I've been fishing from a kayak for close to 15 years now, mostly for bass. I'd fished from the bank for many years, and then a plastic jon boat, but the simplicity and portability of kayaks won me over. Without a lot of setup time, my kayak made it possible to sneak onto the water for an hour or two before or after work. It also allowed me to get into hard to reach places that larger craft can't access. For 10 years, I lived in Northern Virginia and worked in DC, so I've spent lots of the time on the tidal Potomac. Now pretty much any grass fishery feels like home. I still love prowling shallow backwaters and fishing visible targets.
My job was pretty demanding when kayak tournaments first came onto the scene, so I mostly fun fished. I competed in some boat tournaments as a co-angler, but it wasn't until 2021 that I started competing in a kayak. That year I left my job and started fishing national events. I'm not on the level of Russ, Cody, and some of the other top-tier anglers, but I've had some success in my Outback, including a couple of wins and 2nd place in the '22 Bassmaster Kayak Series AOY standings. Some good tournament finishes have led to invites on a handful of podcasts, which I thoroughly enjoy. Last year I also got the opportunity to start a monthly kayak fishing column for the Bass Cast website. While I'm not exactly a social butterfly, I've worked to slowly grow my social media presence over the last year. Still a lot of work to do there, but I'm getting better at it. I plan to continue fishing kayak tournaments and hope to eventually work myself into a position where I can make a living in the fishing industry.