A MESSAGE FROM CHRISTINE:
Being a native of Minnesota, the “Land of 10,000 Lakes”, it is only natural that all of my family enjoys
fishing – the lovely Sunfish, Crappie, Bass, and of course, the delicious-tasting Walleye. My immediate family moved to Illinois, and I ended up in Southern Illinois, where I met my husband,
Bill, who had grown up fishing as well. The fishes of choice in Southern Illi
nois are Bass, Bluegill, Crappie
and Catfish. Kinkaid Lake, one of our favorites, has also had Muskies and Small Mouth Bass introduced
into it, and they are doing well. We are so fortunate to live in the beautiful Shawnee National Forest
area, where fishing and hunting abound. Bill and I have always fished together, and about 20 years ago he began to concentrate primarily on
the Bass. I would go out to our garage and ask -( not that I minded)- “Why do you need ALL of those
rods and reels?!” Bill would then reply, “Well, this one is for crank baits, this one is for a Carolina rig…”
on and on the list would go! One summer day in 2003, Bill said, “Come on, I’m going to teach you how to worm fish”. (Oh my
gosh – that had always looked SO boring to me!) But off we went to Lake Kinkaid, where Bill showed
me how to cast out a plastic worm , then retrieve it; he explained the feel of weeds catching on it as
compared to how a bite would feel. After quite a few futile casts, I felt the”bump- bump” of a bite, set
the hook, and came up with a pretty 2-3 pound bass! So, now the rods, reels,
lures and plastic have quadrupled - it’s wonderfully ridiculous - and we bass fish together all year ‘round. In the fall of 2011, Bill went out to our big fishing closet in the garage; upon opening the door and
surveying all the fishing paraphernalia, he thought to himself “Oh my gosh, I might be a hoarder!”. This
thought stayed with him, and in the spring of 2012 he took his idea to Silkworm Printing. At Silkworm,
he spoke with Mike, a salesman who had also done graphic designing for them. Bill discussed his idea of
a shirt design for fishermen, and Mike thought it was a unique idea. With Mike’s assistance, and Tony,
our graphic designer, the fish design was created and thus – Hoarder Sports,Inc! Our fish design shirts were printed in July 2012; we then thought about all the different types of
hunting opportunities in our region and all the things that hunters would “hoard” for their prey. By
September, we had also created the designs for deer, waterfowl and turkey hunters, as well as our gun
design. We hope you enjoy wearing your purchases as much as we enjoyed designing them. Look for other
creations in the future! HOARDER SPORTS, INC
