Been fishing since before memory, so considered a fisherman since birth. Fished the bay systems surrounding Lake Jackson, TX and Galveston Bay as a child, but fishing took me to the Rocky Mountains as well as a child where I learned to fish trout streams and rivers for rainbow trout, brown trout, and native cut-throat. Dennis Thomas, father, one of the original founders and tournament fisherman for BASS, as well as a fishing guide on Choke Canyon Reservoir. At the age of 10, started fishing Pro/Am tournaments, winning my first at the age of 12, making the cover of the famed Honey Hole magazine. Throughout all the bass fishing, getting to the salt was still a frequent occurrence. Learned very early about the preservation of our natural resource, and was truly intrigued with the life and amazing ecosystems of our state’s bay systems. Being a tournament fisherman at such an early age lead me to fish in the salt water very similar to fishing for bass. It was always much more of a challenge to catch fish on lures rather than bait, seeing as I was able to use skill and knowledge to target fish instead of sitting and waiting for something to happen. Obviously, my vehicle to get me to the fish were my two legs, therefore wade fishing for miles on end is what I loved to do. Accompanied by my best friend Kevin, we fished all the time. Used mainly soft plastic lures and topwater spooks, seeing as these were what I could confidently present to the fish. I had sponsors for bass fishing so I commonly found myself using my bass lures, with success, to catch quality redfish and trout. Soon after the sit on top kayaks came into the scene, I had to have one. We no longer had to make such long wades to get to our spots that we typically had success. This also opened up new opportunities to fish in different locations. We then, now having driver’s licenses and a truck loaded with two kayaks, we started to expand! our horizons.