Lance Burgos

I am an avid kayak angler, born and raised in south Louisiana. I began fishing at a very young age mostly in the freshwater bayous of south Louisiana. In high school, we started to learn how to fish saltwater on the coast of Louisiana, and I absolutely fell in love with the speckled trout fishing.

I began competitively fishing kayak tournaments in 2012 and started fishing out of a Hobie in 2013. I have fished almost every tournament throughout the state of Louisiana and participated in the IFA kayak tour in multiple states before Covid killed the tour. In addition, I’ve participation in Hobie’s Kentucky Lake event. I’ve had multiple top 5 and 10 finishes throughout my competitive career with my best finish coming in ‘16 w/ a third place finish in regional IFA tournament. I am an annual participant in the CCA STAR tourney here in Louisiana w/ second and third place speckled trout awards. I’ve won multiple big red/trout/flounder awards in club tourneys and most proud to have my sons win multiple youth tourneys.

I am most well known for my viral video. “That is NOT a catfish” where you can see my daughter and I pull up a 12-14’ gator in our Hobie Outback. This experience allowed me and my daughter the opportunity to promote Hobie and the sport of kayak fishing on a worldwide stage. We met media requests and conducted interviews with TV and radio stations, including, but not limited to the BBC, good morning, America, fox and friends, even inside edition.

Currently, I am a Hobie team member, representing the Backpacker here in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I participate in the state tagging program, and have been featured in Kayak Angler Magazine in an article called “100 tags” highlighting the Louisiana TAG program. I enjoy spending time promoting volunteerism for the TAG program, conservation, and legislative issues regarding fish limits, coastal habitat loss, and efforts to protect our resources and estuaries. I’ve also had trophy trout pic featured in Louisiana Sportsman magazine kayak fishing articles. Making the cover w/ a gator trout continues to be a bucket list! I’ve spoken in seminars about my viral video experience and enjoy sharing the content creation and licensing experience to help other kayak anglers learn what to do if you capture unique and potential viral videos. I’m a lifetime member of Coastal Conservation Association, Louisiana sportsman‘s coast coalition, and local initiatives promoting fishing and conservation in Louisiana. I continue to compete in state and local club tournaments.

At this time I’m having the most fun teaching my two sons Olsen 10 Abel 8 the art and science of kayak fishing. I continue to enjoy my commitment to the Backpacker to take anglers that have never fished out of a kayak each year, and have learned I really enjoy teaching kids the sport. These days I mainly use instagram/FB to promote Hobie and the Backpacker with multiple monthly posts!