MINNEAPOLIS _ Three 12-year-old boys who were fishing recently on the Crow River dropped their gear for 10 minutes to catch frogs upstream. Before they returned, thieves ran off with their most expensive crankbaits and a trove of other lures.
For Jake Gundry, Josh Cocking and Andy Schneider, fishing had become as important as summer baseball. By night they were baseball teammates on the St. Michael-Albertville Knights 12AA traveling team. By day they were fishing buddies who biked together to area ponds and to their favorite spot on the river next to St. Michael's Lower Recreation Center Park.
To them, getting ripped off at "Lower Rec" was sad and confusing. On the road to that night's baseball game, Andy was visibly upset in front of his father, Peter.
"He said, 'Dad, how could somebody do this?'?" the elder Schneider recalled.
As the hard-knock story sailed through the community, professional fishing guide Matt Quick reached out to help. He was touched by a Facebook grievance posted on the local community bulletin board by Jake's mother, Megan Gundry.
"They left their tackle for 10 minutes to chase some frogs and came back to find tons of their stuff stolen," she wrote. "So, if you see your kids with 'new' fishing tackle, tell them congrats _ they took it from kids who worked hard to buy it all with their own money."
