Fred Trost R.I.P.

[Walleye Express]

Fred Trost died this afternoon. http://www.joesportsman.com/ He was Mort Neffs camera man years ago when Michigan Outdoors was a part of every Michiganders Thursday night entertaiment. After Morts retirment, Fred took over the show (and some say) eventually ran it into the ground. I personally met, worked with and was featured on 2 episodes of his show in the early years, before he brought polotics into some and then most of his segments. There were indeed some things I liked about Fred and some I did not. But this legacy could be said about many men and he did stick to his guns in virtually all his business decisions. And that I can respect in any man rather friend or foe and God rest his soul. Here's a picture I took of Fred after our first fishing show we did. He's holding his very first Saginaw River ice walleye he caught on a Bay-De-Noc sweedish pimple.

[Priority1]

R.I.P. Fred.

Here's a little more.

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Fred Trost, who hosted the popular "Michigan Outdoors" hunting and fishing television show, has died. He was 61.

Trost died Wednesday of a rare lung condition after spending several weeks in the hospital, his son, Zachary Trost of East Lansing, told The Associated Press on Thursday.

"Michigan Outdoors" was broadcast on public television across the state, until a $4 million judgment against him for an investigative series he did on deer scent lures led to his departure in 1992. He later began broadcasting another show, "Practical Sportsman," also on public television.

"I've had people come up to me over the past few weeks and say, `I learned fishing from your father,' `I learned how to skin a fish from your father,' `Your father made me passionate about the outdoors,'" Zachary Trost told the Lansing State Journal.

Friends remember Fred Trost as a giant of the outdoors.

"He was a big deal," said Tony Hansen, editor of Michigan Out-of-Doors magazine. "He was the first outdoor media star. Kind of a larger-than-life personality."

In the late 1990s, while still working on the show, Fred Trost enrolled in Cooley Law School, graduating cum laude, his son said. Trost stopped production of "Practical Sportsman" in 2005.

Zachary Trost said the family expected to meet Thursday to plan a memorial service for his father.

"He did not want a funeral. He doesn't want people to grieve for his death. He wants people to enjoy our limited time here and the outdoors," he said.