Pete Mathews
I’m an angler and lifelong resident of the Kansas City area. My family is originally from the Twin Cities so my obsession started with childhood trips to Minneapolis and family vacations down to Lake of the Ozarks, and the obsession seems to get bigger and bigger every year. I’m entering my 4th year of fishing competitively as a co-angler in the BFL and I compete in the occasional team tournament here and there. Although I’ve fished all over the country on all types of water, the majority of my experience is on the deep and clear highland reservoirs in the Ozark Mountains. I try to spend 75+ days a year on the water and fish 10+ tournaments, but I’m getting hitched in June so I have to scale it back a little bit in 2011. I used to consider myself a multi-species angler but over the course of the last 5-6 years I’ve gradually phased out most of my other tackle just so I could buy more bass gear. For more info on me and what makes me tick, my website is probably the best place to go (www.petemathews.com).
From a professional standpoint, I’ve been in banking and lending my entire career and I work as an Officer for Bank of the West. I’m fortunate enough to work in an industry that encourages involvement with non-profit organizations and causes, so several months ago I began searching for something that matched my passion with my professional situation and skill set. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find anyone to buy me a boat and give me the $90k I would need to fish the Elite Series or FLW Tour for a year, but…I did talk to Danny Blanford from the PAA and he introduced me to Teeg and Recycled Fish. After speaking with him and learning about the cause I knew it was time to get involved and give something back to a sport that has given me so much over the years.
My official title with Recycled Fish is that of Volunteer Coordinator. So…what exactly does that mean? It means that I work with all of our volunteers and ambassadors throughout the year, making sure that everybody has what they need to advance the cause and the Stewardship Ethic.
