| Sponsors: Pending
Primary Co-Angler: Pending
Years fishing tournaments: 25
Career Highlights:
- 8 Bass Jons Wins
- 1946 Bass Jons - Angler of the Year
- 1955 Bass Jons Classic Winner
- Author of "How NOT to fish the Suffolk Lakes" Bass Jons website
Tournament Clubs/Trails Fished:
- 1958 - Present: Bass Jons Club
-
1990 - 1996: Small Times
-
1988 - Present: Single Mans
- 1999 - 2000:
Bill's Marine Team Events
- 2000 - 2001: Bobby
Kinsey Team Events
- 2004 - Present: Boot'Legg
Team Trail Events
Personal Record Catches:
Largest 1-Day Tournament Stringer: 5 Fish -
12lbs 8oz January 2000 - Bass Jons / Lake Prince
Biggest Bass - 20lbs 10oz
Tournament Preparation:
Pre-fishing, prepare equipment and get plenty of sleep
When did you get starting fishing tournaments...
I started fishing in
smaller jackpot tournaments. Once I learned about the Bass Jons Club, I
expanded my horizons a bit in order to get more tournament experience and learn
more about the Southside Suffolk Lakes. Along with fishing the Bass Jons
Club events, I also began fishing more of the Single Man events and later
started fishing the Boot'Legg Trail. Eventually, I plan to work my way
into some type of National Tournaments.
Favorite and worst fishing location:
Like most of
everyone around here, Lake Prince has to be the lake favorite. This lake
seems to produce most times of the year, providing numbers and quality.
However, the worst lake in the area has to be that of Lake Meade, for the
opposite reasons of Lake Prince.
Favorite lure(s):
The heart stopping action of ANY topwater lure.
That has to be my favorite choice of baits, but once the topwater bite has
seized, I love to fish a Texas Rigged worm.
What is the best part of fishing?
I mentioned earlier that I love
fishing topwater lures and this has to be the best part of fishing; that
explosion on the surface is just incredible.
What's your best "fish story"?!
Any time I am on the water with my
grandchildren has it's individual great story. There is nothing more
satisfying than watching joy of those little kids, grandchildren or not, get
excited about catching a fish.
My best fishing story, outside of spending time with my grandchildren on the
water would have to be that time when I caught bucket head that went 20lbs
10oz...
I was fishing what some call an old timer bait, the famous Arbogast Hula
Popper, during one of the early Bass Jons tournaments in 1958. The sun
hadn't broke out over the trees yet, it was black as midnight and there was a
nice little mist on the lake surface. The water was calm, the loons were
cooing and all that you could hear was all too serene.
I made a couple of blind casts out towards the shoreline since I couldn't
really tell were I was casting in the dark. One of those casts I made I
made two chugs with before I heard my Hula Popper just get crushed. I held
my nerve until I could feel this fella pull on my rod and I set the hook.
I reared back on that little 5' 6" fiber glass rod and my drag released. I
reached over to tighten up my drag a bit on my little Mitchell reel, but this
fish wasn't hearin' it. That fish pulled and all I could do is hang on.
I couldn't see this fish, but I knew that this fish was a monster, the fish of a
lifetime.
After fighting this hog for what seemed like an eternity, my line suddenly
went limp. Oh, Lord...NO!!! There was nothing there, just dead line;
I thought she got off. Suddenly a loud thud hit my boat, but I couldn't
figure out what it was, I figured I run into a stump in the darkness while
fighting this toad. Disgusted, I continued to reel in my line. As I
came near the end of the line it was heavy with dead weight to the end of it,
but no movement. I continued to figure, maybe the fish had me hung into a
snag, broke off the line and I was retrieving a stick. The object was near
the surface, so I shined my light down into the water and there this Behemoth
was laying on the surface, knocked out. Apparently, while this fish was
going through a fighting rage, it had lost its bearing and slammed into my boat,
which lead to the loud thud earlier. This knocked the fish out cold.
That is my story and I am sticking with it...
What advice do you have for people who want to fish tournaments?
Start off with smaller local clubs like Bass Jons, which caters more towards
learning and not losing a lot of money. Then there are other tournament
trails out there that are a few degrees above smaller clubs that allow anglers
to test their talents against others. Once you have successfully competed
well against your peers locally and feel that you need another avenue for
competition or would like to step up your game, find some of the larger
federated clubs and compete against the Region and State.
What is your opinion about the future of tournament fishing?
This is a tremendous sport that appeals to a huge portion of the population. | 
