“My true passion has always been to introduce people – especially families – to the sport of fishing,” Kolodzinski explains. “Partnering with Fishing For Life and Giant Goose Ranch is my way of giving back to the sport that’s given me so much, while bringing awareness to a program that supports our military heroes. We hope to raise money – from inside and outside the fishing industry – to fund the Next GEN program for the many families of military personnel who will benefit from it. Along the way, I think we can show people how great the sport of fishing really is – how it promotes nature, healthy relationships, mental health, camaraderie and fun. It’s been a huge part of my life, and I want to share it.”
The “Marathon Man” event will be hosted live online and on Facebook Live for all 24 hours on the Marathon Man Fishing Facebook page.
“The Facebook platform allows people from all levels of fishing interest all across the globe – in real-time – to be a part of this event,” Kolodzinski says. “You don’t need a lot of expensive equipment, a lot of time, or a lot of technical know-how to go fishing, or to change lives. All you need are some basics and the desire to get started.” The live feed is found at https://www.facebook.com/MarathonManFishing/.
The Fishing For Life “Next GEN” program pairs mentors with children in military families who have a family member who is deployed, or who doesn’t return from a deployment, or who returns from a deployment with conditions that prevent them from participating with their family in the same way that they were able to prior to their deployment. The mentors teach not only outdoors skills, but life skills, using fishing and the outdoors as a context for building relationships.
Kolodzinski set the record in Minnesota in 2011 – 2,143 fish in 24 hours – and he believes that it can be broken. To set that record, he averaged better than 89 fish per hour; that’s 1.48 per minute!
“I think I can average two per minute if conditions are right,” he says. “If I can just be more efficient with handling and unhooking the fish, I think I can get close to 3,000 in 24 hours. Insane, I know!”
For his fishing, Kolodzinski will use a 10-foot pole, 10 feet of fluorocarbon line, a small barbless hook, a small float and live bait. Most of the fish he’ll be catching will be panfish – bluegill, crappie, perch and the occasional largemouth bass.
As part of the broadcast, Marathon Man will offer hourly product giveaways from supporting sponsors. Current sponsors include St. Croix Rods, Thill Floats, Suffix line, VMC hooks, Costa Del Mar sunglasses, Mr. Crappie Poles, Gerber fishing tools, Gemini apparel, Old Town Canoes & Kayaks, Humminbird Fish Finders, Engel Coolers, Talon shallow water anchors, and Minn Kota trolling motors.
Companies and sponsors interested in making a tax-deductible donation or pledge, may sign up by contacting Kolodzinski at Marathonmanfishing@gmail.com or use his GoFundMe page: https://www.gofundme.com/f/marathon-man-fishing-for-life-2019
