I remember as a little girl sitting at the end of the dock fishing when I would see my grandpa come in from one of his fishing charters. I would always ask him if I could go with him the next time, and every time I got the same answer... "you’re not old enough yet." 

Then one day, he came to me and told me I was now old enough, and that I was going to be his 1^st Mate.

 I was so excited!  Finally, I could not only go fishing with him, but I was now going to actually start getting paid for it too. 

What was better than getting paid to fish!? My grandpa took me out one day and showed me everything that I would do. He taught me to fill up the buckets with water, then to put the worms (yes, worms!) in there, how to net fish and much, much more.

Little did I know that one day I would love fishing so much, that I too would make it my career.  Over the next eight years that I was the 1^st Mate for my grandfather, he would teach me more than I ever thought possible. I learned everything from controlling the boat, to dealing with the customers, to general knowledge of the lake. I had several jobs throughout the years, but nothing ever interested me like fishing. I love getting up way too early in the morning, getting the boat ready and getting out on the lake in time to see the beautiful sunrise.

One day I finally decide that this was it, fishing would be my career. So now at the age of 21, I went out and successfully got my captains license.

As you will see from below:   I am now running a 27 ft. Sportcraft out of Bolles Harbor, Michigan on Lake Erie.