One of the best parts of this trip for me personally was getting to meet some of the Fish Village pro staff in person. 2020 robbed us of just about every opportunity to meet with our team, our customers, our partners… basically humans. We were not alone with this… we know that everyone was basically in the same boat. So the opportunity to see even a handful of the team members was certainly one of my highlights.

The team members present for this event were:

• Jesse Landry (Nor Cal)
• Billy Centrone (So. Flo)
• Sean Rigby (Mississippi)
• Brian Nelli (So. Flo)
• Derrick Benton (Pandhandle)

Why do we have a team? Why is that important to us? Because a team is considerably stronger than one. This trip wouldn\’t have happened without the support of a team. Every member of this group regardless of their affiliation to Fish Village acted as a member of a team. It was super cool to see.

This is why I have been taking the time to write my story about this event because everyone made it happen and I want to share my appreciation with all of you.

You guys know about my boy Jesse Landry already… I mentioned him in Part 2. Never met anyone that has a bad thing to say about Jesse… the dude is as solid as they come.

The Fish Village crew came to play, but they also wanted to help in any way possible. Billy without hesitation offered to pickup the Cali boys from the airport and then run them back at the tail end of the trip. Sean worked his ass off with Ivy to secure our incredible, custom Louisiana/Fish Village topwater lures from RD Fishing Tackle. These lures were part of the Redfish tackle packs provided by Fish Village and our partners.

I don\’t think anyone would argue that Brian Nelli was our pro among pros on this trip. His fishing knowledge leads his clients to the promise land year after year, all while competing in kayak fishing\’s biggest tournaments… and often finds himself on the podium. The best part about Brian is that you can just ask for some help and he won\’t be shy with sharing his tactics. Multiple people commented on how fishing with Brian makes them a better angler. Heck of a testimonial.

Our friend and tournament partner in crime, Derrick Benton actually wasn\’t that excited about the fishing aspect of the trip… I mean can you blame him when 3 Mile Bridge is just minutes away? Though the fishing wasn\’t foremost on his mind… the \”hang\” was. The opportunity to mingle, share ideas, talk shit, and laugh with some good kayak fishing minds was the golden ticket for Derrick. The best part about his journey was that he LOVED the fishing despite incredibly challenging conditions AND the social aspect was equally as rewarding. Why mention all of this… because I feel the same way. I wasn\’t hooked on redfishing in the marsh and I just wanted to see some of the people I respect and care about. I ended up walking away with such an appreciation for marsh redfishing and all of these human interactions on and off the water. Ohhh… he also got up before the sun rose and made sandwiches for the group, produced some BEAUTIFUL custom Fish Village rods for yours truly, my Pops and Joe. And if that wasn\’t enough, he and Ivy surprised me with an insane acid wrapped Fish Village rod just to say thank you for being a part of the journey. Simply incredible.

Thank you all for showing up in your own ways and making our team stronger.

The story continues…