KENTUCKY LAKE, Ky., - With the sun beating down in 90-degree summer heat, the lake was Sgt. Adam Lock’s home away from home as he casted into Kentucky Lake in hopes of a bite and spoke what could sound like a foreign language to some.
“I’m throwing an Omega custom tackle football jig with a green pumpkin Berkley chigger craw trailer,” he said.
Catching bass right and left is not something new for him. The 29-year-old is the only National Guardsman on the Forrest L. Wood (FLW) Fishing Tour, which is sponsored by the National Guard.
What started as a hobby became Lock’s passion growing up in Altamont, Ill., a small town of 2,400 people. He said he got his start fishing with the help of his mother when he was 3 years old in the pond that was in their backyard.
“He was a little outdoors boy,” said his mother, Kathy Corder of Altamont. “He would catch a lot of fish, and I would have to take them off the hook for him.”
Then four years ago fishing became part of his career when he stepped away from teaching and coaching high school basketball to become a full-time recruiter with the Illinois Army National Guard and a co-angler on the FLW Fishing Tour.
Lock, who now lives in Metropolis, Ill., said he enjoyed teaching and coaching, but he needed something more.
“There was something missing and that was bass fishing,” he said.
At the time, he said the FLW Fishing Tour was looking for someone who could not only fish, but ho could also talk about the National Guard as one of the tour’s sponsors.
Lock took the bait.
His first tournament with the tour was in Lake Travis, Austin, Texas in 2007. Lock finished in the top 10, which meant a helicopter followed him on the lake tracking his progress. When he interviewed by the television network covering the tournament, he said he realized it was the real deal.
“It felt like I had hung the moon,” he said. “If you’re winning you’re on top of the world.”
Lock’s mother has also been excited about his spot on the FLW Fishing Tour, especially when she saw him on television for his first tournament.
“It was then when I think I really understood (fishing) was something bigger than I thought it was. He has a passion for it,” she said. “We’re a small community so I called everyone to tell them he was in the finals.”
Corder said she is also proud of what Lock has given back within the fishing community, particularly in Altamont.
For example, she said he returned to his hometown this past Easter and took a local 11-year-old boy out fishing for nearly five hours.
Corder said the boy’s eyes lit up when Lock showed up with a full tackle box for the boy to keep.
Along with younger children, Lock has the unique opportunity as a recruiter to talk with potential recruits at fishing tournaments and with Illinois high school fishing teams. Recently Illinois became the first state in the country to officially adopt fishing as a sanctioned high school sport.
“I (am) jealous in a sense that I wish I could have done that, but I’m excited they have the opportunity,” Lock said. “It’s good to work with the kids and talk to them about the National Guard. I really believe in what (the National Guard) has to offer.”
From high school fishing, Lock said that unveils the opportunity for potential recruits to go on to college fishing, which is also sponsored by the National Guard.
Overall, Lock said he enjoys the opportunity he has to combine his love for fishing with his career in the Illinois Army National Guard.
“If I can intertwine my job with fishing, it’s a win, win,” Lock said. “I’m going to keep doing this as long it stays afloat.”