How My Fishing Addiction Began
I grew up in San Mateo, Calif., 20 miles south of San Francisco. My father, who wasn’t an experienced angler by any means, but always supportive of my passion, first took me fishing at the age of three. Since there were no lakes within an hours drive, most fishing would take place in Half Moon Bay. We would fish for perch, jacksmelt, kingfish, or anything else that would eat the grass shrimp or pile worms we used for bait. From my very first fishing trip, I was hooked. From what I am told, the only thing I would talk about at that age was fishing, and catching frogs, snakes and lizards to keep as pets.
Once I got a little older, I had the opportunity to go on a few camping trips, which is where I was introduced to bass fishing. I was 10 years-old when I caught my first bass on a camping trip at Berryessa with my father, step mother, and sister. I was ecstatic, not just because it was my first bass, but because it was the first fish I caught on my own without any supervision. When I turned 13, my father bought an 11’ zodiac raft with a 6 HP Johnson Outboard. Camping trips to Berryessa, Clear Lake, Sonoma, the Delta, and even Fort Bragg, became more frequent. My maternal grandfather was a pretty avid angler, and I went on a number of trips with him, his wife and friends as well, doing mostly trout fishing at Hat Creek and Lake Siskiyou. The few camping trips I went on each year were not enough to fulfill my passion for fishing. So after, or sometimes even before, school, I would ride my bike to the San Francisco Bay. At first, I would fish for sharks and rays with bait, but soon realized that bait fishing wasn’t as exciting as using artificial lures. I then moved on to targeting stripers with hair jigs and Rat-L-Traps. |  |
When I turned 15 my father bought a 26’ Bayliner cuddy cabin. It was more of a family cruiser than a fishing boat, but it got the job done. It was berthed at Coyote Point in San Mateo. We would do a little fishing in the bay for sturgeon, stripers and halibut, but mostly we made a long run under the Golden Gate Bridge and out into the Ocean. We targeted salmon out by the Marin coastline and rockfish and lingcod out by the Farallon Islands.
 | By this time I was a pretty diverse angler, catching several different species of fish. To me, catching any species of fish was fun, but because of my competitive nature, I decided to give tournament bass fishing a try. My father and I spent a few weekends turning the Zodiac Raft into a mini bass boat, adding a bow mount trolling motor, a portable fish finder, a cooler as a livewell, and a small platform, barely big enough for me to stand on. We competed in the New Bass Semi-Pro team tournaments for two seasons. Our second season we had four top five finishes, and missed winning “Angler of the Year” by only two points. I soon outgrew the raft and realized I needed to save my money so I could by a bass boat. I had been working part-time for a power washing company, where I would clean, stain, and repair decks and fences. Knowing that working for someone else at $12 an hour wasn’t going to provide enough money to buy a bass boat, I decided to start my own business. |
My company, Professional Power Washing, which I started at 18, allowed me to make my own schedule, so I could fish whenever I wanted. Plus I was making much more money than when I was working for someone else. However, it was a seasonal job and wintertime was slow. I had a little money saved, but not enough to buy the boat I wanted. My grandfather saw how hard I was working and said if I worked for him all winter performing maintenance on an apartment complex, he would match whatever money I had saved so I could buy my own boat.
At 19, I finally got my first bass boat, a used Bass Cat Pantera Classic, with a 200 HP Mercury Optimax. Words can’t describe how excited I was. I barely had my boat for two weeks before I entered my first big tournament at Lake Oroville. Before blast off, I remember bumping into a couple boats just trying to make my way through the crowd. I didn’t have a clue on how to drive a boat like this one. Even though my boat handling skills were pretty bad, I still ended up finishing 4th out of 150 boats. The next five years, I fished tournaments almost every weekend, both team and pro-am events. In between tournaments I would spend a couple days a week power washing decks. |  |
In 2005 I sold the Bass Cat and put a down payment on a new Ranger Z20. It was also about then I shifted gears from tournaments to guiding. Guiding has given me the opportunity to meet some really great people, many who have turned into great friends. There is nothing I enjoy more than teaching people how to fish, and seeing their satisfaction after a catch. In the years to come I plan to continue guiding and helping people learn the sport of bass fishing through my videos, reports, and articles that I post on my Web site.
 | Hometown: San Mateo, CA Current Residence: San Bruno, CA Age: 28 Fishing Strengths: Topwater, Finesse and Swimbaits Boat/Motor: 2006 Ranger Z 20 / Mercury 225 XS |
Featured in Bass West USA magazine with the cover and a feature article in 2005.
Tournament Experience - Fishing Anglers Choice and FLW Pro-Ams this year - 2009 Anglers Choice Pro-Am 2nd Place - FLW Series 2007 Lake Havasu 4th place - Stren Series 2005 Clear Lake 10th Place - WON Bass Teams 2004/2005 Angler of the Year - WON Bass Pro-Am’s Three Top Ten Finishes - WON Bass Western Classic Qualifier -Anglers Choice Pro-Am’s Nine Top 10 Finishes - Eight Team Tournament Victories |  Seminars & Public Speaking - Demonstrated South Bay fishing techniques at San Mateo International Sportsman’s Expo aquarium tank - Instructed various seminars at Fisherman’s Warehouse in San Jose, Calif. - Represented my sponsors, Quantum and Cajun, at several shows (International Sportsman’s Expo and Fred Hall) |
