As has been tradition the last several years, I thought it would be appropriate to leave a giant shoutout to the following people/places/things.
Shoutout Moose439 for being the real MVP, OG and for your endless knowledge, intel, inspiration, friendship and support during this contest, and for being around the first week. Much love. Shoutout Fishaholicsanonymous89 for your help and company, TAKE THAT YELLOW BASS HE HE HE!! Shoutout Mathew Williams for being a twiztid cyclepath and for all your intel, assistance and guidance, and for being a f-ing HOMIE! Shoutout Corey and Andy for running this amazing website and contest. Shoutout JKnuth, Elijah Lee and Zach Alley for your ID assistance. Shoutout Maxfield for being an awesome friend and angler and for cleaning house at second place. Shoutout LowVision, great run, man. Shoutout BlueEye for returning to the contest board and for the good chats. Shoutout Hengelaar for all the great talks over the month as well. Shoutout Roughfish29, Jknuth and Eric Kol for other intel. Shoutout Taylor for the phone calls and company, and great humor while I’m driving. Shoutout my boss for letting me take the month off. Shoutout Ulcerate, Kendrick Lamar, Kodak Black, Inanna, Ramones, Bölzer, Furia, The Byrds, for the driving music. Shoutout to the Yellow Bullhead that drove a spine deep into my middle finger in Florida before breaking it off and leaving it inside. Shoutout Florida healthcare system for not accepting my insurance so I have to pay it all out of pocket. For real thank you and shoutout to the two doctors that did remove the Yellow Bullhead spine, you guys rule. Shoutout to my 2010 Subaru Outback 3.6R for doing its job for over 9,000 miles and for being reasonably roomy so I could sleep in it. Shoutout JP for always taking great care of my Subaru and being an awesome mechanic and friend! Shoutout AAA for actually helping me this time when my tire exploded. Shoutout to Extended Stay America Miami location for locking me out of my hotel and not picking up your phone and not letting me into the building. Shoutout Motel 6 for always being affordable. Shoutout Chicagoland for always ruling and being awesome when I visited on the way home. Shoutout to IC 1039, the last Illinois Central SD70, for actually letting me finally photograph it. Shoutout Des Plaines for the delicious Bulgarian Food. Shoutout to the Southeast US for not flooding and being destroyed by hurricanes. Shoutout to all the Lifers that made their appearances this year. Shoutout Roy and the Mankato Press. Shoutout to my inflatable mattress and tent.
CHEERS
I can't imagine all of the stories of June 2024 that you now have to tell. Congrats man!
Whaaat? Oh yeah fella. You are rough at your core. And congrats to all of you top ten finishers. Great job.
Congrats on an impressive list of species you pulled off in a month. That must have been an incredible journey! I hope you were able to keep the crawlers from cooking in the car. Nice Job!