Minnetonka
Another successful UHL Outdoors fishing event was held on Lake Minnetonka in Minnesota on July 12th, 2019! The day was action packed and participants were catching nice fish nonstop! About 200 Bass along with several Northern Pike were caught during this day-long fishing event! Three of the military kids caught bass over 5 pounds which are trophies in some parts of the country!!
Lunch was provided by our great partner Arby’s and dinner was hosted by Lord Fletcher’s on the lake. Thank you to our title sponsor Great Clips all of our other sponsors that made this such a memorable day for our military families such as: API Group, Arby’s, Bay & Bay, UPS, LarsonFX.
Next up… New York!
Chicago
The fourth UHL Outdoors event was held in Chicago on May 25th. The weather started out rainy, but we lucked out and hit 75 degrees with plenty of sunshine. the participants were looking forward to a great day on Lake Michigan! The service members, their kids, fishing guides and the celebrity guests boarded the boats and hit the water for a day of Coho Salmon fishing. The crew rounded out the day with about 50 Coho Salmon caught- what a busy and successful day for our UHL Outdoors goers! Kim and Khylee (pictured above on left) experienced their first day fishing and caught 2 salmon on their own! Reggie Kerr, Reid Simpson, Phil Russell, Tim Stapleton and Troy Murray were among the celebrity athletes in attendance.
The fun-filled day concluded with dinner and an award presentation at the Green Town Tavern in Waukegan, IL. Great food, and even better company.
The St. Croix rod and reel combos given out where a big hit with the kids- they couldn’t believe it was all theirs! The service members were all thrilled to make the event and be able to share this incredible experience with their kids!
Calgary
Our first ever UHL Outdoors event in Canada took place on May 18th! UHL Outdoors was excited to get to Canada and see what . Unfortunately, it was a tough day due to wind and rain, however, participants managed to land three trophy brown trout in the 22” range- pretty impressive! With help from professional fishing guides and celebrity athlete appearances, all participants said that they would love to participate in another UHL Outdoors event! Lunch was provided by Spolumbos and dinner by The Canadian Brewhouse paid for by WestJet!
Big thank you to our title sponsor Rogers Communications and other sponsors ATB, WestJet, Scamp and the Calgary Flames alumni.
Washington DC
It was a very memorable Saturday for 10 military Service Members and their child! Great weather, company and lots of largemouth bass were caught. Huge thank you to CACI for title sponsoring this event. We would also like to thank IT Cadre for being a team sponsor. Two employees from IT Cadre, Dave Antos and Will Montgomery (NFL Alumni) wrote an awesome recap of the day and we wanted to share that here-great read below!
Palestine, Texas
Our first ever UHL Outdoors fishing event was a huge success! A group of Service Members with their child came out to The Inn at BK Ranch in Palestine, Texas for a day of good fishing, great food and even better company. Our celebrity guests included: Bob Bassen, Brad Lukowich. and Gerald Diduck all of which played in the NHL for the Dallas Stars at one point in their careers. The weather looked a little threatening heading into the week, but it held out for an overcast day with a slight breeze-perfect for fishing. This has been a highly anticipated event for everyone involved…
“We can’t wait to get not only this event going but kick off UHL Outdoors in general. We have a lot of exciting things planned here today and can’t wait to see how much fun everyone will have!” Steve Payne, Director of UHL Outdoors states.
Each Military Service Member and child was put on a fishing team that consisted of a celebrity athlete, fishing pro and sponsor. They started their day of fishing at around 10 AM to get the day going with one question in mind- who can catch the most fish. With a place as beautiful as this ranch and professional fishing guides to help, it was sure to be a successful day of fishing.
Everyone put the fishing poles down for a bit to enjoy a lunch that wouldn’t be soon forgotten. A local VFW provided a BBQ lunch that everyone absolutely raved about! They hit the water again for a few more hours to add to their total catch count.
The military father-son duo that won the competition was Ricky and Ricky from San Antonio, Texas! They caught 9 largemouth bass in the 2-5 pound range and had lots of fun while doing so! In total, there were over 50 largemouth bass caught!
The day finished off with Wagyu beef hamburgers from cattle that were actually raised on the BK ranch. Dinner conversation was discussion of who caught the biggest fish along with friendly bickering between branches of service. It was a great event that brought military stories and heroism together with sports while enjoying all the great outdoors has to offer!
Thank you for all who came out to help us make this first UHL Outdoors event a successful one!
Next up… Washington DC!