Rapala Joins Jocumsen’s Growing Grassroots Cleanup Efforts
Veteran bass pro Carl Jocumsen has shown that ordinary people can surmount extraordinary obstacles with a little grit and determination. His path to become the first Australian Elite Series pro demonstrates that he’s able to walk the walk, and onto his growing success he’s managed to piggyback a new title as valuable as any blue trophy – Bassmaster lake cleanup king.
On June 29th, Jocumsen will lead a worldwide Fear My Heart Lake Cleanup (SIGN UP HERE) – an effort that already extends over numerous waterways in at least five countries, and Rapala aims to support this noble and necessary cause.
“It’s not hard to see that when Carl is passionate about something, whether it’s his family, catching fish, or cleaning up lakes, he doesn’t take no for an answer,” said Rapala’s Director of R&D and Field Promotions Dan Quinn. “We’re fired up to team up with him on this because it benefits everyone. We’re all-in and excited to incentivize as many people as possible to help clean up the waters around them, all around the world.”
As part of that support, Rapala® will award random participating volunteers with items including a signed giant lure, a $100 VMC® gift pack, a $100 Rapala® hard bait pack, a $100 CrushCity™ package, and a grand prize of varied products valued at over $500.
Jocumsen is Amazed at How Far This Has Progressed
For Jocumsen, this project has snowballed from a simple sudden effort he and his wife Kayla took on in 2020 to a project of global magnitude. He always had it in him, but it took a firsthand effort to see how to become a Pied Piper of lake cleanup.
“My dad and my family always called me ‘Ranger,’” he said. “Even when I was 3 or 4 years old, if I saw rubbish around the car I’d pick it up. But our lakes aren’t as heavily pressured in Australia, so I’d never seen trash around them. Then I came here to the States and it shocked me. I picked up a piece here and there, but the true turning point came at Lake Guntersville in 2020.”
He'd earned his first Elite Series top ten there in 2015, fishing around the Spring Creek Bridge. He was there again for an Elite five years later and was struggling to make it into the Day Three cut while fishing that same area. As he went up and down the bridge, he noticed all of the trash around I, and vowed that if he made the cut to the third day, he’d repay the bridge’s kindness over the years by starting to clean it up. Then he caught a 6 ½ pounder that vaulted him up. He ultimately finished 15th, which gave him Day Four off.
“That Sunday, me and Kayla and (our dog) Roo, we walked down there with one bag each and just started picking stuff up,” he recalled. “I was so overwhelmed, I just got emotional. We were filling bags up and carting them back to the F450. We cleaned off one side, and on the other side there were three guys fishing. They asked what we were doing and then all three helped. We cleaned up that side, too. The bridge looked great. We’d filled 12 giant bags in three hours.”
He didn’t do it for recognition or plaudits, but he did post the results on social media to inspire others.
“It was one of our most viral efforts ever,” Jocumsen said. “We got thousands of comments, some of them from people telling us we should have told them about it in advance. It was just so rewarding to see how people reacted.”
Spawn of a New Era
With nothing more than a basic template for action and a lot of elbow grease, Jocumsen channeled those messages into small campground and boat ramp cleanups at approximately 10 subsequent Bassmaster tournaments. Then, with the support of BASS, he folded them into his Fear My Heart initiatives. Prior to his first Bassmaster Classic – he’s now competed in three consecutively – Jocumsen led a cleanup of a portion of the Tennessee River in Knoxville.
“It was about 40 people,” he said proudly. “We got about 12,000 pounds of trash in three hours.”
The next year, they organized one in Soddy Daisy, Tennessee, on Lake Chickamauga, near his adopted home. He planned it with high hopes, which were dashed when he woke up to pouring rain and lightning striking everywhere. He was discouraged, until Kayla’s mom told him that if he was going to live up to his “Fear My Heart” mantra he couldn’t let a little bit of adversity set him back.
Just then, amidst the torrential rains, cars started to drive up.
“It still gives me goosebumps,” he said. “We had 75 people come out in the rain, which eventually cleared up, and we collected 15,000 pounds of trash.”
His fellow pros were a big part of the success: “As we kicked it off, here comes G-Man Gerald Swindle and Lulu driving up in their Tundra. Some of the other Elite Series and MLF guys showed up, too. They were a big part of the motivation.”
Another Big Stepping Stone
After the Chickamauga success, Jocumsen was further encouraged by the feedback on social media, as well as his own sense of accomplishment. What started as an impromptu effort of two people and one dog had grown much bigger. He realized that not everyone could come to a Bassmaster tournament, or to the lake he was fishing that week, but everyone could experience the thrill of making a difference.
“With this worldwide cleanup on June 29th, we enable anyone to contribute, no matter where their home lake is,” he said. “Anyone who picks up a single bag of trash, that’s a win. We already have people from the US, Canada, Japan, Australia and South Africa participating. We set a goal of 100 lakes in one day. It’s lofty, but we think we can accomplish that.”
He noted that every one of his sponsors stepped up to the plate to find a way to incentivize participation with no hesitation whatsoever. In addition to Rapala’s generous contributions, Hobie is providing a new SUP and eyewear. The company is even holding their own event at Lake Jordan near their headquarters. Likewise, Yeti donated 100 custom-engraved water bottles. The Serious Angler Podcast will be broadcasting live that day from Jocumsen’s hosted cleanup. The Aussie pro appreciates the support and hopes that it leads people to do the right thing, but most of all the soon-to-be father of two wants to set a good example.
“Having children makes it even more important and special than ever,” he said. “The biggest thing is not cleaning up the trash, it’s educating kids on how to make a difference. We got the coolest message from a kid who’s been helping who said he realized that no matter how big or small you are, your actions will always have an effect.”
