I just found out today that he had passed away in January. I wanted to share a story about this great man. MAny knew him as a legendary guide at Lake Fork. I knew him as a guy on the bank in one of the coves that decided to talk to me one day.

I grew up in Carrollton Texas and my dad took me to Lake Fork for the first time in 1991. We spent the day with Cal Wheeler and I was in love with Fork. From 1996-2009, I brought a group of ten to twelve police officers and Army soldiers to Lake Fork every March for a week of fishing and fellowship. Every year it was my job to find the prevailing pattern for the group so everyone could catch fish and have fun. On one of the trips I was really struggling. It was super windy and the water temps were in the low 50s. I got frustrated with the wind and went to hide in a cove. While fishing in that cut, I Noticed a man walking along the bank picking up trash. As I passed near him I said hello and he said to me, �What are you doing back in this cut?� I told him I was hiding from the wind. Without hesitation he said to me, �Son you need to get out there in the wind and throw a rig on the main lake points. The windier the better.� He went on To say if you don�t get bit in 15 minutes then move to the next point, but come back and fish the point later. He then said that if you catch a small fish move one point north or south and you will find bigger ones. I thanked him for the insight, not knowing who he was. I took his advice and headed back out to fight the wind. I was not excited about it, but did it anyway.

On the first point I stopped on, I caught back To back 8 pounders. The rest is history. The whole group had a great trip due to Mr. Stroman�s advice. I learned later in the week who he was when I saw his picture on a wall at a local tackle store. I have shared the story with many people over the years and have sent numerous people to Lake Fork to use Mr. Stroman as their guide for the day. I asked each one of them to share the story with him and thank him for me. I always intended to seek him out and thank him personally and now I will never get the chance.

Life is too short people. Take every chance you get to appreciate the people in your life. Call someone you owe an apology or a thank you today, for tomorrow Is promised to no one.

Thank you Mr. Stroman! I am sorry I didn�t get to say it in person. RIP sir! May God Bless your family.

Awesome Story!
Thank You Sir for sharing!

Dean was a character for sure.

Very nice story.
Thanks for sharing

RIP Thanks for sharing. Great read.

Dean could truly laugh at himself. That's a rare quality.

Will always remember him,I always use to asked him where are they bitting Dean??? His answer � out there in the water� what a guy he used to be, had many laughs with him. Loved to hear his Monster fishing stories....