What's going on? And he justsaid that he really needed it to
be out there because he was feelinglike he was gonna go home and commit
suicide. That night in the barracks, and so suicide in the military is
(02:21):
a huge thing. So as soonas somebody says something like that, then
you got to start dealing with itand everything. And it's been a hard
thing to try to just come back. So long story short, I went
home, talked about my wife aboutit, and at the time she was
just like, well, take moreguys fishing. Well to me, at
the time, I was like,well, shit, my wife saying I
can get out of the house more. I'm doing it. So I just
(02:44):
started taking more guys out fishing,and it just kind of came a thing.
Everyone kept saying, hey, man, just keep doing this. This
is awesome just getting out there.And so then once I got stationed done
in Mississippi where I had enough timeoff, we went one hundred percent with
gent We filed with the irs forthe nonprofit. We went and got a
boat and all that and just beengoing ever since. And you know what,
(03:08):
Kevin, and honestly, I commendyou for that, man, and
I love that. I have almosta similar story. I was up in
North Jersey around straight An area throughthe Pennsylvania, but you know, up
up north, and I had ayounger brother that was in a rehab,
and it was a long term rehaband a lot of guys in there,
(03:29):
men were either you know, vetsor you know younger and just you know,
broken up childhoods and families and householdsand you know, looking very excuse
to kind of punch somebody in theface. So my younger brother, being
from the country, he's like,you know, I think what would be
great is to have some kind offishing activity or outdoors activity. You know,
He's like, I wish I couldbring these guys hunting, but you
(03:50):
know, you know a lot ofthem can't have a firearm any longer.
So, you know, we whatwe did was we got a lot of
them together and rented out a charterboat and took I think twenty or twenty
five of them, paid for thecharter boat, got him on the charter
boat, and we got the sameresponse. Man. It was like,
you know, the spark was backin their eyes again, even if it
was for the eight hour trip.You know, it was just like everything
(04:10):
in life they were dealing with kindof dissolved and they were focusing on what
they were doing for the day,and it made a huge difference. You
know. Yeah, we tell allof our guys that we take out and
everyone that we talk about everything thatwe do, and we tell them.
One of the first things that tellhim I was like, hey, it's
not about the fishing, it's aboutgetting out there having that peer to peer
(04:31):
connection with me, Mike and Melissa, and we're all vets, so we
all understand. We all understand thestruggles and tribulations and everything like that,
so we all connect. At ninetypercent of the time, we never even
talked about army shit or military shitin general. We're just out there just
having a good time and just evenwhen the fishing's not so hot, just
(04:53):
just making it a great time iswhat it's all about. Just at the
end of the day, where theygot that smile on your face and they've
met somebody knew that, Hey,if they ever have a bad time,
give someone else a call. Sowe had a couple of trips ago.
We actually had two bets that neverreally knew each other um and then found
out they actually lived pretty close toeach other, and then they just made
that connection so that way, Hey, they hopefully they stay in contact and
(05:15):
that's what it's all about. Yeah, that's that's really cool. That really
is man. The camaraderie is iskey and all that. Um, Mike,
how did you come across Kevin?And you know you and your wife?
How did you how did you comeacross Kevin? Was it actually like
a plane trip on the boat orwas it just friendships for years or we
actually all grew up together. Wewent to school together, school together,
(05:38):
we were best friends. Then weall went in different branches, did our
thing, got had kids, camehome, and we love to fish.
So it's like, hey, thisis perfect. Got the call, got
the call one day, like weall got together. We were all great
in high school and then boom,life happened. All of us went away.
We pretty much all. I meanI lost connection with Mike for a
(05:59):
long time er because I mean,hell we I was in for almost twenty
one years. So then but assoon as we come back, it's just
like bam, like we never reallyleft. It was just like it's just
been a great time, blessing thatwe've gotten back in connection with Mike and
Melissa. No, that's awesome,man, I mean you can't tear the
phone call down though, you know, Hey, I'm gonna start this thing
and fishing related and you know,we get me on the water as much
(06:21):
as possible. I mean it's hardto turn that down. Yeah. Now
we're out there as much as wecan be out there. And like Kevin
said, not about the fish.It's not about the fishing. It's about
getting the guys on the boat.Sure. Sure, it's a special thing
you guys are doing, man,And I mean I wish more people were
doing it, to be honest withyou, speaking of what you guys are
(06:41):
doing, say say we have abunch of bets or retired guys or you
know, people with family that wouldlove to be involved. How could they
get a hold of you guys didn'teven start the process of getting on the
boat or trying to plan a trip. So, I mean the each is
what he DoD is just go toour website. If they scrolled down to
the bottom, there's an area thatsays nominated a hero UM And then they
just asked, like I think it'slike three or four questions, just like
(07:02):
general stuff like name, phone number, and then like a description or anything
like that. And then people,I mean some people write full page stories.
Some people just say I just wantto go fishing. I'm having a
bad day, like I mean,and and so we get them as soon
as they submit them and it goesright to us. I usually try to
call every single body within a week. Um. Some some weeks are crazy.
(07:24):
Um, but I mean we justI try to call everyone, see
what their story is, see whatthey're interested in. Because we're starting to
get a lot of attraction because westarted a DIE program up at the end
of last summer so where we canactually certify them in diving. Um.
And so we're getting a lot oftraction with that kind of stuff. Um.
But yeah, I mean, heck, I mean, they can give
us a call, email, anything. So Kevin talk, let's talk about
(07:47):
the DIE program. Man, that'ssomething new to me. I mean,
you know, how did you getstarted in that? You know, I've
always I grew up like with MichaelList, like we all grew up here
in Vireau, like we're all allaround the water. I've been diving my
whole life basically because my dad wasa big diver and stuff, so we
always used to go to the keysand everything like that, and I always
loved it. When I got outof the army and retired and moved back
(08:11):
here, I utilized some of myVA benefits to actually become a dive instructor.
So I went to a local diveshop here because I didn't even know
nothing about it. I was justup at the dive shop one day and
I met this guy named Matt andhe was a VET also, and he
was actually going through the program andhimself, and he was talking to me
about it. And it's just kindof that weird connection where vets kind of
(08:33):
congregate to each other. So Mattand I became best friends instantly, even
though he called me a ship bagevery other day just because I was doing
in the school. But yeah,Matt became my instructor. Now he's actually
one of our instructors with us hereat Windy Waters, so he helps me
out with most of the dive tripsand stuff like that. But basically,
(08:54):
just if a VET wants to doit, like Michael, Melissa or in
the middle of it right now,we're going to be start to find them
here soon, and they just letus know that they're interested in it.
Um we do ask to see ifthey can. There's only a couple of
things they got to actually do,So they got to have a mask,
fins and Snorke will obviously be ableto swim, and we asked them for
one hundred and twenty dollars donation Andwhat that does is that pace for the
(09:18):
course that we get charged from Patty. So because I've got a pro account,
I did it for one hundred andtwenty bucks. I just tell them,
hey, I gotta get some buyin from them. So, um,
the fishing trips and everything else likethat, Um, we all that's
one hundred percent. We flipped thebill. But for the dive stuff,
we want to have a little bitof a buy in from then that they
(09:39):
really want to do it, becauseat the end of the day, we
don't want somebody out there is justscrewing around and stuff like that when somebody
really wants it. Because to me, diving is the best therapy out there.
I've done just about every single typeof therapy you can think of.
Diving. It is amazing. You'rehaving a bad shitty dat no matter what's
going on. As soon as youget underneath that water, everything just washes
(10:01):
away and you don't have to workabout it, and it's just a great
thing. So, but it's athree day program. First day we do
the pool day, where they learnall the techniques and everything like that could
have introduced to just the underwater environment. And we have a great day with
that. Then the next day we'llgo to a lake. It's about an
hour and a half away from zeroand it's it's a called Lake Dents in
(10:22):
the middle of state and it's it'smeant for diving. It's they got under
what our platform as obstacle courses andall the school stuff that's in the lake.
Four divers. So that's where wekind of get them introduced with doing
pretty much kind of everything on theirown and stuff like that. And then
the third day is the big finalewhere we do a boat dive. We
go down towards Fort Lauderdale and godive a big wreck um if the conditions
(10:46):
present itself. If not, thenwe'll take them to Blue Heron Bridge,
which is a west bomb which isin like the top three dive destinations in
the world and a beautiful, beautifulreef out there and stuff like that,
so and then that'll that'll get themcertified. And then every time if we
have another dive class or something comingup, if somebody just wants to just
jump in, we we welcome that. Um, but I mean it's a
(11:07):
really great program. We're working itreally and and still justin Like I said,
we just started it last summer,um, and we put twelve Vets
through it last summer, and Ithink we're gonna do a lot more than
that this year. And um,but I mean we give them all the
equipment, Like I said, allthey need is their mask fins of the
snorkel just because that's that personal stuff. Um. I work with Deep six,
(11:28):
the local dive shop here in Vero, and uh they supply us with
all the BC's regulators, um,all the tanks in the air and uh
they supply that all to us forfree. And other than that, I
mean, it's it's a quick,easy program. It's really super good.
So I know you mentioned that ifyou have the gopen spots in the in
(11:50):
the dive school, you you wouldtake I guess none veterans in family members
and anybody that really wants to beable to donate the one twenty and get
in to it or is it justkind of geared George vets. So we
want them to be a VET ora first responder. Um, we have
done family members with them, sothat's not a problem. And uh,
one of our really good friends who'sactually a doctor around in town here and
(12:13):
he runs on our PTSD groups.Uh, Chris um I have. They
were getting ready to go to atrip to Fiji at the end of last
summer and he was just like,hey, can you certify all of us?
And so I certified him and hisdaughters and we had a blast.
It was just good watching him,you know, connected with his kids.
So that's a lot of us thatare in this group, which we just
(12:35):
call our heroes, Like I mean, we miss a lot of that a
lot of times. So that's reallygood to see dads and moms and stuff
like that connecting with their kids.Yeah. No, that's that's awesome.
I'm sitting here, you know,comping at the bit waiting for the opening
spot on the dive school to getcertified as a diver. I tell you
what, I've spearfished, and youknow I've I've done everything but diving.
(12:58):
And you know, to have someonelike yourself that you know you could make
a donation to the Great frid AndCause and become certified, like I mean,
I would love that, but Iget it, trust me, I
still get it. While it's gearedtowards you know, the heroes in the
group and people that are in need. So I mean, I commend you
guys for that, and that's that'sawesome. They not only have something fishing,
but to have something diving related.I mean, it's I hope you
(13:18):
guys can grow even more than that, man. I mean, it's such
a great cause. And you know, personally, I think you're saving a
lot of lives and a lot ofminds, you know, doing what you
guys are doing. Uh. Imean when when we first started all this,
like my wife told me, she'slike, well, if you're gonna
do this, you do everything onehundred percent, which I do. Um,
and it drives drives my family bonkershalf the time. UM. But
(13:43):
I mean I sat that She's like, she's like, write out what you
want this to be. And soI sat down and I just started kind
of mapping it out and just Iwas basically just almost like doing like an
operation order in the military, andI just started writing everything down. And
it started offul I just want tobe able to do fishing trips. And
then it's just slowly evolved and nowit's become Okay, we're offering fishing,
we're offering diving, we're offering rivercruises for like our our older vets um
(14:07):
because a lot of a lot.What I come to find out when we
moved back here was um I getwhen I got in LinkedIn with like the
VFW and PHSD group, stuff likethat, like the older Vietnam vets Um,
Like they don't want to go outin the ocean, they don't want
to get beaten, banged up andstuff like that. And so I just
got a group I and I justsaid, hey, let's just go on
a sunset cruise. We go cruisedown the river. I have a great
time. And so that was athat was a huge hit. So we've
(14:30):
done several of them. Um,Like I've done the female PTSD group.
I took them out on a rideand they just had a blast. And
so we're always involved. We're gonnatry to figure out different ways. I
mean we at the end of theday, we just called saltwater therapy.
So anything we can do on thewater in the water, that's what it's
all about. And and then soas I was drawing everything out just on
(14:54):
a scratch sheet of paper, atthe end of it, I said,
hey, I was like our finalfinale I wanted to be. We wanted
to build. It's called Woundy WatersRanch where it's a resort type setting where
we originally want to bring it downin the Keys. That's like, if
we can afford it one day anddo it, then that's where I want
it to be. I found theland and I've been drolling over for a
couple of years. It's still forsale, so I'm still hopeful. We
(15:18):
want it to be like this resortplace where we can fly there the family
members and and the vet and thehero or whoever it is, and they
get like a four day vacation.We take them out fishing, We take
them out Snorkeland, We teach themdive and if they want, we do
kayak and just all sorts of thingswe offer from counseling. They want it.
If they are having trouble with theVA, we either get them in
(15:39):
contact with somebody that can help out, or we try to help them out
ourselves. And that's what the wholegoal was. And just rinse and repeat
and just keep doing it over andover and just making it. I mean,
because there's not really any resorts justfor our heroes. So there's lots
of different things you can do.You can get like Disney passes and other
stuff like that, and the biggestthing I've seen a couple of them,
(16:03):
like way up north in New Yorkand stuff like that. Montana's got one
really good one, but there's nothingdown here in the South, and there's
nothing really that linked there on asaltwater well. I mean, I grew
up with saltwater, and to me, being around the water, no matter
if you're having a shitty day ornot, you always aren't having as shitty
of a day. So I agree, I agree wholeheartedly, man. I
(16:23):
mean, I keep telling you knowmy other passion, a little one that
you know, the day that Icould find something on the water reasonably priced,
I'm jumping all over it because youknow, there's no better way to
end your day if you have towork that nine to five, then to
come home and walk across your grassto the duck and see water, you
know. I mean, it's justthere's no better way. So to have
have a resort down, you know, in the Keys, especially to offer
(16:45):
to them for a gate and aget away, I mean, god,
it sounds like paradise. To me, it really does my mind sitting here
running in circles thinking about how Ican tear my sixteen footboat into a into
a floater for you guys to godown the river. I mean I just
and again, I don't know howyou know, anybody listening to this wouldn't
want to be a part of this. Man, this is great for a
great cause. Um, you knowyou touched on it a little bit,
(17:07):
how you grew up around saltwater,But who got you first? You know,
kind of introduced into the saltwater fishing? Was it always like that?
Was there a mixing? My dadwas always a huge outdoors when and he
still is, um and so eversince I was a little kid. I
mean we were always our family wasreally really night night or whatever you want
to call it, like tight knitand like our grandparents and aunts and uncles
(17:30):
like that. We were a hugecrew that I just grew up and being
in the outdoors always fishing, huntingand so and then once I was like
a bicycle age and I could runaway from the house then, I mean
I lived over here near the powerplant Viro growing up, so every day
after school I'd literally drew ride mybike down to the power plant. I'd
sit there and fish all day.And then so I got a little bit
(17:52):
why is there? Then I startedputting trash bags on my feet for waiters.
And I mean I was the brokefishing kid growing up. Man,
but I I caught some damn goodfish, and um, and it just
I've I've just I've always been onthe water. I mean I had a
john boat when I was like twelveyears old. I mean, Mike and
I used to go hang out andthat thing all the time. And um,
yeah, I mean, just I'dlove to being on the water,
(18:14):
always have and and Mike, samequestion for you, buddy, And then
Melissa took off there. But Imean, please, you know, same
question. Where'd you get started,buddy? Who got started? And was
it always saltwater or was it amixing between both? It's really it makes
between both. But here, youknow, our river is basically saltwater,
so we were always out on theriver. Only a few of my friend's
(18:34):
dads had capabilities to go out inthe ocean, so I didn't really start
ocean so I was an adult,um, but river fishing up on the
river. I grew up surfing oceanbut not necessarily out fishing it. It's
a little bit of a different AndKevin on how we got started, Melissa's
the same way. I mean shewould take her shrimp pole and a book
(18:56):
and just go drops from shrimping,catch some snow and then that was dinner.
Yeah, I mean that's all.That's awesome because back when we were
a little it was a lot different. You can ride your bike across the
bridge and go fishing and I haveto work. Yeah, yeah, and
again you know what it's it's somesomething similar to the way I grew up.
I grew up up north. Youknow, it was basically you know,
(19:18):
when you can get away from thehouse on a bike, like like
Kevin said that, you know,you were on your bike with your buddies
and you're ripping down the fishing lakeor you know, I didn't grow up
close to the salt water, wasabout a half an hour away from it.
So you know, as a youngster, if we got the privilege you
get down on one of our familymember or friends dad's boats. I mean
it took full avantage of it.Man. It was striper fishing, drum
fishing, blue fishing, I meanthe works. But you know, it
(19:40):
wasn't until about six years ago Imoved down here and experienced the whole river
to ocean to lake aspect of itall. You guys literally have a mecht
in your backyard of like a diversefishery. I mean, it's it's unbelievable
what the area has to offer,ye, right, So if they're it's
a message, you know, betweenthe both of you guys, if there's
(20:02):
a message you want to get outthere to anybody watching this, you know,
heroes included first responders, anybody wouldthat message be. I mean the
biggest thing like that I always telleveryone is that, I mean, one,
it's okay to not be okay.So if someone's struggling, reach out,
give me a call. I maybe a little cranky at two o'clock
in the morning, but I meanI'll still pick up the damn phone every
(20:23):
time it rings. So I mean, reach out to any family members or
anything like that. Get on ourwebsite if you want to get participated or
anything we're doing, or if youjust want to help out and keep going.
I mean, there's there's never beena bad enough day where you couldn't
get through it. So there's alwaystomorrow. So one of the things I
(20:45):
actually grew up with in the army. When I was actually in radio school,
I used to tell people all thetime, I'll quit tomorrow. No
matter how fucking bad today was,I'll quit tomorrow. Tomorrow came it was
still shitty, I'll quit tomorrow,and you just keep going. You never
quit give up. Um. Butyeah, I mean, get a hold
of us if you're interested in justgetting on a fishing trip, just getting
on a river cruise, just findingout what vets are doing around here,
(21:07):
because we're tied in with a lotof other organizations. Um, I mean
there's there's big stuff coming up thissummer. We've got our fishing tournament coming
up in July one down at CausewayCovid Marina. Um So if you don't
have a boat, give us acall. We can try to get you
on a boat or something like that. Um. We'd love to get everyone
into the community involved in it.So we're gonna have a huge concert after
(21:29):
it and stuff like that. Um, it's gonna be it's gonna be a
huge blast. Mike, you gotanything for the message, But yeah,
just don't quit. I mean,that's where we're all taught in the militaries.
Don't quit to me, like,no matter how about your day is,
it's not worth quitting, you know, just everybody's going through the same
thing on a different level. Yep, there's resources there, there's guys the
(21:52):
text shooting, don't call. We'reall here, guys. I you know,
I tell you what. I can'trelate on the same level. But
I will tell you this. Therewas an older gentleman when I was back
North I used to work in theunion with. He said, no matter
how bad it gets, show uptomorrow, he goes, No matter how
freaking bad it gets, I don'tcare what happens at the house, I
don't care what happens in life.Show up tomorrow and see how it goes.
(22:12):
And I think that's kind of whatyou guys are saying, you know,
and I stuck by that, andyou know I live by that.
No matter how bad the freaking job, no matter how bad life, Mike,
you might get, show up tomorrowand see how it goes. Yeah,
okay, my mom and my momand died used always tell me,
if you can't take it day byday, you take an hour by hour.
(22:33):
He can't take an hour by hour. You take it minute by minute.
Nothing is ever too hard to overcome. Step by step, take a
minute, talk an hour. There'salways people here. We're always there.
There's plenty of resources and people outthere to reach out too. Life is
never that bad. There's always somebodyout there that can relate to you,
(22:56):
talk to you, show you adifferent path, show do a different way.
And that's what it's all about.It's just that group and we're all
here. Yeah, And this isa great message, guys, it really
is. And I hope it reachesthe right people. I hope it reaches
everyone. Um, Kevin, beforeI let you go, I can't believe
(23:17):
I almost forgot right. I can'tbelieve I almost forgot about this sport.
I mean that you guys have comingup. I know you touched on it
a little bit, but express expressa little more, man, I mean,
how do you get bobbed? IsIs it just for the heroes?
Is it? You know? Andeverybody kind of thing? I mean,
give me, give me the wholeidea. So we've been struggling. I
don't want to say we've been strugglingfinancial. We've we've met a few people
(23:37):
the last couple of years that havemade wounded waters happen and continue what it
is right now and I'm a huntersoon grateful. Um. But our biggest
thing was is Okay, we wantto be able to help more people,
and we want to go to doa lot different variety and a safer thing.
So we wanted to get a biggerboat, well boats. So if
anybody knows around here in Florida,anything from the thirty five foot and up
(23:59):
is basically like you got to winthe lottery like there, it's insane.
So and we're a nonprofit, wedon't have much money, and everything that
we do have we dump into ourprogram so we can keep taking guys out.
I mean because in our program canI mean it's not much like it's
paying for fuel for the boat,paying for to get into motor service,
paying for fishing rods, tackle ice, I mean, every every food,
(24:22):
like everything everything, We provide everythingfor him. I mean that stuff's not
cheap. So and um, nobodygets paid me, Mike, Melissa,
everyone, it's just it's all they'reall volunteer, old time and um.
But so we were trying to figureout ways to raise money to get this
boat. So we sat for thelast year and so um checking every single
(24:45):
boat out that we could, whichwe're we're a hundred percent and set on
them going to be a catamaran boatjust because I've been riding them for years
now and they're the most stable boatsout there. Because our biggest thing is
we wanted to be wheelchair accessible andstuff like that, so we needed a
bigger platform one and after a longtime figuring it out, we neared it
down to two different companies. Wethought we were going to get one called
(25:07):
a Hammercat, which we all loved. We went on on a road on
a ride and that thing. Thatthing was beautiful. There was some little
things that we didn't really care for, but we were able to get over
it. But that deal fell through. We weren't able to do that one.
Um. Then I started working withAmericat that's here in four Piers and
we're planning I'm moving into one oftheir thirty nine foot boats that they have
(25:29):
because we can customize it to whatwe want, which is gonna be perfect.
So because I mean, we don'twant to pure fishing boat just because
they're a little bit too rugged.We want to have some of the creature
comforts and stuff like that because someof our vets they're just there to hang
out and have a good time.They don't really fishing and stuff like that.
So so that being able to customizeand stuff like that, not just
by a floor model or something likethat was kind of a really big deal
(25:52):
for us. And so we've beenI've been working with them up there at
Americat They've been phenomenal and as soonas we get the funding for we're gonna
move forward with it and go aheadand purchase it. And it's it's not
a it's not a cheap build.I mean we're talking four or five hundred
thousand, and that's at cheap costwith like getting sponsorships from Mercury and stuff
like that, from all the electronicsand everything like that. So I mean
(26:15):
normally this boat would I mean youcould talk eight hundred grand. I mean
there's boats out there that are youcan't even look at them like and pless
you get a million. So soafter crunching all the numbers everything, I
think four to five hundred grand becauseI know it's a big gap in there,
but I mean there's stuff that happens. I mean electronics, I mean,
if we don't get microchips from Chinaone month and skyrocket and everything like
(26:38):
that prices. So but yeah,so we needed a way to make money,
and so we decided, hey,let's do this tournament. And me,
like I said, I go onehundred percent for everything. I wasn't
going to do some little hopefully weget ten boat kind of deal. I
wanted to make it a big,huge thing. But my other thing was
is and we've done lots of tournamentsand basically ninety percent of them, you
(27:03):
go there, you fish, youway fishing, you sit around, you
drink beer, and you go home. That's that's pretty much what the tournament
is. Hopefully you win. Ifyou win, you get up on a
stage, you get big pictures.And I was like, well, we're
all about the family. We've gotto take care of the family too.
So that's why we said, well, hey, let's just make it a
huge event. It's not good justgonna be a fishing tournament, which that
is the main focal point of it. But we're gonna make it a huge
(27:26):
event. So we are got wegot the land Sharks, which is a
huge band, so we hired them. They're gonna come to a two hour
concert after the fishing Tournament. We'regonna have a ton of vendors there.
We're looking into getting kids like bouncehouses and stuff like that, and the
Classic Car Club's gonna bring I thinkup to forty classic cars, so we're
gonna be able to have like aclassic car judging contest. The VFW and
(27:51):
the Legion Riders they're playing on comingup in all their Harleys and everything like
that. So we're trying to makeit a huge event for the whole family.
You have fun, We're gonna havelive music all day, so it
should be it should be a reallygood event. So that I'm pushing for
it. We wanted to be.I wanted to be the premier event on
a treasure coast. So because there'snot many people that can say, hey,
I really loved that fishing tournament.Most people are like, yeah,
(28:11):
I'm gonna go fishing fishing tournament.But it's it's I don't know, it's
we're George's trying to make a namefor it here. Sure, sure,
and I hope this podcast does it. I hope you know. I tell
you what, I'm not only goingto put you in the article you know
this week coming, but you know, as long as I have space in
Sebashian Daily, I put you inan article every week until the tournament.
(28:32):
Man, just that friendly reminder thisweek, you know, tournament one more
week or you know seven or moredays or whatever I can do. Man,
I mean, because it's for thewhole tournament stuff, all of our
informations on our website. Just plickon a tournament tab and it gives you
all the information. Um, ifyou do want to be a sponsor,
Um, time is running out tobe a mega sponsor if that's your deal,
which I could greatly appreciate it,But were you still have time for
(28:56):
all the other sponsorship stuff like that? Because we're getting ready to send off
the print for our t shirts andour buckets and all that. For our
sponsores I've already joined on, whichI greatly appreciate them. We couldn't do
without them. And but so let'ssee June. So June thirtieth is going
to be the Captain's meeting at CausewayCove and Fort Pierce. If you haven't
signed up and you're that really lastminute person, you can sign up there
(29:19):
at the Captain's meeting. So we'llmake sure everyone understands all the rules,
and we'll even tell them about thefishing tournament for the kids and stuff like
that. So because at nine o'clockthe day of the fishing tournament, when
all the big boys are out fishing, we're putting on a kid's twelve and
under tournament at the docks there atCauseway Cove, and there's me prizes for
kids and stuff like that. Soum and then so but July first is
(29:42):
the actual tournament. God willing bethat the weather is beautiful and it's a
great days right, that's right,cloudy. I don't want to have full
sun all day. Yeah yeah,probably cloudy for sure, light breeze out
of the south. But so donationsare you? Are you guys looking for
donations for anything at all or anyany donation, whether it's two dollars or
(30:04):
two hundred thousand dollars, we're onehundred percent greatly appreciative. If you want
to send me two hundred grand,just give me a call. I'll drive
your house to pick it up.So listen, I'll meet them halfway and
get it safe. Safe fishing rodsay tackle, say, I mean any
kind of any kind of things.Okay, yeah, so you can go
(30:25):
to our website. We've got areally good stable platform except just about every
type of payment. I mean,you can click on UM you can do
a custom donation or we've got alot of pre ones already signed up,
like fifty dollars and one hundred dollarsand stuff like that. So and a
lot of them will tell you kindof hey what it kind of goes to
and stuff like that. UM,and it just it keeps the program running.
(30:45):
So if we didn't have our peoplethat do donate, like, we
wouldn't go to do this. So, I mean I started it doing on
my own dime and stuff like that. UM. And there's a lot of
things that I still have to UM, but hey, we just keep it
going. So we're trying to makeit as bigger and better as we can.
And I hope to play a partin that, man, I really
do. And I hope a lotof people can play a part in this.
(31:07):
Before I let you guys go,is there any sponsors, any any
donators that you guys want to thankor give a shout out to or anything
like that. I mean, we'vethere's we've got quite a few, um,
I mean dogs for Life. Thereare diamond sponsor. Right now there
are Showcase, so one hundred percentshout out to them. There are a
phenomenal organization here in Vio that helpsgive veterans the service dogs and stuff like
(31:30):
that. Um, they they aredo a great job. You got M
and B Roofing. Um, Imean, Mike, you actually set up
most of these. I mean,have at it, gay, M and
B Roofing head coach tire, gottago green Wall to be fabrication, Jones
(31:51):
Insurance Advisors. I know there's gonnabe somebody we forget, and I'm sorry
if we do. And it's understandable. Guys, I mean lists like that
sponsorship. You broke up Mike onemore time. White Stackle gave us a
sponsorship as well. Yeah, that'sawesome. I love their shop, man,
I really do. That was thatwas one of the first shops week
(32:15):
having to buy stuff for a trip. Yeah, that's a good shot,
man. I like I like thatshop a lot. Thank you for getting
us on this and actually helping ussupport this, of course, brother,
any the least I can freaking do. It's a great, great program.
Kevin's got it going on. Sucha lot of people. Yeah, and
(32:42):
I thank you truly thank you.I wish you I've got to wish your
service was better because I feel likeevery time I talk you guys are just
cut y'all. But listen, please, anytime you guys want to come back
on or I mean talk about itafter the fishing order, I mean we
can, we can do you knowa podcast on the winnings and how it
(33:02):
went, and I mean what youguys are looking forward next or you know,
dive class whatever, you guys aremore than welcome to come back on.
Hey, just let me know.Awesome, guys. It was a
pleasure talking to you guys tonight.And that will conclude another episode of Anglers
Anonymous podcast. Make sure you guyscheck them out at Wounded Waters dot org
and at Wounded Waters at gmail dotcom. They'll be able to help you
(33:25):
guys out with any questions concerns abouttheir nations. It's an amazing and amazing
nonprofit organization that helps out anybody inneed. I mean, how could you
not get behind something like that,guys. And if you guys have any
questions, please, I'd be happyto answer them. And if I can't,
I'll shoot you guys directly over tothem. Remember they have an awesome
(33:46):
fishing tournament coming up. It's yourlife first, and I'm looking forward to
seeing you guys back out on thewater. Remember stay classy, stay safe,
and most importantly, have fun.
And then we had, you know, a quick cold front come through and
we had like a one week loal. But truly, all through May was
really really good fishing. I'm allabout, first of all, everything outdoors.
It's just, you know, partof who I am. I love
to hunt and fish and dive andspearfish that imports all the century blanks into
the USA. And he called meup and he said, hey, Frank,
(00:23):
and I talked to you, andwe started talking one night about the
blackfish rock and I was absolutely obsessedfrom that moment on and stop fishing entirely
for any other species and just learnedand obsessed and became really driven to just
fish this really elusive fish that's likesuper rare. Welcome back to another episode
(00:52):
of Anglers Anonymous Podcast. This isyours, truly Aaron Snyder, sitting down
with some of the world's leading tacklemanufacturers in the business, Captain's first mates,
and anyone that loves the outdoors asmuch as we do. So I
hope you guys get as much asI've gotten out of sitting down with some
of the guests that I've had thepleasure of interviewing. Stay tuned, guys,
(01:17):
much more to come, how longhas Wounded Waters been around and how
did you guys get started? Man, So officially it's been around since twenty
nineteen. We started doing it yearsprior. So basically it started off.
I was up stationed Fort Campbell,Kentucky, was in the Army and came
(01:38):
back from bad deployment and trying tofigure out something to do just to get
the guys out of the barracks andstuff like that. So I grabbed some
guys took him out of the barracks. We went out and went fishing and
had a good day. Didn't catcha whole lot, but I mean,
we just still had a great day. And when I was loading stuff up
in a truck, this one guyI've known for years, young kid,
came up to me and said thankyou. And I didn't think nothing of
(02:00):
it, no big deal, andstarted throwing more stuff in a truck and
he stopped me and he said no, thank you, And that was really
weird. And I asked him.I was like, is everything all right?
What's going on? And he justsaid that he really needed it to
be out there because he was feelinglike he was gonna go home and commit
suicide. That night in the barracks, and so suicide in the military is
(02:21):
a huge thing. So as soonas somebody says something like that, then
you got to start dealing with itand everything. And it's been a hard
thing to try to just come back. So long story short, I went
home, talked about my wife aboutit, and at the time she was
just like, well, take moreguys fishing. Well to me, at
the time, I was like,well, shit, my wife saying I
can get out of the house more. I'm doing it. So I just
(02:44):
started taking more guys out fishing,and it just kind of came a thing.
Everyone kept saying, hey, man, just keep doing this. This
is awesome just getting out there.And so then once I got stationed done
in Mississippi where I had enough timeoff, we went one hundred percent with
gent We filed with the irs forthe nonprofit. We went and got a
boat and all that and just beengoing ever since. And you know what,
(03:08):
Kevin, and honestly, I commendyou for that, man, and
I love that. I have almosta similar story. I was up in
North Jersey around straight An area throughthe Pennsylvania, but you know, up
up north, and I had ayounger brother that was in a rehab,
and it was a long term rehaband a lot of guys in there,
(03:29):
men were either you know, vetsor you know younger and just you know,
broken up childhoods and families and householdsand you know, looking very excuse
to kind of punch somebody in theface. So my younger brother, being
from the country, he's like,you know, I think what would be
great is to have some kind offishing activity or outdoors activity. You know,
He's like, I wish I couldbring these guys hunting, but you
(03:50):
know, you know a lot ofthem can't have a firearm any longer.
So, you know, we whatwe did was we got a lot of
them together and rented out a charterboat and took I think twenty or twenty
five of them, paid for thecharter boat, got him on the charter
boat, and we got the sameresponse. Man. It was like,
you know, the spark was backin their eyes again, even if it
was for the eight hour trip.You know, it was just like everything
(04:10):
in life they were dealing with kindof dissolved and they were focusing on what
they were doing for the day,and it made a huge difference. You
know. Yeah, we tell allof our guys that we take out and
everyone that we talk about everything thatwe do, and we tell them.
One of the first things that tellhim I was like, hey, it's
not about the fishing, it's aboutgetting out there having that peer to peer
(04:31):
connection with me, Mike and Melissa, and we're all vets, so we
all understand. We all understand thestruggles and tribulations and everything like that,
so we all connect. At ninetypercent of the time, we never even
talked about army shit or military shitin general. We're just out there just
having a good time and just evenwhen the fishing's not so hot, just
(04:53):
just making it a great time iswhat it's all about. Just at the
end of the day, where theygot that smile on your face and they've
met somebody knew that, Hey,if they ever have a bad time,
give someone else a call. Sowe had a couple of trips ago.
We actually had two bets that neverreally knew each other um and then found
out they actually lived pretty close toeach other, and then they just made
that connection so that way, Hey, they hopefully they stay in contact and
(05:15):
that's what it's all about. Yeah, that's that's really cool. That really
is man. The camaraderie is iskey and all that. Um, Mike,
how did you come across Kevin?And you know you and your wife?
How did you how did you comeacross Kevin? Was it actually like
a plane trip on the boat orwas it just friendships for years or we
actually all grew up together. Wewent to school together, school together,
(05:38):
we were best friends. Then weall went in different branches, did our
thing, got had kids, camehome, and we love to fish.
So it's like, hey, thisis perfect. Got the call, got
the call one day, like weall got together. We were all great
in high school and then boom,life happened. All of us went away.
We pretty much all. I meanI lost connection with Mike for a
(05:59):
long time er because I mean,hell we I was in for almost twenty
one years. So then but assoon as we come back, it's just
like bam, like we never reallyleft. It was just like it's just
been a great time, blessing thatwe've gotten back in connection with Mike and
Melissa. No, that's awesome,man, I mean you can't tear the
phone call down though, you know, Hey, I'm gonna start this thing
and fishing related and you know,we get me on the water as much
(06:21):
as possible. I mean it's hardto turn that down. Yeah. Now
we're out there as much as wecan be out there. And like Kevin
said, not about the fish.It's not about the fishing. It's about
getting the guys on the boat.Sure. Sure, it's a special thing
you guys are doing, man,And I mean I wish more people were
doing it, to be honest withyou, speaking of what you guys are
(06:41):
doing, say say we have abunch of bets or retired guys or you
know, people with family that wouldlove to be involved. How could they
get a hold of you guys didn'teven start the process of getting on the
boat or trying to plan a trip. So, I mean the each is
what he DoD is just go toour website. If they scrolled down to
the bottom, there's an area thatsays nominated a hero UM And then they
just asked, like I think it'slike three or four questions, just like
(07:02):
general stuff like name, phone number, and then like a description or anything
like that. And then people,I mean some people write full page stories.
Some people just say I just wantto go fishing. I'm having a
bad day, like I mean,and and so we get them as soon
as they submit them and it goesright to us. I usually try to
call every single body within a week. Um. Some some weeks are crazy.
(07:24):
Um, but I mean we justI try to call everyone, see
what their story is, see whatthey're interested in. Because we're starting to
get a lot of attraction because westarted a DIE program up at the end
of last summer so where we canactually certify them in diving. Um.
And so we're getting a lot oftraction with that kind of stuff. Um.
But yeah, I mean, heck, I mean, they can give
us a call, email, anything. So Kevin talk, let's talk about
(07:47):
the DIE program. Man, that'ssomething new to me. I mean,
you know, how did you getstarted in that? You know, I've
always I grew up like with MichaelList, like we all grew up here
in Vireau, like we're all allaround the water. I've been diving my
whole life basically because my dad wasa big diver and stuff, so we
always used to go to the keysand everything like that, and I always
loved it. When I got outof the army and retired and moved back
(08:11):
here, I utilized some of myVA benefits to actually become a dive instructor.
So I went to a local diveshop here because I didn't even know
nothing about it. I was justup at the dive shop one day and
I met this guy named Matt andhe was a VET also, and he
was actually going through the program andhimself, and he was talking to me
about it. And it's just kindof that weird connection where vets kind of
(08:33):
congregate to each other. So Mattand I became best friends instantly, even
though he called me a ship bagevery other day just because I was doing
in the school. But yeah,Matt became my instructor. Now he's actually
one of our instructors with us hereat Windy Waters, so he helps me
out with most of the dive tripsand stuff like that. But basically,
(08:54):
just if a VET wants to doit, like Michael, Melissa or in
the middle of it right now,we're going to be start to find them
here soon, and they just letus know that they're interested in it.
Um we do ask to see ifthey can. There's only a couple of
things they got to actually do,So they got to have a mask,
fins and Snorke will obviously be ableto swim, and we asked them for
one hundred and twenty dollars donation Andwhat that does is that pace for the
(09:18):
course that we get charged from Patty. So because I've got a pro account,
I did it for one hundred andtwenty bucks. I just tell them,
hey, I gotta get some buyin from them. So, um,
the fishing trips and everything else likethat, Um, we all that's
one hundred percent. We flipped thebill. But for the dive stuff,
we want to have a little bitof a buy in from then that they
(09:39):
really want to do it, becauseat the end of the day, we
don't want somebody out there is justscrewing around and stuff like that when somebody
really wants it. Because to me, diving is the best therapy out there.
I've done just about every single typeof therapy you can think of.
Diving. It is amazing. You'rehaving a bad shitty dat no matter what's
going on. As soon as youget underneath that water, everything just washes
(10:01):
away and you don't have to workabout it, and it's just a great
thing. So, but it's athree day program. First day we do
the pool day, where they learnall the techniques and everything like that could
have introduced to just the underwater environment. And we have a great day with
that. Then the next day we'llgo to a lake. It's about an
hour and a half away from zeroand it's it's a called Lake Dents in
(10:22):
the middle of state and it's it'smeant for diving. It's they got under
what our platform as obstacle courses andall the school stuff that's in the lake.
Four divers. So that's where wekind of get them introduced with doing
pretty much kind of everything on theirown and stuff like that. And then
the third day is the big finalewhere we do a boat dive. We
go down towards Fort Lauderdale and godive a big wreck um if the conditions
(10:46):
present itself. If not, thenwe'll take them to Blue Heron Bridge,
which is a west bomb which isin like the top three dive destinations in
the world and a beautiful, beautifulreef out there and stuff like that,
so and then that'll that'll get themcertified. And then every time if we
have another dive class or something comingup, if somebody just wants to just
jump in, we we welcome that. Um, but I mean it's a
(11:07):
really great program. We're working itreally and and still justin Like I said,
we just started it last summer,um, and we put twelve Vets
through it last summer, and Ithink we're gonna do a lot more than
that this year. And um,but I mean we give them all the
equipment, Like I said, allthey need is their mask fins of the
snorkel just because that's that personal stuff. Um. I work with Deep six,
(11:28):
the local dive shop here in Vero, and uh they supply us with
all the BC's regulators, um,all the tanks in the air and uh
they supply that all to us forfree. And other than that, I
mean, it's it's a quick,easy program. It's really super good.
So I know you mentioned that ifyou have the gopen spots in the in
(11:50):
the dive school, you you wouldtake I guess none veterans in family members
and anybody that really wants to beable to donate the one twenty and get
in to it or is it justkind of geared George vets. So we
want them to be a VET ora first responder. Um, we have
done family members with them, sothat's not a problem. And uh,
one of our really good friends who'sactually a doctor around in town here and
(12:13):
he runs on our PTSD groups.Uh, Chris um I have. They
were getting ready to go to atrip to Fiji at the end of last
summer and he was just like,hey, can you certify all of us?
And so I certified him and hisdaughters and we had a blast.
It was just good watching him,you know, connected with his kids.
So that's a lot of us thatare in this group, which we just
(12:35):
call our heroes, Like I mean, we miss a lot of that a
lot of times. So that's reallygood to see dads and moms and stuff
like that connecting with their kids.Yeah. No, that's that's awesome.
I'm sitting here, you know,comping at the bit waiting for the opening
spot on the dive school to getcertified as a diver. I tell you
what, I've spearfished, and youknow I've I've done everything but diving.
(12:58):
And you know, to have someonelike yourself that you know you could make
a donation to the Great frid AndCause and become certified, like I mean,
I would love that, but Iget it, trust me, I
still get it. While it's gearedtowards you know, the heroes in the
group and people that are in need. So I mean, I commend you
guys for that, and that's that'sawesome. They not only have something fishing,
but to have something diving related.I mean, it's I hope you
(13:18):
guys can grow even more than that, man. I mean, it's such
a great cause. And you know, personally, I think you're saving a
lot of lives and a lot ofminds, you know, doing what you
guys are doing. Uh. Imean when when we first started all this,
like my wife told me, she'slike, well, if you're gonna
do this, you do everything onehundred percent, which I do. Um,
and it drives drives my family bonkershalf the time. UM. But
(13:43):
I mean I sat that She's like, she's like, write out what you
want this to be. And soI sat down and I just started kind
of mapping it out and just Iwas basically just almost like doing like an
operation order in the military, andI just started writing everything down. And
it started offul I just want tobe able to do fishing trips. And
then it's just slowly evolved and nowit's become Okay, we're offering fishing,
we're offering diving, we're offering rivercruises for like our our older vets um
(14:07):
because a lot of a lot.What I come to find out when we
moved back here was um I getwhen I got in LinkedIn with like the
VFW and PHSD group, stuff likethat, like the older Vietnam vets Um,
Like they don't want to go outin the ocean, they don't want
to get beaten, banged up andstuff like that. And so I just
got a group I and I justsaid, hey, let's just go on
a sunset cruise. We go cruisedown the river. I have a great
time. And so that was athat was a huge hit. So we've
(14:30):
done several of them. Um,Like I've done the female PTSD group.
I took them out on a rideand they just had a blast. And
so we're always involved. We're gonnatry to figure out different ways. I
mean we at the end of theday, we just called saltwater therapy.
So anything we can do on thewater in the water, that's what it's
all about. And and then soas I was drawing everything out just on
(14:54):
a scratch sheet of paper, atthe end of it, I said,
hey, I was like our finalfinale I wanted to be. We wanted
to build. It's called Woundy WatersRanch where it's a resort type setting where
we originally want to bring it downin the Keys. That's like, if
we can afford it one day anddo it, then that's where I want
it to be. I found theland and I've been drolling over for a
couple of years. It's still forsale, so I'm still hopeful. We
(15:18):
want it to be like this resortplace where we can fly there the family
members and and the vet and thehero or whoever it is, and they
get like a four day vacation.We take them out fishing, We take
them out Snorkeland, We teach themdive and if they want, we do
kayak and just all sorts of thingswe offer from counseling. They want it.
If they are having trouble with theVA, we either get them in
(15:39):
contact with somebody that can help out, or we try to help them out
ourselves. And that's what the wholegoal was. And just rinse and repeat
and just keep doing it over andover and just making it. I mean,
because there's not really any resorts justfor our heroes. So there's lots
of different things you can do.You can get like Disney passes and other
stuff like that, and the biggestthing I've seen a couple of them,
(16:03):
like way up north in New Yorkand stuff like that. Montana's got one
really good one, but there's nothingdown here in the South, and there's
nothing really that linked there on asaltwater well. I mean, I grew
up with saltwater, and to me, being around the water, no matter
if you're having a shitty day ornot, you always aren't having as shitty
of a day. So I agree, I agree wholeheartedly, man. I
(16:23):
mean, I keep telling you knowmy other passion, a little one that
you know, the day that Icould find something on the water reasonably priced,
I'm jumping all over it because youknow, there's no better way to
end your day if you have towork that nine to five, then to
come home and walk across your grassto the duck and see water, you
know. I mean, it's justthere's no better way. So to have
have a resort down, you know, in the Keys, especially to offer
(16:45):
to them for a gate and aget away, I mean, god,
it sounds like paradise. To me, it really does my mind sitting here
running in circles thinking about how Ican tear my sixteen footboat into a into
a floater for you guys to godown the river. I mean I just
and again, I don't know howyou know, anybody listening to this wouldn't
want to be a part of this. Man, this is great for a
great cause. Um, you knowyou touched on it a little bit,
(17:07):
how you grew up around saltwater,But who got you first? You know,
kind of introduced into the saltwater fishing? Was it always like that?
Was there a mixing? My dadwas always a huge outdoors when and he
still is, um and so eversince I was a little kid. I
mean we were always our family wasreally really night night or whatever you want
to call it, like tight knitand like our grandparents and aunts and uncles
(17:30):
like that. We were a hugecrew that I just grew up and being
in the outdoors always fishing, huntingand so and then once I was like
a bicycle age and I could runaway from the house then, I mean
I lived over here near the powerplant Viro growing up, so every day
after school I'd literally drew ride mybike down to the power plant. I'd
sit there and fish all day.And then so I got a little bit
(17:52):
why is there? Then I startedputting trash bags on my feet for waiters.
And I mean I was the brokefishing kid growing up. Man,
but I I caught some damn goodfish, and um, and it just
I've I've just I've always been onthe water. I mean I had a
john boat when I was like twelveyears old. I mean, Mike and
I used to go hang out andthat thing all the time. And um,
yeah, I mean, just I'dlove to being on the water,
(18:14):
always have and and Mike, samequestion for you, buddy, And then
Melissa took off there. But Imean, please, you know, same
question. Where'd you get started,buddy? Who got started? And was
it always saltwater or was it amixing between both? It's really it makes
between both. But here, youknow, our river is basically saltwater,
so we were always out on theriver. Only a few of my friend's
(18:34):
dads had capabilities to go out inthe ocean, so I didn't really start
ocean so I was an adult,um, but river fishing up on the
river. I grew up surfing oceanbut not necessarily out fishing it. It's
a little bit of a different AndKevin on how we got started, Melissa's
the same way. I mean shewould take her shrimp pole and a book
(18:56):
and just go drops from shrimping,catch some snow and then that was dinner.
Yeah, I mean that's all.That's awesome because back when we were
a little it was a lot different. You can ride your bike across the
bridge and go fishing and I haveto work. Yeah, yeah, and
again you know what it's it's somesomething similar to the way I grew up.
I grew up up north. Youknow, it was basically you know,
(19:18):
when you can get away from thehouse on a bike, like like
Kevin said that, you know,you were on your bike with your buddies
and you're ripping down the fishing lakeor you know, I didn't grow up
close to the salt water, wasabout a half an hour away from it.
So you know, as a youngster, if we got the privilege you
get down on one of our familymember or friends dad's boats. I mean
it took full avantage of it.Man. It was striper fishing, drum
fishing, blue fishing, I meanthe works. But you know, it
(19:40):
wasn't until about six years ago Imoved down here and experienced the whole river
to ocean to lake aspect of itall. You guys literally have a mecht
in your backyard of like a diversefishery. I mean, it's it's unbelievable
what the area has to offer,ye, right, So if they're it's
a message, you know, betweenthe both of you guys, if there's
(20:02):
a message you want to get outthere to anybody watching this, you know,
heroes included first responders, anybody wouldthat message be. I mean the
biggest thing like that I always telleveryone is that, I mean, one,
it's okay to not be okay.So if someone's struggling, reach out,
give me a call. I maybe a little cranky at two o'clock
in the morning, but I meanI'll still pick up the damn phone every
(20:23):
time it rings. So I mean, reach out to any family members or
anything like that. Get on ourwebsite if you want to get participated or
anything we're doing, or if youjust want to help out and keep going.
I mean, there's there's never beena bad enough day where you couldn't
get through it. So there's alwaystomorrow. So one of the things I
(20:45):
actually grew up with in the army. When I was actually in radio school,
I used to tell people all thetime, I'll quit tomorrow. No
matter how fucking bad today was,I'll quit tomorrow. Tomorrow came it was
still shitty, I'll quit tomorrow,and you just keep going. You never
quit give up. Um. Butyeah, I mean, get a hold
of us if you're interested in justgetting on a fishing trip, just getting
on a river cruise, just findingout what vets are doing around here,
(21:07):
because we're tied in with a lotof other organizations. Um, I mean
there's there's big stuff coming up thissummer. We've got our fishing tournament coming
up in July one down at CausewayCovid Marina. Um So if you don't
have a boat, give us acall. We can try to get you
on a boat or something like that. Um. We'd love to get everyone
into the community involved in it.So we're gonna have a huge concert after
(21:29):
it and stuff like that. Um, it's gonna be it's gonna be a
huge blast. Mike, you gotanything for the message, But yeah,
just don't quit. I mean,that's where we're all taught in the militaries.
Don't quit to me, like,no matter how about your day is,
it's not worth quitting, you know, just everybody's going through the same
thing on a different level. Yep, there's resources there, there's guys the
(21:52):
text shooting, don't call. We'reall here, guys. I you know,
I tell you what. I can'trelate on the same level. But
I will tell you this. Therewas an older gentleman when I was back
North I used to work in theunion with. He said, no matter
how bad it gets, show uptomorrow, he goes, No matter how
freaking bad it gets, I don'tcare what happens at the house, I
don't care what happens in life.Show up tomorrow and see how it goes.
(22:12):
And I think that's kind of whatyou guys are saying, you know,
and I stuck by that, andyou know I live by that.
No matter how bad the freaking job, no matter how bad life, Mike,
you might get, show up tomorrowand see how it goes. Yeah,
okay, my mom and my momand died used always tell me,
if you can't take it day byday, you take an hour by hour.
(22:33):
He can't take an hour by hour. You take it minute by minute.
Nothing is ever too hard to overcome. Step by step, take a
minute, talk an hour. There'salways people here. We're always there.
There's plenty of resources and people outthere to reach out too. Life is
never that bad. There's always somebodyout there that can relate to you,
(22:56):
talk to you, show you adifferent path, show do a different way.
And that's what it's all about.It's just that group and we're all
here. Yeah, And this isa great message, guys, it really
is. And I hope it reachesthe right people. I hope it reaches
everyone. Um, Kevin, beforeI let you go, I can't believe
(23:17):
I almost forgot right. I can'tbelieve I almost forgot about this sport.
I mean that you guys have comingup. I know you touched on it
a little bit, but express expressa little more, man, I mean,
how do you get bobbed? IsIs it just for the heroes?
Is it? You know? Andeverybody kind of thing? I mean,
give me, give me the wholeidea. So we've been struggling. I
don't want to say we've been strugglingfinancial. We've we've met a few people
(23:37):
the last couple of years that havemade wounded waters happen and continue what it
is right now and I'm a huntersoon grateful. Um. But our biggest
thing was is Okay, we wantto be able to help more people,
and we want to go to doa lot different variety and a safer thing.
So we wanted to get a biggerboat, well boats. So if
anybody knows around here in Florida,anything from the thirty five foot and up
(23:59):
is basically like you got to winthe lottery like there, it's insane.
So and we're a nonprofit, wedon't have much money, and everything that
we do have we dump into ourprogram so we can keep taking guys out.
I mean because in our program canI mean it's not much like it's
paying for fuel for the boat,paying for to get into motor service,
paying for fishing rods, tackle ice, I mean, every every food,
(24:22):
like everything everything, We provide everythingfor him. I mean that stuff's not
cheap. So and um, nobodygets paid me, Mike, Melissa,
everyone, it's just it's all they'reall volunteer, old time and um.
But so we were trying to figureout ways to raise money to get this
boat. So we sat for thelast year and so um checking every single
(24:45):
boat out that we could, whichwe're we're a hundred percent and set on
them going to be a catamaran boatjust because I've been riding them for years
now and they're the most stable boatsout there. Because our biggest thing is
we wanted to be wheelchair accessible andstuff like that, so we needed a
bigger platform one and after a longtime figuring it out, we neared it
down to two different companies. Wethought we were going to get one called
(25:07):
a Hammercat, which we all loved. We went on on a road on
a ride and that thing. Thatthing was beautiful. There was some little
things that we didn't really care for, but we were able to get over
it. But that deal fell through. We weren't able to do that one.
Um. Then I started working withAmericat that's here in four Piers and
we're planning I'm moving into one oftheir thirty nine foot boats that they have
(25:29):
because we can customize it to whatwe want, which is gonna be perfect.
So because I mean, we don'twant to pure fishing boat just because
they're a little bit too rugged.We want to have some of the creature
comforts and stuff like that because someof our vets they're just there to hang
out and have a good time.They don't really fishing and stuff like that.
So so that being able to customizeand stuff like that, not just
by a floor model or something likethat was kind of a really big deal
(25:52):
for us. And so we've beenI've been working with them up there at
Americat They've been phenomenal and as soonas we get the funding for we're gonna
move forward with it and go aheadand purchase it. And it's it's not
a it's not a cheap build.I mean we're talking four or five hundred
thousand, and that's at cheap costwith like getting sponsorships from Mercury and stuff
like that, from all the electronicsand everything like that. So I mean
(26:15):
normally this boat would I mean youcould talk eight hundred grand. I mean
there's boats out there that are youcan't even look at them like and pless
you get a million. So soafter crunching all the numbers everything, I
think four to five hundred grand becauseI know it's a big gap in there,
but I mean there's stuff that happens. I mean electronics, I mean,
if we don't get microchips from Chinaone month and skyrocket and everything like
(26:38):
that prices. So but yeah,so we needed a way to make money,
and so we decided, hey,let's do this tournament. And me,
like I said, I go onehundred percent for everything. I wasn't
going to do some little hopefully weget ten boat kind of deal. I
wanted to make it a big,huge thing. But my other thing was
is and we've done lots of tournamentsand basically ninety percent of them, you
(27:03):
go there, you fish, youway fishing, you sit around, you
drink beer, and you go home. That's that's pretty much what the tournament
is. Hopefully you win. Ifyou win, you get up on a
stage, you get big pictures.And I was like, well, we're
all about the family. We've gotto take care of the family too.
So that's why we said, well, hey, let's just make it a
huge event. It's not good justgonna be a fishing tournament, which that
is the main focal point of it. But we're gonna make it a huge
(27:26):
event. So we are got wegot the land Sharks, which is a
huge band, so we hired them. They're gonna come to a two hour
concert after the fishing Tournament. We'regonna have a ton of vendors there.
We're looking into getting kids like bouncehouses and stuff like that, and the
Classic Car Club's gonna bring I thinkup to forty classic cars, so we're
gonna be able to have like aclassic car judging contest. The VFW and
(27:51):
the Legion Riders they're playing on comingup in all their Harleys and everything like
that. So we're trying to makeit a huge event for the whole family.
You have fun, We're gonna havelive music all day, so it
should be it should be a reallygood event. So that I'm pushing for
it. We wanted to be.I wanted to be the premier event on
a treasure coast. So because there'snot many people that can say, hey,
I really loved that fishing tournament.Most people are like, yeah,
(28:11):
I'm gonna go fishing fishing tournament.But it's it's I don't know, it's
we're George's trying to make a namefor it here. Sure, sure,
and I hope this podcast does it. I hope you know. I tell
you what, I'm not only goingto put you in the article you know
this week coming, but you know, as long as I have space in
Sebashian Daily, I put you inan article every week until the tournament.
(28:32):
Man, just that friendly reminder thisweek, you know, tournament one more
week or you know seven or moredays or whatever I can do. Man,
I mean, because it's for thewhole tournament stuff, all of our
informations on our website. Just plickon a tournament tab and it gives you
all the information. Um, ifyou do want to be a sponsor,
Um, time is running out tobe a mega sponsor if that's your deal,
which I could greatly appreciate it,But were you still have time for
(28:56):
all the other sponsorship stuff like that? Because we're getting ready to send off
the print for our t shirts andour buckets and all that. For our
sponsores I've already joined on, whichI greatly appreciate them. We couldn't do
without them. And but so let'ssee June. So June thirtieth is going
to be the Captain's meeting at CausewayCove and Fort Pierce. If you haven't
signed up and you're that really lastminute person, you can sign up there
(29:19):
at the Captain's meeting. So we'llmake sure everyone understands all the rules,
and we'll even tell them about thefishing tournament for the kids and stuff like
that. So because at nine o'clockthe day of the fishing tournament, when
all the big boys are out fishing, we're putting on a kid's twelve and
under tournament at the docks there atCauseway Cove, and there's me prizes for
kids and stuff like that. Soum and then so but July first is
(29:42):
the actual tournament. God willing bethat the weather is beautiful and it's a
great days right, that's right,cloudy. I don't want to have full
sun all day. Yeah yeah,probably cloudy for sure, light breeze out
of the south. But so donationsare you? Are you guys looking for
donations for anything at all or anyany donation, whether it's two dollars or
(30:04):
two hundred thousand dollars, we're onehundred percent greatly appreciative. If you want
to send me two hundred grand,just give me a call. I'll drive
your house to pick it up.So listen, I'll meet them halfway and
get it safe. Safe fishing rodsay tackle, say, I mean any
kind of any kind of things.Okay, yeah, so you can go
(30:25):
to our website. We've got areally good stable platform except just about every
type of payment. I mean,you can click on UM you can do
a custom donation or we've got alot of pre ones already signed up,
like fifty dollars and one hundred dollarsand stuff like that. So and a
lot of them will tell you kindof hey what it kind of goes to
and stuff like that. UM,and it just it keeps the program running.
(30:45):
So if we didn't have our peoplethat do donate, like, we
wouldn't go to do this. So, I mean I started it doing on
my own dime and stuff like that. UM. And there's a lot of
things that I still have to UM, but hey, we just keep it
going. So we're trying to makeit as bigger and better as we can.
And I hope to play a partin that, man, I really
do. And I hope a lotof people can play a part in this.
(31:07):
Before I let you guys go,is there any sponsors, any any
donators that you guys want to thankor give a shout out to or anything
like that. I mean, we'vethere's we've got quite a few, um,
I mean dogs for Life. Thereare diamond sponsor. Right now there
are Showcase, so one hundred percentshout out to them. There are a
phenomenal organization here in Vio that helpsgive veterans the service dogs and stuff like
(31:30):
that. Um, they they aredo a great job. You got M
and B Roofing. Um, Imean, Mike, you actually set up
most of these. I mean,have at it, gay, M and
B Roofing head coach tire, gottago green Wall to be fabrication, Jones
(31:51):
Insurance Advisors. I know there's gonnabe somebody we forget, and I'm sorry
if we do. And it's understandable. Guys, I mean lists like that
sponsorship. You broke up Mike onemore time. White Stackle gave us a
sponsorship as well. Yeah, that'sawesome. I love their shop, man,
I really do. That was thatwas one of the first shops week
(32:15):
having to buy stuff for a trip. Yeah, that's a good shot,
man. I like I like thatshop a lot. Thank you for getting
us on this and actually helping ussupport this, of course, brother,
any the least I can freaking do. It's a great, great program.
Kevin's got it going on. Sucha lot of people. Yeah, and
(32:42):
I thank you truly thank you.I wish you I've got to wish your
service was better because I feel likeevery time I talk you guys are just
cut y'all. But listen, please, anytime you guys want to come back
on or I mean talk about itafter the fishing order, I mean we
can, we can do you knowa podcast on the winnings and how it
(33:02):
went, and I mean what youguys are looking forward next or you know,
dive class whatever, you guys aremore than welcome to come back on.
Hey, just let me know.Awesome, guys. It was a
pleasure talking to you guys tonight.And that will conclude another episode of Anglers
Anonymous podcast. Make sure you guyscheck them out at Wounded Waters dot org
and at Wounded Waters at gmail dotcom. They'll be able to help you
(33:25):
guys out with any questions concerns abouttheir nations. It's an amazing and amazing
nonprofit organization that helps out anybody inneed. I mean, how could you
not get behind something like that,guys. And if you guys have any
questions, please, I'd be happyto answer them. And if I can't,
I'll shoot you guys directly over tothem. Remember they have an awesome
(33:46):
fishing tournament coming up. It's yourlife first, and I'm looking forward to
seeing you guys back out on thewater. Remember stay classy, stay safe,
and most importantly, have fun.
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