Meet Robert Griffin, Renaissance man and self-proclaimed “wonderful, kind and loving individual. That’s me,” he laughed.
Most know him as the T-shirt Guy, but he could easily add a few more titles to his moniker – artist, musician, songwriter, band leader, white water canoeist, environmentalist, hardware salesman, construction worker and let’s not forget screen printer, a talent he’s been at for more than 30 years.
As owner and art director of Wolf Creek Creations, Griffin prints 800 to 1,000 T-shirts a week or about 50,000 a year and creates four or five original designs a day at his operation. “The customers usually have an idea of what they want. I create the designs from their descriptions,” he explained.
The largest single order he has ever fulfilled was for 5,000 T-shirts for Caritas, a Catholic charity; and the smallest number was 12, a minimum order. The farthest distance he’s ever shipped was to an address in Hawaii.
“We’re based in Pell City,” said Griffin. “Actually, exactly two miles down Wolf Creek, on the right, just outside the city limits, but we ship all over.”
Griffin began perfecting his artistic talents, while still in college at Jacksonville State University. “I studied art in college and worked in T-shirt shops when I needed a job. My first printing job was on paper for a graphic artist and that eventually led to T-shirts.”
Right out of college, Griffin’s artistic career seemed to be taking a left turn when he went into business with his father, who owned a construction company, but the younger Griffin’s creative flair wouldn’t take a back seat for long.
“I had already gotten involved with white water canoeing at this time. They had events all the time, but nobody was doing shirts for them. I convinced my dad that we needed to pick up that space – that there was money to be had. So, he agreed to open a very rudimentary area in the construction office. As things sometimes go,” added Griffin, “my dad ended up shutting the construction business and partnering with me in the T-shirt business.”
Group sales are the life blood of Wolf Creek Creations, from high school senior shirts to environmental alliance events to chili cook-offs. But events surrounding the 2020 pandemic have affected the sale of T-shirts as they have just about everything else.
“We literally had no business for three weeks. There’s no school, so there went the school business. Festivals usually held in the spring were canceled, like the Alabama Bluegrass Association concert. That’s an every-year event for us, and it was canceled. We’ve had about $10,000 worth of business either postponed or just outright canceled.”
Bob and Leah
Griffin, ever the optimist, says he thinks “things are beginning to turn around. We’ve got a strong customer base and a strong repeat business. People know about us strictly by word of mouth. Some of these people, I’ve been doing business with for over 20 years. They’re no longer customers. They’re friends I do shirts for. That’s what I love about what I do, the friends I make and people I meet along the way.”
Another of his passions is music. “That’s what I really enjoy,” he says. “I’ve had a band for about 20 years. My wife is also in the band. We do a lot of classic rock and some blues.”
Explaining that his wife, Leah, who auditioned for American Idol, is the real singer in the group, he said. “She has a beautiful voice. She lets me try it every once in a while. I am a marginally adequate singer.”
He is more than marginally adequate as a songwriter. You might say he’s prolific. “I’ve written about 50 or 60 songs. We do a lot of original material.”
The band, named One Eyed Mary, plays a lot of festivals and local clubs.
The name originates from one of Griffin’s dogs, now deceased. “She was a rescued Lhasa Apso,” he said, “and she had only one eye. So, of course, it seemed appropriate to call the band One Eyed Mary.”
Of all the hats Griffin has worn throughout his career, his very favorite has nothing to do with work. “My favorite hat is being a dad to my three kids and husband to my wife.”
It’s often said that timing is everything. A Pell City-based company’s owners believe that now more than ever.
Carol Pappas, president and CEO of Partners by Design Inc., announced that the company’s LakeLife Division has moved its growing apparel and lake-related products business online to a significant e-commerce platform under its national registered trademark, LakeLife 24/7®, at lakelife247.com.
That brand includes 14 Alabama lakes plus the LakeLife 24/7 line of products. “We’ve gone from a storage room in the back of our marketing firm to a small retail shop in the front for our home lake, Logan Martin, to a significant national presence online that’s growing,” Pappas said.
The timing could not have been more perfect, she noted. The launch happened within two weeks of closings, lockdowns and quarantines due to COVID-19, so it lessened the impact of having to close its retail shop in Pell City, which had generated a significant portion of its sales.
“We had been planning the move for months, recognizing that lake life isn’t restricted to a single body of water, it has universal appeal,” Pappas said. “Our original business plan moved in the direction of individual e-commerce sites for each lake in the state, but we soon realized it made more sense in a one-stop, online setting.”
Under the guidance of a friend whose professional background includes work in scalability, Lori Junkins, the site launched April 5, with sales coming in from nearly every Alabama lake plus multiple states at the onset.
“Lori’s leadership and wise counsel made all the difference,” Pappas said. “In the first month, our sales already have come in from seven states and 13 of our 14 lakes in Alabama. The appeal of our 24/7 line is growing, and we’re optimistic about our future prospects.
“Like we say in the ‘About’ section of our site, ‘Our Home’s in Alabama. Our Dreams are Global.’ Of course, we’re not there yet. But who knows?”
Founded in 2009, Partners by Design is a multimedia marketing firm specializing in communication, marketing, graphic design and web services for companies, governmental organizations and nonprofits. It also publishes a lifestyle magazine, Discover, The Essence of St. Clair, six times per year.
St. Clair dealers dominate Alabama’s biggest boat show
Story by Jackie Romine Walburn Photos by Wallace Bromberg Jr.
St. Clair-based boat dealers and local dock and boat house
builders accounted for about a third of the more than 20 exhibitors at the 49th
annual Birmingham Boat Show, the oldest and largest in the state.
And rightly so. St. Clair is blessed with two lakes and a host of
businesses to make the lake season an understandable favorite for getting out
on the water and making the most of it.
Exhibiting at the boat show allows dealers to show off the newest
in design and amenities in boats they sell – including fishing, pontoon, deck,
ski, wakeboard, wakesurf and leisure boats – to thousands of visitors during
the four-day event at the Birmingham Civic Center Jan. 23-26. The annual
exhibitioon also brings “boat-show” pricing from manufacturers.
Among those showing were Poor House Branch Marina in Lincoln and
Rodney’s Marine, Trident Marine Group and Woods Surfside Marina from Pell City
and Cropwell. All brought their top sellers for 2020 to show off what’s new and
unique, take custom orders and often sell the exhibited boats, too.
“This is not your daddy’s pontoon boat,” says Trident Marine Group
co-owner Jeff Tolbert, pointing to the Trifecta 900 hp double-engine pontoon
boat, Trident’s most unique offering at the boat show. “There are only three in
the U.S. right now,” Tolbert said. The 30-foot fiberglass “tri-toon” with its
twin 450 hp Mercury engines can push the luxury ship up to 83 miles per hour.
Armed with lighted speaker systems and matching under lights, front
and rear cameras that display on a state-of-the-art touch screen and two deluxe
leather captain seats, the new Trifecta combines luxury with horsepower and was
boat show priced at about $254,000. Trident had already taken two custom orders
for the Trifecta boat, which is being manufactured in northern Indiana.
Trident’s Cropwell business is one of three locations where they
sell Trifecta, South Bay and Berkshire boats, the pontoon boat lines produced
by Forest River, a Berkshire-Hathaway company associated with financier Warren
Buffett.
Geared toward families, with free admission for children 12 and
younger, the boat show dedicates 250,000 square feet of exhibit space to
highlighting the latest in boats, motors, boathouses, piers and boat-lift
design, plus fishing gear, guides and outfitters.
For local boat dealers, the investment in the boat show exhibits
pays off in new and returning customers and brand recognition.
“The boat-show pricing
brings in customers, and the quality of the products often drives customers to
our stores,” says Eddie Rush of Poor House Branch Marina and Boat Outlet on
Logan Martin Lake. They specialize in Avalon boats, which are manufactured in
Michigan.
“The boat show is also a
chance for us to see what customers are looking for,” he says. Most dealers
bring top 2020 boats to show and share information about other offerings,
including used boats, available at the dealer locations.
The newest Avalon offering – the Avalon WakeToon-Surf series
that’s designed as a wakeboard surfing boat – was not on display at the boat
show. The new WakeToon is in production and won a 2020 national innovation
award from the National Marine Manufacturers Association, says Mark Semino of
Avalon boats.
Aside from the new WakeToon, Avalon has made few changes in its
design in recent years, Semino says. “We’ve been very successful with our core
boat, so there are not many changes,” just new color offerings and the popular
addition of a center console pontoon the company introduced in recent years, he
says.
Poor House Branch Marina, located on Logan Martin at Lincoln, also
offers service and repair, boat storage and boat rental.
Over at Woods Surfside Marina’s boat show exhibition, co-owner Eva
Hildebrant pointed out Bennington’s new Bowrider pontoon, which has a step-down
U-lounge seating area in the front of the boat. The Bennington Bowrider,
available in 20- and 24-foot lengths, also placed in the 2020 national
innovation awards.
The new design won an honorable mention for the industry’s first
bowrider-style pontoon, with innovation judges noting that “the stadium-like
seating increases driver sight lines while providing a sporty and elegant look
not seen before.”
Woods Surfside Marina also brought along Xpress Aluminum fishing
boats and highlighted a variety of Bennington Pontoon boats, the No. 1 brand
pontoon in the U.S. The 14-acre Marina at Cropwell has more than 300 dry
storage stalls and three piers of wet slips, offers full-service gas and a
valet boat launch service. Woods Surfside also carries Yamaha and Mercury
motors and sells pre-owned boats.
Rodney’s Marine Center in Pell City brought to the boat show
Starcraft tri-toon and Silver Wave pontoon boats and Blue Wave and Carolina
Skiff-Sea Chaser center-console boats.
But the star of Rodney’s
boat show offerings was the new 300 hp Silver Wave fiberglass tri-toon boat
equipped with RGB lights, Bluetooth control and a touch-screen system with
forward and back camera. RGB lights are red, blue and green LED lights that
combine the three colors to produce more than 16 million hues of light.
“It ain’t your
grandfather’s pontoon,” says co-owner Rodney Humphries. An innovative design
allows for expanded passenger seating or playpen room with more space per
square foot. The new 24-foot Silver Wave is a top seller and can be customized.
“It’s a $100,000 look for $50,000.”
Rodney’s, which is a full-service marine stop with service, sales
and storage with valet services, also sells fishing boats, Alweld duck boats
and Suzuki engines.
Personal watercraft remain popular at the boat show, with
attendees lining up to register to win the show’s grand prize, a 2020 Yamaha
Waverunner EX, being given away by Big #1 Motor Sports of Birmingham.
At the Big #1 exhibit, the newest and fastest-selling option in
personal watercraft was the SeaDoo Fish Pro, a three-seater designed for sport
fishing. Equipped with a Rotax 1630 ACE 170 hp engine and 70-liter fuel tank,
the SeaDoo Fish Pro comes with a 51-liter LinQ Fishing cooler with rod holders,
a fishing bench seat, watertight phone box, trolling mode, Garmin ECHOMAP Plus
62 cv fish finder, direct access front storage, a boarding ladder, extended
rear platform, LinQ attachment points, angled gunwale footrests with a stable
and predictable hull. The boat show price for the SeaDoo Fish Pro was $16,000,
including a four-year warranty and a SeaDoo trailer.
“We’ve sold some,” Hairston says, noting that by Saturday of the
boat show, Big #1 had sold more than 20 personal watercraft – both SeaDoo and
Yamaha – to boat show attendees.
Three St. Clair County-based dock and boathouse building companies
– Tradesman, Mackey and Lakeside Boathouse – exhibited at the event, showing
off their latest designs and meeting new customers.
Specializing in custom boathouses, sun decks, boat lifts, docks
and seawalls, Tradesman Company’s exhibit at the boat show highlighted
Tradesman’s attention to detail and long-lasting structures. Sales manager Ryan
Wooten says Tradesman owner and founder Fred Casey’s original innovative
designs for boathouses remain the standard at Tradesman.
“The hipped metal roof, 8-by-8 support beams and braces made of
pressure-treated pine” are unique to Tradesman boathouses, he says. He adds
that Tradesman is the “only boathouse builder statewide using hand-picked No.
1, 34MCQ pressure-treated lumber from the water level up to the roof.”
Being at the boat show helps in Tradesman’s expanding market,
Wooten says. In addition to custom boathouses with single or double slips, boat
lifts and sundecks, Tradesman’s offerings include floating piers, seawalls and
docks. They also build aluminum boathouses and commercial and residential
floating piers.
Today’s boathouses can include all the bells and whistles owners
want, including entertainment decks plus boat lifts and storage for personal
watercraft, kayaks and paddle boats, says Eric Mackey of Mackey Docks and Boat
Houses, a third-generation dock builder.
He says Mackey builds docks and boathouses that last a lifetime.
Located in Ragland and in business since 1983, Mackey specializes in high-end
boathouses at an economical price. The goal is to build durable structures with
low maintenance that meet the needs of folks who live on and enjoy lake and
waterfront living.
With standard and custom designs in piers, docks and boathouses,
Mackey’s promotional material states, “Even our competition loves our work.”
Serving Logan Martin with dock and boathouse work on most Alabama
lakes down to the Florida Panhandle, Mackey’s work includes pile driving, dock
and boathouse construction, boat lift installation, seawall construction, and
repair of existing shore structures.
Lakeside Boathouses in Cropwell exhibits at the boat show most
years, says Lakeside partner Chris Hoover. “We see existing customers and meet
new ones,” Hoover says. He notes that Lakeside sees repeat customers and enjoys
strong referrals. “That lets us know that we are doing a good job.” Lakeside
builds boathouses, decks, boat lifts, piers and seawalls.
“Our philosophy is to do a good job for a fair price and exceed
expectations,” Hoover says, noting that word of mouth and outreach at events
including the Birmingham Boat Show have helped Lakeside grow its market.
It is expanding services and has completed building projects on
lakes and rivers from the Tennessee Valley to the Gulf.
Lakeside
also provides staining and pressure washer services, sells Wet Steps and, most
recently, introduced a new travel service business. Lakeside also plans to open
a new Lakeside Grill at Coosa Island in May 2020.
Hometown hero leads JSU team to top spot in college fishing
Story by Carol Pappas and Bassmaster Writer David A. Brown Submitted photos from Bassmasters
When Pell City’s Zeke Gossett began
his fishing career, he was only 10. With 35 high school and three college
championships plus dozens of opens and charity tournaments behind him, Gossett
certainly wasn’t finished with his winning ways.
On March 9, he hoisted the Carhartt
Bassmaster College Series Championship trophy high in the air with teammate
Lucas Smith of Southside as proof.
They competed in the championship on
Lay Lake, and they were presented the trophy for Jacksonville State University
on the Classic stage in Birmingham during the Bassmaster Classic festivities.
“I really worked hard for this win,
for sure,” Gossett said. “We qualified for this tournament a couple of weeks
ago through the college bass tournament on Smith Lake. They took the top 10
from that tournament,” which had 250 boats in the field.
“Getting to weigh in on the Classic
stage in front of all those people was amazing and winning on top of that made
it that much more special,” he said. “Getting to represent JSU on such a big
stage was an awesome thing as well as spreading the word about our fishing
team.”
Couple that with winning in his
senior year – with a freshman – and the moment was indeed one to savor. “My
partner is a freshman this year, so I was happy to win it with him and watch
him soak up the experience with me.”
And Gossett isn’t through by any
means. When he graduates in December, he plans to fish the Bassmaster Opens and
guide around the Coosa River.
Quest for the championship
Despite a slow start, Gossett and
Smith capitalized on a morning flurry that yielded a five-bass limit of 17
pounds, 4 ounces, which led the JSU team to victory in the championship
tournament presented by Bass Pro Shops on Lay Lake.
Gossett, a senior majoring in parks
and recreation, and Smith, a freshman business management major, fished the
lake’s south end and targeted main-current seams. Their first half-hour was
frustratingly fruitless, but then the bite ignited, and the winners boxed their
weight by 9:30 a.m.
“At one place where we actually
caught three of our keepers, we ended up catching four more in a row, and we
had to stop fishing to cull,” Gossett said. “That kind of hurt us because the
school was fired up, but we couldn’t figure out which one to cull.
“We hit a flurry — I caught two in a
row, then he caught two in a row. It was crazy. Our biggest one today was a
3-13. Our smallest was barely 3 pounds.”
Gossett and Smith alternated between
1/2-ounce Z-Man Jack Hammer ChatterBaits with Reaction Innovations Little
Dipper trailers and those same Skinny Dippers rigged on 1/2-ounce swimbait
heads.
“Some places were better for the
ChatterBait and some places were better for the swimbait,” Gossett said.
“Anywhere the ChatterBait would get hung up a lot, we’d throw the swimbait.”
Smith said being at the right place
at the right time was key. Strategic site selection was also an important
element of their game plan.
“There were two feeding windows; one
at 7 and one about 9:30,” he said. “After 9:30, we didn’t cull anymore.
“The current definitely played a
role, for sure. We targeted spotted bass because the current was so strong, and
we knew we could catch them in the current breaks.”
Gossett said told reporters the
victory was particularly gratifying, given its redemptive backstory. During his
sophomore year, his team fell short in what he considered an ideal scenario.
“We had a tournament back in 2016 on
Lay Lake in June, which is my favorite time of year, and we absolutely bombed,”
Gossett said. “I put in a lot of hard work practicing for this tournament, and
it paid off.”
At the family-owned and operated Buck’s Island Pontoon and Bass
Boat Warehouse, new for 2020 are the Bentley Pontoon line, the Caymas Bass Boat
line, plus three new Skeeter fishing boat offerings and expanding selections –
including kayaks and accessories – at The Loft at Buck’s Island, the pro-level
tackle store.
Located in Southside on Neely Henry Lake, Buck’s Island is a
full-service, new and used boat dealership that specializes in pontoon boats,
bass boats and aluminum fishing boats. In business on the Coosa River lake in
Etowah County since 1948, Buck’s Island also sells new and used outboard motors
and has 18 dedicated service bays providing maintenance, service and repairs on
all types of boats. Buck’s also welcomes trade-in boats and offers used boats
of all varieties.
An on-site, pro-level tackle store called The Loft carries full
lines of reels, tackle and clothing and accessories. Online ordering is
available at shopbucksisland.com.
Founded by Buck Lumpkin 52 years ago, Buck’s Island remains in the
family, says co-owner Mary Lumpkin, who operates Buck’s Island with husband
Tony, Buck’s son. “And we are proud to say that our daughters and son-in-law
are going to carry on the business, as the third generation.” Daughter Angela
and husband Israel and daughter Katie are already working at the business
founded by their grandfather,
The Loft at Buck’s Island, opened in fall of 2018, is geared to
professional tournament anglers with a professional buyer helping to stock the
tackle store that sees customers from throughout the state, Mrs. Lumpkin says.
With a huge selection of tackle, reels and lures, The Loft also carries
clothing and hats from all the brands they sell, plus sunglasses and clothing
from Costa and Calcutta Outdoors.
Added to The Loft’s offerings in late 2019 were kayaks, the
fastest-growing market in boating. The Loft carries Jackson Kayaks, a brand
founded by Olympic kayaker Eric Jackson and made in Tennessee, and YakAttack,
USA-made fishing gear and accessories for kayaks.
Brand name boats offered at Buck’s Island include Bentley and
Crest Pontoon boats, Caymas Bass Boats, G-3 Boats, Polar Kraft fishing boats,
Stingray bowrider boats, Falcon Bass Boats, and Suncatcher Pontoon boats by
G-3, a Yamaha marine group company. Buck’s also specializes in Yamaha and
Mercury outboard motors.
Of the new lines and models for 2020, the Bentley Pontoon “is a
lot of pontoon for the money,” Mrs. Lumpkin says. “We’re happy with the line
and how it looks, the quality and the pricing.” The same goes for the Caymas
Bass Boat line that’s new to Buck’s Island this year.
She says the new tri-toon standard for pontoon boats, with three pontoons and up to 300 hp motors that allow for pulling skiers or tubers, are becoming the preferred family and friends boating option for Buck’s customers. But runabouts, like the Stingray bowrider boats, remain popular. Fiberglass bass boats generally outsell aluminum fishing boats at Buck’s, depending on how customers like to fish, with the new fishing kayaks now in the mix for fishing the Coosa River and its lakes.
B.A.S.S. tournament puts Logan Martin on national map
Story by Carol Pappas and Bassmaster Writer Thomas Allen Photos courtesy of Bassmaster
Even the rain couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm on and around Logan
Martin Lake as more than 200 anglers from all over the country and Canada
launched the inaugural 2020 HuK B.A.S.S. Nation Kayak Series powered by
TourneyX presented by Abu Garcia March 5.
The historic event, held during the Bassmaster Classic weekend on
Lake Guntersville and the BASS Collegiate Series Championship on Lay Lake,
chose Logan Martin as its inaugural site for the up-and-coming sport of kayak
bass fishing.
Hosted by the Greater Pell City Chamber of Commerce, local
officials quickly recognized the impact this national tournament had on the
region. “We had over 200 anglers from all over the United States and Canada
visit Pell City, stay in our area and patronize our local businesses,” said
Chamber Executive Director Urainah Glidewell. “We heard so much positive
feedback about how welcoming, warm and accommodating Pell City has been from
the anglers. We appreciate being a part of this inaugural event.”
Chamber President Caran Wilbanks agreed. The Chamber, she said,
was “honored and proud” to have hosted the inaugural tournament. “Over 222
kayakers, along with some of their families, came here from across the nation
and as far away as Canada to fish in our beautiful lake and to shop and dine in
our wonderful city.
“The comments and feedback we received from the anglers were all
positive and enthusiastic about their Logan Martin Lake and Pell City
experiences. We hope this tournament will be the first of many in the years to
come.”
City Manager Brian Muenger cited the economic impact of the lake
and tournaments like these. “We were extremely pleased at the turnout for the
event. The total registration for the event was more than double the
initial estimate we received from B.A.S.S., which speaks to the unique appeal
of the event,” he said.
“More than two-thirds of the 222 fishermen came from outside of
the area, and most came several days in advance to pre-fish for the event. The
lake is a major economic driver for our area, and events that bring in outside
anglers for long periods of time help increase that impact even further.”
Chasing the big fish and the trophy
Davis topped the field of 222 anglers with a strong five-bass
limit measuring 87 3/4 inches.
Davis’ big fish measured 20 inches to cap off his winning limit,
earning him the $10,000 first-place purse.
Logan Martin is the third reservoir along the Coosa River, which
begins in northwest Georgia and runs south to the Alabama River. The Coosa
River is home to the legendary Coosa spotted bass, one of the strongest fish
that swims. However, to win on Logan Martin, a big largemouth or two are
necessary.
Davis caught nearly 40 bass during official competition, but his
limit consisted of three solid largemouth and two spotted bass.
Clear Creek hot spot for tourney
“I launched in Clear Creek, along with many other kayakers, and
spent the day working a short length of bank,” Davis said. “This part of
Alabama is saturated, and there was plenty of current rolling through the lake,
which helps the fishing. I got on a short stretch of rocky shoreline and
literally fished it all day long.”
He said the current was positioning the bass along an edge that
seemed to reload with fish by the minute.
“I spent seven hours on that little section and never moved,” he
said. “I used a Storm Arashi spinbait the entire time, which is unusual for me
because I typically throw a Senko. However, the spinbait was the only lure I
had that matched the baitfish I was seeing. The fact that I was fishing from a
kayak forced me to slow down and focus on a specific area, and it worked.”
Davis fished out of an Old Town Predator PDL that he’s had for two
years.
“I sold my bass boat and bought a couple of kayaks. The Old Town
has been incredible,” he said. “I’ll be fishing from a kayak as long as I can.
I love it.”
Mark Edwards from Pipestem, W.Va., wrapped up his event in second
place after a solid day on Logan Martin where he produced a five-bass limit
measuring 84 3/4 inches. Edwards runs a Native Watercraft Titan and attributes
his success to its stability and accessories.
“I run a Torqeedo kayak trolling motor, which was critical to
covering a lot of water and dealing with the current running through the lake
right now,” Edwards said. “I started in Clear Creek on both days of practice. I
found fish in the main lake pockets, but in a kayak, I couldn’t cover enough of
those pockets to be competitive. So, I focused on the fish I found in Clear
Creek and it paid off.”
Edwards’ limit consisted of two largemouth and three spotted bass.
“The spotted bass were schooling all day long in Clear Creek and I
managed to catch some nice ones throughout the day,” he said. “This was a great
event on a great lake even though it rained nearly the entire day. I’ve been
fishing competitively from a kayak for three years and I’m super excited to see
it getting national attention from Bassmaster. That’s going to take this
community to new levels and I’m proud to be a part of it.”
Jonathan Lessmann of Madison, fished out of a Bonafide 127 rigged
with a Torqeedo trolling motor, YakAttack accessories and a Humminbird Helix 7.
“I launched in Clear Creek and watched the water muddy up as the
day went on,” Lessmann said. “But as the current picked up, I was able to catch
fish from a mudline on a consistent basis. I threw a custom white spinnerbait
with a hybrid skirt in two feet of water or less to catch most of my fish.
After several passes, I was able to narrow down the specific area where the
bulk of the fish were staging, and it really paid off.”
Lessmann is a disabled Army veteran and found that competitive
kayak bass fishing is good medicine for the body and soul.
“I can’t really stand for long periods of time, so a kayak is a
natural fit,” he said. “I’ve always been an avid fisherman. Without fishing I
don’t know what I’d do. Thankfully, a veteran friend of mine introduced me to
the sport, and I’ve been crazy about it ever since.”
Rounding out the Top 10 were Eric Siddiqi (84 1/2 inches) of Ohio,
Lance Burris (84 1/4) of Missouri, Dave Sewell (84) of Indiana, Jimmy McClurkan
(83 3/4) of Tennessee, Mark Brinkley (83 1/4) of Tennessee, Rus Snyders (83
1/4) of Tennessee and Corey Racer (83) of Texas.
Most Basssmaster kayak events take place and wrap up in the same
day. But because this was Classic week, B.A.S.S. invited the top 10, competing
for more than $30,000 in cash, to cross the Classic Stage at the Birmingham
Jefferson Civic Center in Birmingham the next day. Organizers thought it would
bring more excitement and exposure to the inaugural event.
The
B.A.S.S. Nation Kayak Series continues on Lake Fork in Texas, Tennessee’s
Chickamauga Lake, the Upper Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wis., and wraps up
at Clear Lake in Northern California.
