My mom has an old photo of me when I was about 3 or 4 yrs old. I'm holding a stick with a rope tied to it and I'm sticking the end of the rope in a small puddle of water. She tells me that I took an interest in fishing at that age but she has no idea why. I do have memories of my dad taking me a time or two when I was a youngster.

I grew up in Northern California. When I was 7-8 yrs old I would take a block of yellow cheese to the local creek and catch gills. At 9-10 I started experimenting with soft plastics. I still remember the night I started catching bass on Mann's Jelly Worms. I remember "getting it." Understanding what it felt like when a bass sucked that worm up and setting the hook!... At 11-12 I learned to throw a baitcaster and it was all over from there. I was hooked! At this time of my life my step father and I often fished a large farm pond in CA we called "Jim's." It was full of good bass up to 6 pounds or so. We were fishing Jim's one morning and I walked up to a grassy area throwing a Super Frog (I forget who made it... ???). I made a cast up the bank and started hopping it back. A bass blew up on it and knocked it out of the water. My heart stopped and I froze. The frog came back to rest on the surface. I moved it one more time and the fish inhaled it. Ended up being my first 2 pounder and biggest bass to that point in my life. Have been ate up with bass fishin' ever since!