Let's be real: I'm a smallmouth addict. I put way too many miles on my car chasing these fish to not be labeled as such. Each summer, my kayak covers hundreds of miles of river throughout the country in search of trophy smallmouth. While I primarily fish in Illinois and Wisconsin, I've been lucky enough to chase monster bronzebacks in some of the best water that states like Minnesota and Pennsylvania have to offer. 

While I work as a teacher from August to the end of May, it doesn't stop me from learning new water throughout the entire year. Sometimes I'm doing so for tournament fishing, sometimes it's just for fun. But either way, I'm almost always after moving water bronze. My goal is to not only show you beautiful water, but to also put you on trophy smallmouth. My love for these fish started as a teenager when I waded the Middle Fork Vermilion River for summer smallies throwing beetle spins and small jigs. Eventually, I started chasing largemouth on Lake Vermilion out of a 14ft jon boat with a Mercury outboard that barely ran from who knows what year. Even then, bronzebacks had a special place in my heart. 

I wouldn't call myself an overly successful tournament angler, but I have had a few things to celebrate. I was the KBF State Challenge Series Champion for Illinois in 2020 and finished 14th out of over 200 anglers in the Challenge Series Championship at Guntersville Lake that same year. I've also had some top 5 successes in local tournaments in IL and MO. Lastly, I was lucky enough to win Big Bass on two different occasions in the Hobie BOS tournament series at Watts Bar Lake in TN and the Susquehanna River in PA. 

Outside of fishing, I am an avid traveler. I've visited more than 15 countries around the world and have picked up another language along the way. As a fluent Spanish speaker, I'm happy to offer my services to fellow hispanohablantes. Addtionally, I'm a (mediocre) guitarist but an experienced audio engineer who loves throwing analog equipment into mixes I'm working on. In terms of sports, I love to play volleyball and ski when the opportunity arises. I've been lucky enough to throw powder in the Rockies, Alps, and Cascades. 

Whether it's fishing or something else, I'm an adventurer at heart who loves the mystery of whatever lies around the next bend. 

-Collin