Meystedt knows how to get a fish out of water

Fred Meystedt owns nearly 50 fishing poles, but he gets along just fine using only one.

"I gotta have a lot of poles," he joked, "just like my wife's gotta have a lot of clothes."

Meystedt's simple fishing style has helped the 67-year-old have an enjoyable and successful career as a fisherman.

In March, the Cape Girardeau resident and his son, David, finished 28th of 115 teams at a competition at Reelfoot Lake in Tennessee.

In tournament fishing, each team has an opportunity to practice in the lake for a week prior to the contest. During competition, the fishermen are in the water all morning and much of the afternoon. The teams choose their heaviest 10 live fish, and the winner is decided by the overall weight. The two will now participate in the national Crappie Masters tournament in October.

Meystedt, who rarely competes, said he hopes the national event in Mississippi will bring him plenty of fish, which in turn means plenty of cash.

"We just started doing competitions," he said, "because it's expensive to do. But we'll probably enter more now. There's more money now, unlike it used to be."

Meystedt and his friends enjoy fishing three to four times a week. Their fishing holes include Reelfoot, spots along the Mississippi River, and a couple lakes in Illinois.

"I always got somebody with me," Meystedt said. "I go with some my old friends and some guys I went to school with. We enjoy ourselves."

The group of men angles year-round, whether it's a beautiful spring day or chilling winter morning. When not in the boat, Meystedt makes crappie and bluegill lures for his business, Lil' Herman. He invented the gigs a decade ago and began selling them within the last three years with the help of his granddaughters, Sara and Emily Meystedt.

"It's a special type of lure," he said. "Since I fish all the all time, we'd go out and test them; if they worked, we'd make some for friends. Now we spend an hour here and an hour there just making lures."

Meystedt began fishing at the age of 4 with his father. Sixty-three years later, he provides a significant source of food for his family and friends. He delights in offering his catch to others.

"One thing we do is about once a month I go with some old men to a pond and catch fish and have a big fish fry," he said, "and we also have family fish fries."

But fishing is more than money and food for Meystedt. The sport allows him to relax with his buddies and take in the scenery.

"I'm an outdoor person, and fishing is something that just stuck with me," he said. "I enjoy getting out and making friends. It's a relaxing activity. If you don't believe there's a God, go out in the morning and see that sun come up. All the animals and birds and being with your friends ... it's a great sport."

Mark Unterreiner is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian and a student at Notre Dame Regional High School. His Spotlight article appears every Thursday.