University of Minnesota Athletics
Ski-U-Mah Life: Baseball and Fishing
4/19/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Ski-U-Mah Life is a feature series from GopherSports.com that highlights some of the more than 700 Minnesota student-athletes outside of their athletic accomplishments. This week, the three Gopher freshmen who traded their baseball gloves for fishing poles on the road are featured.
Ski-U-Mah Life
ArchiveBaseball is a sport with plenty of down time.
Rain delays, batting practices and long road trips are among the many occasions when a college player finds himself looking to occupy the time between at-bats or appearances on the mound.
Besides, college student-athletes are busy enough, whether with their academic, athletic and social responsibilities. Sometimes, they just need a place to get away. Even if it comes during a road trip.
For three Gopher freshmen, that escape came on the banks of Florida's Gulf Coast during one of their first getaways with the team.
Patrick Fredrickson, Max Meyer and Sam Thoresen are all pitchers, and they all share a passion for fishing.
"I've done it pretty much my whole life," said Fredrickson, who hails from Gig Harbor, Wash. "Where I'm from, it's a culture, it's a lifestyle. It's something you do when there's nothing else to do. You go out fishing on Puget Sound with all your friends. I'm a huge fisherman. it's a lot of fun."
"I just think that fishing is relaxing," Meyer, a Woodbury, Minn. native, explained. "Let's just hang out and not talk about baseball or anything but just hang out with the guys."
The Gophers traveled to Port Charlotte, Fla., in late February for a three-game tournament. During their down time, the trio came up with an idea.
"We were in Florida and there was a tackle and bait shop nearby and we wanted to throw a line in the water," said Fredrickson. "So, we just went over and bought a couple poles and went fishing for a while."
"All of us really enjoy fishing, enjoy being around each other," said Thoresen, another local product from Minnetonka, Minn. "So, that was definitely something that we wanted to go do together... I think Max was the only one who caught anything. He caught a little minnow."
"Honestly, we went out there whenever we could," Meyer added. "We woke up early one day to go out, and then after the game, we'd come back and go out after that. We were always doing something, and if we didn't know what to do then we'd just go fish."
One story stood out from their first fishing excursion. And like any great fish tale, there's plenty of room for embellishment.
"I had just gotten my rod. We went right to this dock and I threw it into the mangroves. I was trying to get it right in the mangroves," Fredrickson explained. "It had to have been a 30-pound, 40-pound tarpon, and it just bit. I had it hooked and it just got me tangled up in the mangroves. My line just snapped off. I was really frustrated but I had it on there, fighting like crazy."
"A tarpon? Is that what he said it was?" Meyer asked.
"He thought he had a tarpon," said Thoresen. "He didn't have a tarpon, just something small, probably a little minnow. He thought it was pretty big, made a big deal - it just wasn't a big deal."
"Yeah, they were just kind of laughing at me," Fredrickson admitted. "But, it would've been cool if I would've brought that fish on land."
Meyer went on to playfully challenge his teammate's fishing skills.
"Patrick actually holds the pole the wrong way," Meyer said. "He says that's how he was raised, to hold the pole the wrong way. Clearly, that hasn't worked out for him. He hasn't gotten a bite, except for his tarpon story, I guess."
The chance to go out fishing with teammates was not one they could have necessarily seen coming.
"No shot," Thoresen answered when asked if he thought he'd have the time on the road. "I definitely thought that we would be stuck in a hotel room, doing homework 24/7. But, we had that small amount of free time to go and fish and that was a lot of fun for us."
Reaction varied from the Gophers, but most were supportive of the trio's endeavors.
"We asked if some other guys wanted to go, but it was primarily just us," Fredrickson said. "I know they came down and watched us a little bit in Florida."
"We got a few raised eyebrows," said Thoresen. "I think everyone was like, `whatever, they can do what they want to do. Let them be who they wanna be.'"
The fishing didn't stop in the Sunshine State though. Their newly acquired equipment even made its way back to the baggage claim at the airport in Minnesota.
"We made sure to get the two-piece rods so we could pack them up in the luggage for the next trip," Meyer noted.
Fredrickson wasn't as lucky, however.
"I actually had to leave my rod [in Florida]," he said. "There was no room, so unfortunately, I wasn't able to bring it back. But, it was a cheap rod anyway, and it was just about the experience."
They kept the young tradition going during a later trip to Fort Worth, Texas over spring break, creating more memories, even if they didn't catch exactly what they expected that day.
"Patrick says he hooked something and he's reeling it in - this is at a little pond we found in Texas," Meyer explained. "And it actually is a bag of dog poop that's connected to his hook. He doesn't notice right away, then it snaps off and flies all over his shoes. It was probably the funniest thing I've ever seen in my entire life."
They hope for better luck in the future, but even more importantly, to be able to keep up their fishing trips and add to their stories.
"You'd maybe catch a one-pound bass or something, take a snapchat and put it on your story saying it's an eighteen-pounder," Meyer said. "There's a lot of that, but it's all fun. It's just a blast to get out there."
"Definitely," Thoresen answered when asked about future trips. "If there's a lake or a river nearby - I bring my rod everywhere."
Dan Reisig is an associate director of athletic communications at the University of Minnesota, and a contributing writer to GopherSports.com and Ski-U-Mah Magazine.
