I got some bad news this past weekend. My dear friend Bill McGuire passed away at age 89. Bill had led an incredibly full life. He was a champion skier, tennis player, fly and spin casting record holder and a master craftsman of shotgun stocks. He fished all over the world with the leading writers of the time, industry leaders and even royalty. Bill was the only person to win all five categories in a casting competition that included wet and dry fly distance and accuracy with a single handed rod and spey. He also holds national and international records for distance with a spinning rod. Even though he was at the pinnacle of success in the fishing world he was even better known for his skill at crafting gun stocks. There were over 200 articles written about in leading shooting publications. He made stocks for Olympic champions to the rich and famous. I used to spend hours at this shop in Rock Island, listening to his stories about fishing many off seasons with Ted Williams and others whose names everyone who knows fishing would recognize. You can get more details about his life by reading my column this week in the NCW Nickel newspapers. You can also get a glimpse of him in a video my wife produced of him and me at this shop in Rock Island. It is among the Fishing TV videos on my web site. It was posted on October, 26th, 2012. He had many friends and will be sorely missed.