Indy Chronicler

One day, some time ago, Jim “Moose” Carden and John Martino were wade fishing in the Eel River and Carden had an idea.

“He looks over and says, ‘What do you think about you and I starting a kids fishing clinic?’” Martino recalled.

That was how it started, 41 years ago.

Carden had helped with a one-day clinic in Indianapolis in 1983 and talked about it with Martino. At the time, Carden was the Tribune’s outdoors writer and Martino had started working for the city of Kokomo. The idea got off the ground quickly. Carden got the Tribune to sponsor the project. Martino got the city of Kokomo to sponsor it as well, and they were off and running.

In 1984 they got the first Kokomo Fishing Clinic rolling with 80 students. A few years later, Carden was diagnosed with cancer and died shortly after in 1990. The clinic kept on rolling, with Martino changing its name to one that endures now, the Jim “Moose” Carden Kids Fishing Clinic.

Saturday it reached its destination. The 40th edition of the clinic held its graduation ceremony at the Kokomo Reservoir and with that, the clinic had run its course. Martino said the 40th is the final one.

“I couldn’t ask to end on a more perfect note,” Martino said of Saturday’s graduation tournament. “Everything went like clockwork. The weather was stunning, and that’s something you have no control over. And in 40 years, believe it or not, we’ve never had to cancel that graduation except for that year of COVID.

“The whole 40 years has been a heck of a ride.”

Over those decades, the clinic served to teach local kids the tools to help them fish, enjoy the experience, and give them an activity for a lifetime, with all the memories that go with it.

“We figured over 40 years, we’ve impacted over 5,000 kids,” Martino said. “The clinic made it to the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame, it was deemed by [Indiana Association of Cities and Towns] the top outdoor-oriented program in the state. We like to think we had made a small positive impact on the community and we felt like after 40 years, it was enough. I can’t ask them to do anything else.”

The logistics of the clinic are an undertaking. Martino said that between kids, parents, instructors and volunteers, the event involves some 750 people a year. To get the instruction, registration and volunteers lined up and coordinated each year takes about six months. Martino is the director, and he’s only a fraction of all that as the clinic has a board of 14 members.

“The board, I’ve watched them age,” Martino said. “The older ones, I’ve watched them postpone surgeries, postpone doctors’ appointments, totally cancel family vacations. The younger ones that have been helping, unbelievable the last 20 years now, they have families. I’ve watched them miss family events and things with their kids.

“In my right mind, it’s just hard for me to continue to ask them to help with the clinic. My board, the clinic runs in their veins. The commitment they’ve made is unbelievable.”

He knows the clinic has made an impact because the children and families it served sometimes make sure he knows how it helped them.

Martino detoured into a couple stories of how the clinic impacted people in ways he couldn’t have ever anticipated. There are dozens of such stories, but he recounted two that sprang to mind. The stories are personal and not necessarily for public review, but in short, both are of people who got great experiences as campers during difficult times in childhood, and different elements stuck with them to keep on helping them long after the clinic ended.

“When it started out in ’84 it was about fishing, it was about teaching kids to fish,” Martino said. “Over the 40 years, it’s evolved into much more. Myself, many of the volunteers, we’ve watched how it has seriously and positively impacted people’s lives.

“Over 750 people are involved in the clinic and I think the kids get to see what good people are all about. They get to see what true volunteer effort is all about. All the volunteers served as role models.”

The students and their families aren’t the only ones enriched.

“Oh my God, there’s nothing better for the soul,” Martino said of what the volunteers get from the experience. “That’s shared by everybody that helps with the clinic — the boat captains, the teachers, the guest speakers, the instructors.”

Martino emphasized that he’s been honored to be a part of it and to work with so many people that made it happen.

“This clinic is only made possible by the community,” Martino said. “They’re the ones that made it possible — businesses, instructors, volunteers, guest speakers, and everybody that’s involved with the clinic. They’re never asked [by us], people have come to us and said ‘I want to sponsor,’ or ‘I want to contribute,’ or ‘I want to help, what can I teach?’ It’s a true testament of wonderful community.”