This Friday Finale historic photo shows a young – around 24 years-old – Al Lindner with the trophy and check he received for winning the 1968 National Fishing Tournament held in Stone Lake, WI. Just a couple years removed from Lindner’s tour of duty in Vietnam, the caption indicates that Lindner and his family, including brother Ron, moved to Minnesota on the 1st of May that same year. Lindner quickly made a name for himself as a successful guide and fishing educator, and was just five or six years away from creating arguably the most important fishing seriel publication in history, with In-Fisherman in 1974.
The entire original caption reads,
“AL LINDNER, Gull lake tackle manufacturer, is shown with the trophies he earned Sept. 26-28 in winning the National Fishing Tournament at Stone Lake, Wis. Minnesota’s only representative in the tourney, Lindner earned $1,650 in the three-day derby while claiming trophies for largest fish and best three-man team. The tourney point system allowed one point per ounce for northerns and three for bass and walleyes with only artificial bait being used. Since moving here from Chicago with his brother Ron and family May 1, Lindner has been guiding numerous parties out of Nisswa Bait Shop to impressive walleye, northern and bass catches in lakes of the Gull Lake chain. The brothers say locating fish is 60 percent of the battle and using the right bait accounts for the remaining 40 percent.”
From the Brained Dispatch, Oct. 8, 1968.
