Skipper Spotlight: bron

What’s your earliest memory fishing?

Probably when I was around 8 years old, we went to Wisconsin to visit my stepdad’s family and I caught my first fish up there.  My Granddad took me pond hopping and we caught numerous bluegill, sunfish, and crappie.  The panfish up there were so big that my Grandma could fillet them—made for some disappointment here in Colorado, they don’t get that big here.  I really grew up around fishing—we had a mobile home at McConaughy in Nebraska and a pontoon so I caught plenty of walleye and white bass there.  My Granddad here in Colorado took me all the time with his retired buddies to places like Boulder Res., Lon Hagler, and Estes.  As a teen I rode my bike to Sloans and Rocky Mountain lake every chance I got.

Why do you fish?

Honestly, I don’t think catching is as important as the outing itself.  The whole adventure of the fishing trip is what I enjoy.  Planning it out, hanging out with my son and friends, and just being on the water.  I guess the experience reboots me for day to day life.

What’s your favorite species/technique?  Why?

My son and I try to be diverse and use every fishing method and change it up all the time.  We don’t get to go fish as often as we would like and if we only have a few hours our go-to is carp fishing at one of our favorite ponds.  Getting to know John Finney and Daris McKinnon has really made a difference in our tackle and carp fishing methods.  Love the Carpquest videos!  We enjoy using our flyrods too and emphasize that several trips each year.  I have Fish Explorer to thank for making us pretty good ice fisherman too, look forward to hard water season every year.

What’s your dream fishing vacation?  And/or what kind of fishing have you never done but want to learn?

I have always wanted to do a trip to Canada where they fly you in to a remote lake and leave you and your friends in a cabin with a boat for a week.  Again, it’s more about the trip than the fishing, but the fishing would be awesome there!  Pike are a big draw to me and I havn’t really chased them much in the past.  This July my son Blake and I are doing a trip to Spinney with Nate Zelinski just to chase pike.  We are totally stoked for that and unless it’s a bust I’ll do a blog about the experience.

Why did you become a skipper?

There’s something about Fish Explorer that really gets to me.  I don’t know if it’s how the site is formatted, the point system, or the community itself.  Probably all of those things combined I guess.  Early on, Ajax and Sylvan met us and exposed us to new fishing techniques (bottom bouncing for walleye and ice fishing).  They both talked to me about being a skipper and once I became one it got addictive.  I wouldn’t mind monitoring a few more lakes in addition to the ones I already have.  I really enjoy it when people contact me through my skipper link asking me questions about my lakes and sending me pictures of their catches.