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The following article was first published in Canada's Extreme BASS Angler annual 2005. I have posted it here as a reminder to all how fragile life can be. Stay safe while out on the water this season. Be sure to have all safety equipment with you on board at all times. And please wear your life jacket...  If you’ve ever had the pleasure of holding a conversation with Mike Seburn, you know the man has the gift of gab.  Ask for his two cents and you’ll be sure to get a whole hundred dollars worth. Especially when it comes to Bass fishing. Mike’s first experiences with tournament angling started at a very young age, traveling with his family through out the spring and summer to various Pike, Walleye and Bass tournaments in Ontario. Mike of course, at this time, was too young to actually compete in the competitions but that didn’t stop him from running around the shoreline through out the day having his own tournament of sorts with the other angler’s in the event. Fast forward to the year 1997. With school out of the way and a good job Mike was finally able to take his love of tournament angling to the next level and started fishing tournaments with various partners. Only tournaments now weren’t like the ones he’d remembered growing up, where it wasn’t uncommon to see fields of 150 to 200 boats. Now fields seemed to be shrinking every year with a growing presence of the professional fiberglass fishing boats commonly seen at US events. The sport had started to commercialize. Only by going commercial not only was the sport losing its local participation, but a good part of the camaraderie and sportsmanship was going along with it. So much in fact that Mike started to see long time competitors of the sport parking their boats as well. Retiring from the sport. Mike had an idea for a tournament series that he would run that he termed a series for the anglers. There would be no corporate sponsors for this series, all an angler had to do was show up and fish. The pay out structure was top heavy only paying out to the top five places to reward those anglers for their accomplishment in the event and entry fees were kept to a minimum. Mike let his fingers do the walking through the phone book and contacted many tournament anglers for their input on the series, as well as some of the bigger names in the industry about the live release of the fish. These included Steve Quinn, staff biologist of Infisherman, and a tournament director for B.A.S.S. events.  The Extreme Bass series was born in the fall of 2002 with the first event being named the Nipissing Cup.Extreme Bass was unique in that the first event of every season actually started in the fall of the previous year; any accumulated points from the fall event were carried over into the next year. Extreme was unique as well in that only the top 10 teams of the season would compete in the series championship, a winner take all event with the top prize being a 3 day guided Bass fishing trip to the state of Texas in the spring of the following year. Mike operated Extreme through the 2003 and 2004 season’s, however with only being able to draw about 20 teams in his events and missing being able to compete in different events himself decided to fore go the Extreme series but continue to operate the Nipissing Cup. With the Nipissing Cup, Mike would plan to make the event bigger and better in the years to come. The Extreme series wasn’t Mike’s only baby as he had a bigger fully sponsored series on the planning table as well, which he termed his Elite series for lack of a better name at the time. He was 2 years into the planning stages of this series.  The Elite series would be operated in an invitational pro/am format consisting of 3 events plus a championship event. There would be no entry fees on the part of the anglers as these would be picked up by series sponsors and amateurs would fish for free as well however most spots would be occupied by sponsor’s employees and executives. The catch would be that only the top 50 anglers in Ontario would be invited to fish this series. To qualify, angler’s didn’t have to leave the current series they were already competing in; they just had to perform well in the series they were already fishing as the top anglers from each series would be invited to fish these events. The exposure would be huge to qualifying anglers representing the series sponsors in various media. A win-win situation for angler and corporate sponsor for sure. Sadly this series will never be. On November 10, 2004 Mike Seburn died tragically in a boating accident on Fairy Lake in Huntsville Ontario when the boat he was operating threw all three people in the vessel into the frigid waters. ;void(0)) Mike’s memory is survived by his family and many close friends. Mike had dreams to one day compete in the world class fishing tournaments of the United States. He was well on his way having purchased his first bass boat in the year 2000 and attending Bassmaster University courses regularly, along with meeting some of his most influential American anglers to whom he had looked up to all these years. He was a person who went after everything he wanted and set the bar high for himself in everything he did.Mike’s death should be a grim reminder to us all how fragile and short life can be. About the risks we take and the ultimate price paid not only by the individual, but the family and friends as well. The safety equipment required by law in Ontario to be carried in the boat is only as good as the as the people that choose to use and wear it. I hope this coming season you choose to use and wear yours along with insisting that all of the passengers in your vessel do the same. Your family will thank you for it. Les Culp Jr. Canada's Extreme BASS Angler Annual  Brought to you by the boys at Extreme Angler TV. BIG FISH...BIG EXCITEMENT...BIG DIFFERENCE. Click the pic to view their site and order the mag today! ;void(0)) An interesting topic for discussion and one that seems to keep popping up, (and for good reason) is the level of participation, or lack there of, of our younger generations in outdoor sports. Leaving us with the big question of who will be the guardians of the future in regards to our Natural Resources? Who will be the individuals that make up the countless conservation groups helping out our MNR in the rehabilitation of our rivers, lakes and streams or the individuals who stand for hours on end in frigid waters helping our salmon and trout reach their spawning areas? There is no easy answer to this question, what with the increasing competition of computer video games, a losing battle against drugs and violence in our schools and neighborhoods and a society created by government that requires both parents to work full time just to sustain a decent quality of life and lets not forget the single parents, sometimes forced to work multiple jobs just to make ends meet. ;void(0)) Just about every group or association of anglers and hunters out there have events in place to promote their activities to young people. This is a great start. These events give parents, guardians or other family members, such as uncles or aunts mostly in urban areas the opportunity to bring the young ones out for a day of fun and fishing. Other groups that deserve mention here would be local chapters of scouts or guides. Any of these, if made regular activity, are sure to plant the seed that creates the bond between a person and our natural resources for life. A bond of many benefits, as not only does it grow future conservationists, but also children with the confidence and drive to do well in all aspects of life. While I suppose it isn’t completely necessary, I chose to start my children at a very young age by including them in some of my outdoor activities. Though I doubt my oldest son remembers. I know my wife will never forget a certain excursion in her third trimester involving a trout stream and negotiating a really rocky stream bed. Or a certain very unstable canoe ride in the eighth month of her first pregnancy. But enough of my wife’s crazy husband. ;void(0)) If you are going to include your children in your outdoor activities, you need to be sure that you are willing to perhaps give up some of your precious time, for lack of a better term, to be sure that the youngsters are in fact getting to experience the outing rather than just getting dragged along so you can catch a couple of fish etc. A best case scenario would be to set aside the odd day to just spend time making sure the young person gets the most out of their day outdoors. This often means leaving your fishing gear home for the day and just taking the kids to the town dock and letting them catch sunfish all day or leaving your camera equipment home and buying a couple of disposable cameras for the kids to snap pictures of things they find interesting on your day outdoors together. Keep in mind that there are many activities you can all take part in outdoors where no one will feel left out or dragged along. It is also important to keep in mind, such as in very young children, that youngsters have an attention span about three inches long. By this I mean that it will be required to bring lots of snacks, drinks and even toys along to keep them occupied. Children love to experience new things, but more often than not, they like to experience them in short doses. Understand that a day you plan to take them fishing may only last a half hour. Sometimes less, before the kids may want to do something else for a little while. It is very important to mix up the events of the day to keep them interested because, lets be honest, these are your activities that you would like them to keep enjoying with you. ;void(0)) Along with mixing up the events of the day, you also need to mix up your outdoor activities. You may have noticed in this article that I refer to fishing a lot. I love fishing and am a very avid angler. However I also enjoy a lot of other activities as well. Likewise with children, if all you do is take the kids out to do one activity all the time they are sure to eventually get bored with you and your sport. That said, it can be exciting for you and your children to get out and learn a new outdoor activity together. A good thing to keep in mind as well. Be it fishing, hiking, camping or canoeing to name a few, there is a host of outdoor adventures out there that you and your children can enjoy doing together. A little time, patience (and a couple offspring ) can go along way in not only maintaining a healthy relationship with your children. It will also gain you a buddy in the field for life. Thanks for reading and take care. * | Return Home | Fishing | Area Lakes | The Great Outdoors | Successful Hunts | Gallery | About Us | Contact Info | |
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