An avid smallmouth angler, Al believes in plastics, hair jigs, and old standards. He also doesn't believe in spending next year's salary on equipment while understanding that you get what you pay for. He favors Yamamotos, Zooms, Fin-S-Fish, S&W, Kalin plastics and Phil Shafer's hair jigs. He is very grateful to be on the Pro Staff of Yamamoto's Inside Line magazine.
Al grew up in West Virginia on the Greenbrier River, learning the outdoors from his father, who he remembers as a person who never took a poor shot, never kept a fish they didn't need to eat, and always wanted the other person to "have the best show."
After high school, Al married the lady who is still his wife. He enlisted in the Navy and served in the Submarine Service until he retired in 1995 as a Chief Petty Officer. Al and his wife have two sons who both love the outdoors.
Currently, Al's home is in Newport News, Virginia. He works for a contractor, providing engineering services in predictive maintenance at a nuclear power plant. He hunts and fishes whenever he can and loves introducing others to these sports, since he believes they are the most beneficial activity of the human race.
You are most likely to find Al wading a smallmouth river in eastern Virginia or in his Greenbrier River. While the transitory nature of his job makes these his favorite haunts by default, don't be surprised to find him in the back seat of someone's boat, just because they said, "Let's go bass fishing."
Al describes himself as a "jack of all trades" on the river. His articles may be found in the pages of BassResource.com.