My Story

My love for fishing started as a young child growing up in northern Wisconsin/Minnesota. Our family had a seasonal camp site on Leech Lake in Walker, MN and we would spend almost every weekend at the lake during the summer. We frequented some of the smaller lakes around Leech, "the big pond" Mille Lacs in Garrison, MN, the St. Louis River up in Superior, WI, and occasionally we would venture up to Lake Kebetogama in Kebetogama, MN. This is where I really learned to fish.

In traditional northern MN fashion, one of the first fish species I ever learned to fish for was walleye. Drifting live bait rigs, or jigging with shiners, in the large packs of other boaters whilst listening to the gurgle of the big in-board engines for the charter boats was common-place. However, I remember always looking forward to the days where there was no wind because this meant we were going to hit the shores casting for pike and BASS!

Don't get me wrong, I loved walleye fishing, but bass fishing was always my secret obsession. I was the kid who would be waking everyone up at the crack of dawn to go fishing, or I would often be down on the dock casting as the sun came up waiting for everybody to wake up. I was also the kid who would ask for interactive CD's for the computer to learn about bass and bass fishing for christmas and my birthday and I would spend my spare time learning about bass biology and behviors, reading bassmaster articles, watching all the fishing shows on TV, and practicing casting in the backyard. From a young age, I knew I wanted to one day become a professional angler.

Fast forward a few years...my dad took a job near Miami, FL and we had to leave northern MN. This was a major change as the fishing environment was completely different from where I had learned to fish. We also ultimately had to sell our boat and I was left having to learn how to shore fish. This is where I really started to learn how to adapt and how to make the most out of every situation. On the positive side, the small freshwater ponds and channels almost everywhere in FL are loaded with fish, and some BIG fish at that. So, after a couple months of learning/adapting, I was able to become a succesful shore angler.

Side track...I often reflect back to one situation I was in...it was springtime and the baby ducks had just hatched and were out swimming around. I was shore fishing in this small pocket which had an overhanging tree and witnessed a LARGE bass (8+lbs) come up and eat a baby duckling that was about the size of a baseball. This situation in particular really opened my eyes up to big baits = big fish. Anyways...I will talk about that another time...

We lived in FL for about 4 years and then my dad was transferred to Elizabethtown, KY. So, we made another move. Again, I was faced with a completely different fishing landscape. This move really threw me a curveball as the lakes were unlike anythiing I had ever experienced before. Grass was almost non-existent. These were deep/cave lakes with sharp breaking shorelines, all rock/gravel, and limited shoreline acess for fishing. These proved to be a challenge to me. Fortunately, I was able to find some success fishing smaller city ponds/lakes and really gained confidence in crankbaits.

After graduating highschool, I stayed in KY and went to the University of Kentucky. (Go CATS!) Still not having a boat, and living in an area of the state that had limited lake access, forced me to find other alternatives to fuel my passion to fish. I quickly discovered and learned how to fish the small creeks and rivers that in the area. One of my favorites was a small creek loaded with smallmouth that ran right beside one of the big whiskey distilleries. You would have to park at a power station, walk along a billy goat trail that had been worn down by other fisherman over the years, and climb down a small clay bluff using an old rope that had been there for probably 50+ years to get to the creek. The risk/hike was well worth the reward, however, as the water was crystal clear and you could see schools of smallmouth cruising around everywhere (and they were aggressive!). Also, the smell from the distillery right across the creek was rewarding.

Fast forward another couple years and I find myself in Ames, Iowa. Again, faced with a different fishing landscape. However, these "prairie" lakes were a happy medium to everything else that I had experienced. Shallow lakes with grass, wood, and rocks proved to be faily easy for me to adapt to.

However, I knew at that point in my life that I HAD to get back on the water. I was limited with storage space at the time. So, instead of buying a boat, I ended up getting my first fishing kayak!

Getting back on the water was one of the best things I've done in my life. It really re-sparked my passion to pursue my dreams of being a professional angler. However, I had settled for fun-fishing at that point as I was also just getting my start in corporate america and had to focus on making a living and finding my place in the job market. Competitive kayak fishing wasn't a known-thing to me at that point in time.

Fast-forward another couple of years and I finally find myself back home here in MN. I now have the means to finally afford a bass boat to pursue my dreams. However, whilst doing local tournament research, I learn about a local kayak club in MN who holds kayak tournaments. Entry fees were cheap and the cost of a tournament kayak was A LOT cheaper than a big tournament rigged bass boat. So, I decided to give that a shot. I quickly became successful in that club and started to grow a social media following. I also picked up my first official sponsors as an angler.

By this time, I had also learned about the national kayak trails that were forming and becoming a thing. Using the confidence I had built fishing locally, I jumped in head first and managed 2 top 5 finishes in the major kayak trails in my first year (Bassmaster) and then managed another top 3 finish my second year (Hobie BOS). My third year fishing nationally produced another top 5 finish (All-American Kayak Series), and I have been able to establish consistency finishing amongst the top 25%-50% of most events that I compete in nationally.

My local/national exposure has since grown and, unfortunately, the leader(s) of the club where I first started made it clear they did not like competitive anglers and we parted ways because of this. So, I reached out to some other local anglers that I had networked with over my career and we formed a local tournament kayak fishing league (MinnYak) to tailor to the anglers looking to learn about competive fishing and to grow the sport. This league is now growing successfully and becoming a popular group amongst the tournament kayak anglers in MN.

I am now at the point in my fishing career where I am finally making the steps to pursue my childhood dreams. I have made a change in my employment (becoming an independent self-employed contractor) and have been sucessful doing so over the past few years. This allows me the opportunities needed to finance and spend the time needed on the water to be successful/competitive at a high level. On top of competitive kayak angling, and operating MinnYak, I will now be pursuing larger boat tournaments as a co-angler in the MLF Toyota Series. I am hoping to utilize my experiences thus far to continue my fishing success onto a larger stage and hopefully will either win a boat and/or pick up additional sponsorships which will allow for me to compete as a boater at that level. I am someone who full-heartedly believes in working from the bottom-up and that is what I intend to do in the boat scene.

More to come...

So, here I am now with this website. My true intent is to have this be a platform to share my experiences with you and to share my knowledge to help you become a better angler. Please take full advantage of everything and let me know if there is anything I can do to help you maximize your success on the water.