MIKE's space

 THE FIRST ANNUAL

"INDIAN OAKS CAMPGROUND BASS FISHING TOURNEY"

JUNE 13 - 15

SPONSORED BY:

PORTER REALTY AND AUCTION SERVICE

QUINCY, IN.

FEATURING:

1. MIKE RICHARDSON OF INDIANA

2. MARK RICHARDSON OF ILINOIS

NO PHOTO

3. BRYCE RICHARDSON OF ILLINOIS

THE FINE FISHING BOAT SPONSORED BY INDIAN OAKS CAMPGROUND AND THE MISERABLE DOG THAT KEPT CHASING OUR LURES.

THE POINTS SYSTEM USED WAS AS FOLLOWS:

LARGEST SMALLMOUTH BASS - 3 POINTS

LARGEST LARGEMOUTH BASS - 3 POINTS

OTHER FISH CAUGHT - 1 POINT EACH

A TIE WAS DECLARED, BRYCE AND MIKE WIN THE TOURNEMENT !

MARK, THE RANK AMATUER, CAME IN SECOND.

THE FISH:

THE WINNING SMALLMOUTH BASS:

THE WINNING LARGEMOUTH BASS:

INDIAN OAKS CAMPGROUND HAD SUFFERED FROM HEAVY RAIN, SO THE WATER WAS FOULED FROM RUN-OFF.

A THIRTY POUND CARP HAD BEEN CAUGHT ON SATURDAY BY ANOTHER FISHERMAN, AND OTHERS WHERE CATCHING CRAPPIE AND BLUEGILL.

BRYCE AND I ARE HOPING TO GO TO A FAIR SIZED FARM POND IN EARLY JULY THAT HAS A HISTORY OF SOME REALLY NICE SIZED BASS.

IN MEMORIAM

CALEB S. HOBBS

BORN: 27/MAY/1975

DIED: 28/MAR/2008

   CALEB LOST HIS COURAGEOUS BATTLE WITH CANCER FRI. MAR 28 AT 4:00 A.M.

   CALEB AND I HAD WORKED ON A NUMBER OF CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS TOGETHER OVER THE YEARS. WE HAD ALSO ATTENTED A NUMBER OF MUSCLE CAR SHOWS TOGETHER. ON A NUMBER OF OCCASIONS, WHEN HE WOULD GET ALL EXCITED AT SEEING A REALY NICE LOOKING CHEVELLE OR CAMARO, I WOULD HAVE TO REMIND HIM " IT'S JUST A PIECE OF SHEVY." TO HIS CREDIT, HE HAD BEGUN THE RESTORATION OF A 1969 FIREBIRD THAT HE LATER SOLD. HE RODE HIS HARLEY TO THE ANTIQUE AUTO HILL CLIMB IN NEWPORT, INDIANA IN OCTOBER OF 2007 AND ATTENDED HIS LAST CAR SHOW IN FEB. 2008.

   HE WAS A SEEMINGLY TIRELESS YOUNG MAN THAT LOVED HIS FAMILY, HIS WORK, HIS PLAY AND HIS HARLEY - DAVIDSON CUSTOM MOTORCYCLE.

IN MEMORY OF CALEB

"YOU ARE AND WILL ALWAYS BE

MY FRIEND"

   A WEDDING PICTURE IN 2005.

 ON HIS HARLEY, WITH HIS DAD, IN STURGIS, SOUTH DAKOTA. THEY DID MOST OF THE WORK TO THEIR HARLEYS.

ON A FLORIDA CRUISE.

ROBERT L. RICHARDSON

BORN AUG. 8 1928

DIED NOV. 25 1999

THIS IS THE BIGGEST FISH MY DAD EVER CAUGHT. A SIX POUND (APPROX.) LARGEMOUTH BASS AT A FARM POND NEAR MARSHALL, IL.

I HOPE TO CATCH ONE NEARLY AS BIG, AND BE AS EXCITED AS HE WAS.

HE NEVER HAD A BOAT TO FISH FROM AND USUALLY FISHED FOR CRAPPIE AND BLUEGILL.

I HAD NEVER FISHED FROM A BOAT UNTIL LAST YEAR AND CAN'T GET ENOUGH.

I'D READ A NUMBER OF BASS FISHING ARTICLES AND THE SUGGESTIONS ACTUALLY WORKED.

FOUND A NICE STATE FORREST IN S.W. INDIANA TO FISH IN, THE LAKES ARE FOR FISHING ONLY, NO GAS - POWERED BOATS, P.W.C'S ETC. ALLOWED.

PLAN TO HONE BASS FISHING TECHNIQUES AND HUNT FOR LUNKER LARGEMOUTH BASS (10 LB. +), AND MAYBE, ENTER SOME INDIANA AMATEUR BASS TOURNEMENTS IN 2009.

IN MEMORY OF DAD.

   JOHN AT "ZIA'S SPACE ASKED IF I'D EVER BEEN A COWBOY AND WHERE, BECAUSE I SIGN OFF AS "BUSTEDUPCOWBOY". WELL, THERE'S A STORY BEHIND THAT.

   WHILE IN MIDDLE SCHOOL, ONE OF MY TEACHERS, WHILE DISCUSSING AMERICAN HISTORY, PROFERRED THE IDEA THAT, IN THE OLD WEST, THE BUFFALO HUNTERS IN THE LATE 1860'S AND EARLY 1870'S WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE GENOCIDE OF THE AMERICAN PLAINS INDIANS. ON THE OTHER HAND, A SCIENCE TEACHER USED AN OLD WEST EXPERIENCE ON THE NEED TO RESTRICT THE OF MOVEMENT OF, OR LIMIT THE SIZE OF ANIMAL HERDS, TO HELP CONTROL DIASEASE. HE RECOUNTED THAT, IN THE YEARS AFTER THE CIVIL WAR, THE HUNGER FOR BEEF ON THE EAST COAST, FUELED IN PART BY THE KILLING OF SO MANY FARMERS AND DESTRUCTION OF FARMS BY THE WAR, LED TO THE CATTLE DRIVES NORTH OUT OF TEXAS TO THE RAILHEADS IN KANSAS. AND THIS BROUGHT WITH IT A TICK-BORN DISEASE THAT BUFFALO HAD NO IMMUNITY TO. THE BUFFALO DIED OFF IN HUGE NUMBERS, SO THE INDIANS STARVED AND SO BECAME DEPENDANT ON " THE GREAT WHITE FATHER " FOR ONE OF THE FIRST WELFARE PROGRAMS IN THIS COUNTRY.

   THE HISTORY TEACHER WANTED ORAL, VIEW POINT REPORTS GIVEN AT TIMES ON WHAT WE WERE LEARNING. SO, WITH A LITTLE RESEARCH, I CONTRASTED BOTH VIEWS OF WHAT I HAD LEARNED BETWEEN THE TWO TEACHERS. THE RESEARCH ( THE ONLY REAL THINKING I DID IN SCHOOL ) LED ME TO WHAT THE LIFE-STYLE OF THE REAL OLD WEST COWBOY WAS LIKE. NOT THE OUTLAWS AND GAMBLERS VS. THE SHERIFF AND THE DEPUTYS OR ROY ROGERS OR THE LONE RANGER TYPE STUFF. I BECAME VERY INTERESTED IN THE ACTUAL $30 / MONTH, DAYLIGHT-TO-DARK IN THE SADDLE, REAL WORKING COWBOY, THE ERA THAT ONLY LAST FOR ABOUT 20 YEARS AFTER THE CIVIL WAR. THE REAL COWBOY ERA. I ALSO READ AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A REAL EAST MONTANA COWBOY AND SOME HIS EXPERIENCES IN THE 1880'S WHICH GAVE MORE INSIGHT. LOUIS LAMOUR NOVELS ALSO EDUCATED ME.

   WHEN I ENTERED THE CONSTRUCTION BUSINESS IN 1978, THE WORK EXPERIENCES I HAD LEARNED FROM THE OLD WEST, FORMED THE WORK ETHIC THAT I PRACTICED TILL RECENTLY. I HAD ADOPTED A WESTERN FLARE IN MY DRESS AND GROOMING, EVEN WHILE AT WORK.  MY CONSTRUCTION COMPANY WAS CALLED "SILVERADO CONSTUCTION."

   IN THE LAST 30+ YEARS I'VE SUFFERED 5 SPINAL CORD INJURIES, THE LAST ONE WAS DEC/06., 3 SPINAL CORD SURGERIES, THE LAST ONE WAS JAN/07. IN 2002, AN IMPLANTED CARDIAC DEFYBRILATOR WAS INSTALLED TO CORRECT AN ODD HEART PROBLEM. DURING A DOCTOR VISIT IN 2004 THE DOCTOR SAID I WAS ONE "BUSTED UP COWBOY" AND THE NEURO-SURGEON SAID IT AGAIN WHEN HE SAW ME IN DEC/06.

   SO, IT STUCK IN THIS ENDEAVOR. MY COSTRUCTION CAREER IS LIKELY COMING TO AN END. THE LAST SURGERY WAS TO CORRECT A HERNIATED DISK IN MY LOWER BACK. (MY FIRST 2 WERE IN MY NECK.) THE SURGERY DID NOT FULLY CORRECT THE LOST OF FEELING AND PAIN IN MY LEFT LEG. BALANCE ON A LADDER OR SCAFFOLDING IS A DANGEROUS PROPOSTION. FATIGUE IS A BIG PROBLEM ESPECIALLY IN COLD WEATHER.

   SO, THAT'S MY STORY.

   MANY THANX!

   BUSTEDUPCOWBOY