A little bit about me...
I grew up fishing with my great uncle, Mat Tickel, on his lake in Purdon, Texas. My father also took me fishing on Richland and Chambers creeks, long before Navarro Mills and Richland Chambers resevoirs were built. As time went on we moved to Cayuga and I became very familiar with Duncan's Lake, Catfish Creek, and the Trinity River.
One day in 1966 or '67 Jim Duncan took me to Cedar Creek Lake crappie fishing. I didn't know what a crappie was but I wanted to catch one. After catching one, and finding out that it was what I called a white perch, it was just another of life's little surprises.
As an adult I moved to Lake Tawakoni in '68 and lived there until '73. I spent many day chasing bass and many nights crappie fishing. During all this time we always had out a trotline, throw lines, and hoop nets.
I spent a few years chasing stripers on Whitney and owe a lot to the "Original Striper Guide" Don Bohney. My fishing partner Robert (Vagabond) Varnell, and I gave up on those around 1990. I became interested in catching catfish on rod and reel and Chris (Catman) Watson became my mentor. I spent several thousand dollars learning the ropes on guided trips. He is still to this day the best fisherman I have ever been in the boat with.
I was happy to go out and catch a limit of blues but soon yearned to catch the bigger blues, and began reading and trying to catch them myself. I finally figured it out and became somewhat successful on a daily basis.
The true love of my life, red drum, or underwater freight trains, came along thanks to Bubba (Gump) Minchew. He showed me how to set up and catch them. After a person catches reds how can they get excited about anything else, except big old blue cat? I still fish for other things, but in the back of my brain I still hear a red stripping drag, taking line, doubling a rod, and testing every phase of my tackle.
A fishing guide is the easiest job in the world and the hardest all rolled into one. I spend three to seven days a week on the water and try to pattern what the fish are going to do on any given day. I will do everything in my power to see that you have a great trip.
I'm also very pleased to hold the title of fresh water Elite Angler from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. At the present time there are thirty six fresh water elite Anglers.
