ON OUTDOORS SPORTS: Battle scars from fishing
By JAMES NOKES
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sports@daily-chronicle.com
Sean Ostruszka has a collection of scars on his hands.
Ever since middle school Ostruszka has spent his free time tying fishing lures.
“Most kids would get home from school and watch TV,” Ostruszka said. “I would make lures and fill up the coffee table in the living room with them.”
The habit hasn’t stopped and at any given time there are cuts, scratches or dings on his hands.
“My mom, and later my wife, always would say to me, ‘why are you fiddlin’ around with those things?’ ” Ostruszka said.
Ostruszka, a former sports editor at the Northern Star, ventured into the corporate world after graduation and briefly worked in marketing. But his true passions were journalism and the outdoors.
When he found the perfect job, it landed him in Kentucky to work at an outdoors magazine. He moved south and became an associate editor, writer and photographer.
He still ties lures and is in the process of starting his own company, the appropriately named, Fiddler Lures.
“Every lure does something different,” Ostruszka said. “Anglers look for something different in each lure.”
Because he’s covered professional fishing tournaments, Ostruszka has introduced his lures to tour fishermen. The feedback has been positive and he’s taken the professionals’ advice on how to make his lures better.
He traveled the country fishing this summer, sometimes for business and sometimes for pleasure. He’s caught and released some amazing fish, but enjoys the challenge of catching muskie the most.
“When I caught the 4-foot muskie, the boat owner forgot the big net,” Ostruszka said. “I was with my dad and he kept asking if I wanted to bring it in the boat. I couldn’t answer because the fish’s tail kept slapping me in the mouth. Eventually we did reel it in; a 30-pound fish that was freaking out on the side of the boat for a few seconds.”
For more information on Fiddler Lures, contact Ostruszka at fiddlerlures@hotmail.com.
NIU TriDogs: Running barefoot for 12 miles on a road was the perfect way to spend Saturday for John Atchison.
The NIU TriDogs Triathlon team went to the Iowa TriHawks Triathlon on Saturday and the former president had an interesting finish. Atchison suffered a blow out to his rear bicycle tire in the third mile. Because his bike shoes have cleats on the front, he took them off, pushed the bike and ran by its side.
Because it was a sprint distance, Atchison decided to continue rather than quit. Atchison is working as a teacher in St. Charles right now, and carrying on simply fit part of his teaching philosophy.
“It was the worst race of my life, time wise,” Atchison said. “But I’ve never been more pumped up about finishing. People told me I was an inspiration when I crossed the finish line even though I finished fourth from last.
“Even the announcer, who was giving out the medals at the time, stopped to call out my name and tell my story to the crowd gathered around the place winners.”
It is with an abundance of pride that Atchison has handed over the reigns of the TriDogs to Jayme Christ. As the new captain and club president, Christ traveled to Iowa with five tri-athletes.
Gone are the pre-race jitters they felt as first timers. Instead, Christ said there is a fun, nervous anticipation for the race to start.
“The beginning of the race is the most exciting,” Christ said. “There is so much energy that gets you pumped up for the race to start.”
The TriDogs also have made considerable improvements. Their top finisher was Evan Bordewick, and Christ finished 204th out of 500.
The Iowa course presented a unique challenge the TriDogs aren’t used to handling in their DeKalb training.
“It was a great course,” Christ said. “In the end, we were all talking about how crazy the hills were in Iowa. It felt like there were 50-pound bricks on your shoes as you ran up the hills.”
Christ said the TriDogs will head to the NCAA Triathlon, which is in Alabama this spring, for the second straight year.
• James Nokes writes a weekly outdoors column for the the Daily Chronicle. Write him at
sports@daily-chronicle.com
