When I was four, I caught my first fish, a Speckled Perch. That was it. I was hooked. We fished often, me and my dad, at least three times a month. We fished for Black Bass and Speckled Perch at Lake Kerr. Trout and Redfish in the St. Johns. And sometimes offshore on a head boat to Daytona or Ft. Pierce. We also fished at many different piers and bridges. I'd round up my friends, and my dad would treat us all.

In fifth grade, I lived on the west coast, right next to a fish camp called Camp Wekliva. Being home schooled, there was nothing but the outdoors for fun. I'd do my school work in the afternoons and fish all day. The guides at the camp found out I could reel in trout as good as anyone. When they didn't have a charter, they'd hook and line commercial fish and let me tag along.

A couple of years later we moved back to Jacksonville. My neighbors, Mike and Debbie Mangus, loved the outdoors and let me go with them - fishing, flounder gigging and camping at least once a month. Offshore became a treat. My dad would take me on the boat and tie my rod to the rail. Many times I'd get a big fish, put the rod under my arm with a tight drag and the fish would lift me right off the deck. People would yell "help that boy!" But my dad would reply, "He doesn't need it. He's a fisherman."

Those trips gave me a lot of confidence at a young age. All through middle school, I fished every chance I got. I fished with different commercial fishing rigs for Redfish and caught a ride offshore any time I could.

In high school, I worked on shrimp boats or commercial snapper boats part-time in the summer. In my twenties, my family grew, so I worked on hook and line commercial boats part-time - along with a normal job to pay the bills. Finally I bought my first offshore boat and began entering Kingfish tournaments and fun fishing offshore. I caught my first Marlin in 1888. Since then, Marlin have been my passion.

I started my early childhood fishing. Spent most of my life fishing since. I fish because it makes me feel like a kid again. But nothing beats taking people out - young and old - watching them catch the biggest fish of their lives and seeing that kid come alive inside them too. I still fish blue water tournaments all over the world and charter full time out of St. Augustine March-June Blue water trolling, June-Aug in Jax. Offshore reef and wreck fishing, and Aug-Dec St Johns River for Big Bull Redfish.