I first became familiar with RB Bass back in the late 90’s, when I started getting seriously into bass fishing. I was still living in Oakland and searching for as much info on local bass fishing as I could find. I remember being turned on to this popular tackle shop…Walton’s Pond in San Leandro, CA. When I walked into the store, it was like being in bass fishing nirvana! There were local guys in there just hanging out and talking fishing. It was great! It was my initial visit to Walton’s Pond, when I discovered one of my all-time favorite baits and perhaps the most popular bass fishing bait ever…the Senko!
While at the shop, I remember seeing this really cool logo…I can’t remember if it was on a sticker, a flyer or something else…but it said, “RB Bass”. I had no idea what RB Bass was or what it was about, but I wanted to find out. However, soon thereafter that visit to Walton’s Pond in 2002, I relocated to Central Florida and had completely forgotten to check them out. After moving to Florida, my passion for bass fishing exploded! In 2007, I purchased my first bass boat…an old 1996 17’ Cajun bass boat. By living in this bass fishing mecca and looking to fuel my competitive fire, I inevitably discovered tournament bass fishing. So…two years later, I upgraded to a 20’ Charger bass boat.
In 2011, I moved again…this time to Dallas, TX. Looking back on it, I have been fortunate enough to live in what I consider to be the top three states in the country for bass fishing…California, Florida and Texas. As I got deeper into the sport, I started reaching out to various fishing entities with the hopes of obtaining some sponsorship opportunities. It was during this time, that I remembered that really cool logo, “RB Bass”. I searched the internet for “RB Bass”, and the search provided me a name (Ron Howe) and an email address. I sent Ron an email with the hopes that I would get a response. Not only did he respond, but he wanted to call me! I remember we talked on the phone for a long time. We talked about our backgrounds (both fishing and professionally), shared philosophies, etc. At the end of our conversation, I was convinced that this was a group, an organization that I wanted to be a part of. To this day, that has been one of the best decisions I could have made for my fishing career, and I will remain a part of this outstanding group for as long as they will have me.
