Heap Hunters – Bass Fishing Blog

AKA: Daddy Baker, Bake Daddy, Baker, Baxter, CB, B

“the most likely to produce”

I didn’t grow up fishing. It was something I had to find. My dad took me numerous times as a kid. When I was in 8th grade we moved to a neighborhood outside of Richmond that had a pond.  It was then that I realized how much I lived for fishing. I used to ride my bike every chance I could  a few miles down to the pond and fish until  after sundown. Everything I did had some relation to my next fishing adventure.  Not much has changed in that regard! I used to mow lawns in the neighborhood for money when I was too young to work. While I was mowing I would collect crickets and frogs that I used for bait.

I also remember buying my first artificial lure. It was a small floating Rapala that looked like a yellow perch. I felt so excited looking at all the lures up on the wall at the tackle store. I knew that if I used it enough I would surely catch a bass (the seemingly most coveted fish in the pond). So one day I set up shop in a small cove and made the same cast probably a hundred times until I finally caught a chip and didn’t know what to do with myself.  Shortly after the catch, I launched the Rapala into a tree across the cove and lost it, only making the challenge of obtaining and using these artificial lures something I would have to deal with for the rest of my life.

After going away to college it seemed I lost interest in fishing. I was struggling to earn money and working on performing as a musician in local clubs. However, one summer when I was home from school, my great uncle (shortly before he passed) seemed to take me under his wing by calling me frequently to meet him at his house early to go fishing. He would take me to a number of different places and show me a lure that I was unfamiliar with. He would tell me the most hilarious stories! He really taught me a lot about being on the water, and I caught my first really big bass (estimated 5 pounds) with him.

Around this time in the late 90’s, my dad got himself a small jon boat, and I had graduated college. It was fully on! We would fish local reservoirs and the James River whenever we could. Neither of us knew an incredible amount but together we learned the basics together of checking depths, water temperatures, anchoring and working a spot, and rigging soft plastics to work cover. In 2009 I was able to net my dad’s biggest bass so far, a 6 pound 9 ounce Trophy!

In the last few years I completely changed focus from how to catch a lot of bass to how to catch the biggest bass possible. My current personal best is this 7 pound 11 ounce beauty caught in March of 2010!

In 2004 I met Charles Evans, and since then he has been my bass fishing partner. He’s the only person that I’ve met that is about as insane as I am (maybe even worse). We push each other and are very competitive. He has a dedication that is unmatched! We differ plenty in our approach to fishing, but one thing has kept us in check: we are in search of the biggest bass in whatever body of water we are fishing!

We call ourselves The Heap Hunters!