About Me

The Early Years

Largemouth bass from Lake St. Claire 2007

Growing up, fishing was a hobby that I learned from my dad in Northeast Ohio.  I remember several times as a kid going fishing for blue gill and bass at our neighbor's farm pond.  As I grew older, we did a little catfishing and finally bought and fixed up a 14ft fishing boat.  We used that heavily for a few years as weekend warriors, fishing mainly for bass and walleye around Northeast Ohio.  We also made yearly trips to Lake Kipewa, Quebec fishing for walleye and northern pike.  We also made trips to Lake St. Claire, catching anything from smallmouth and largemouth bass to northern pike and muskie.

I also regularly fished the Mohican River for smallmouth bass, northern pike, and the common carp. 

The After College Years

42lb Smallmouth Buffalo

 During college, I fell out of the fishing scene, only fishing on occasion.  I graduated and moved to Lubbock, TX where I restarted the hobby.  In starting back up I had to choose a species, I ended up choosing the common carp.  Yes, that's right, the common carp.  I've always preferred to catch the biggest fish in the pond, especially from the bank.  To me, that narrowed the results to carp and catfish.  I remember the fight that carp put up catching them as a kid, so I decided to learn and target this species.   Soon after restarting my hobby, I moved to Houston, TX.  I continued to learn the ways of the common carp, and was delighted to learn that you can catch all species of catfish, smallmouth buffalo, and white amur all while fishing for common carp.  I started the Wild Carp Club of Houston chapter designed to promote the sport of carp fishing and teach others what I have learned.

First bull red ever 2011

After feeling comfortable with carp, I sought another type of game fish.  Having never lived near saltwater, I decided to take up saltwater fish.  I did some research and decided to target bull redfish, black drum, and sharks.  I purchased a kayak, rigged it up, and was off to the races.  In my first year I landed several sharks and bull redfish, but no black drum.  This past year I caught my first "big ugly" black drum and targeted king mackerel and cobia.  I also caught my first king and jack crevalle this year.

This year I will be focusing on carp fishing in winter and spring and moving to the saltwater for summer and fall.  I'll be fishing off of a 2007 SeaDoo GTX 155 this year in the saltwater, which I will be rigging up and getting ready to fish.

Personal Best Chart

Scroll over the species and click on the link to see pictures where available.

Species	Length	Weight	Date	Body of Water	Type of Water
Alligator Gar	48"	NA	July 2010	Hogs Bayou, Anuhuac, TX	Freshwater
Blue Catfish	NA	25 lbs	June 2010	Sugar Lakes, Sugarland, TX	Freshwater
Channel Catfish	NA	6 lbs	June 1996	Nimisila Reservoir, Manchester, OH	Freshwater
Common Carp	NA	26 lbs 4 oz	Jan 2011	Lake Austin, Austin, TX	Freshwater
Largemouth Bass	NA	6 lbs 2 oz	May 2000	Private Pond, OH	Freshwater
Mirror Carp	NA	7 lbs	Feb 2012	Lake Houston, Houston, TX	Freshwater
Muskellunge	50"	NA	July 2008	Lake St. Claire, ON	Freshwater
Northern Pike	36"	NA	June 1997	Lake Kipewa, Quebec	Freshwater
Smallmouth Buffalo	NA	56 lbs 2 oz	May 2011	NA	Freshwater
Walleye	29"	10 lbs	July 2002	Lake Erie, Geneva, OH	Freshwater
White Amur	NA	25 lbs	May 2011	Clear Creek, League City, TX	Freshwater
Striped Mullet	24"	5 lbs 6 oz	April 2013	Boomtown RV Resort Vidor, TX	Freshwater (Unofficial State Record!)
Black Drum	36"	30 lbs	March 2012	Galveston Ship Channel, TX	Saltwater
Blacktip Shark	72"	120 lbs	June 2011	Gulf of Mexico, High Island, TX	Saltwater
Jack Crevalle	NA	25 lbs	March 2012	Gulf of Mexico, Freeport, TX	Saltwater
King Mackerel	40"	NA	May 2012	Gulf of Mexico, Freeport, TX	Saltwater
Red Drum	38"	35 lbs	June 2011	Gulf of Mexico, High Island, TX	Saltwater
Speckled Trout	18"	NA	March 2012	Clear Lake, TX	Saltwater