My Dad was a fishing guide when I was very young, and he had me out on the water just about as far back as I can remember. Although Dad later opted out of guiding as a profession, I felt from the very beginning that guiding is what I wanted to do when I grew older.
While in my teens, I was once invited to go duck hunting in Keller Bay, located near the small community of Olivia. I had never been duck hunting, so it was a new experience for me. My first-ever shot at a duck was a Bufflehead that was nearly sitting on the water. I only had a single-shot 20-gauge shotgun, but what fun it was. I remember it like it was yesterday! That first duck hunt was all it took for me to know that I was hooked for life, and I haven’t looked back since that day. I could sit in a duck blind every day of the year if they’d let me!
I grew up in Victoria, Texas, and my school life was all about sports. I ended up moving down the road to Port Lavaca when I was a sophomore in high school, and was later recruited by Texas Lutheran University for playing football and for track and field. While at college, I realized my true desire for being back at home along the coast catching fish and shooting ducks. As a result, I later served as a deckhand for a local Seadrift hunting and fishing guide for more than a year. It was during that time that I learned about how to deal with people. I learned how to treat others as customers, what questions people tend to ask, and how customers react to different ways of doing things. I knew right away that guiding is what I wanted to do, and since then have spent the past few years guiding in and around the San Antonio Bay and Port O’Connor areas.
Today, as a full-time hunting and fishing guide for Bay Flats Lodge, I cannot think of anything else I’d rather be doing with my life. My drive and motivation are both fueled by my true passion and love of the Texas coastal outdoors, and all that it has to offer.