Citrus Heights, CA

I want to fish as much as possible, any kind of fishing. If it swims, I will catch it. I think that makes me a better angler. Growing up, I watched the western guys go back East and do well, guys like Skeet Reese, Brent Ehrler, Brett Hite, Chris Zaldain, Ish Monroe and Brandon Palaniuk, to name a few. Then getting the chance to do that, with the Living the Dream package, to travel back there and compete, I learned just how hard it is. I know how expensive it can be and I look up to those guys that do it and do it for long periods of time. I really give kudos to them. It is a challenging and costly thing to do. I qualified to return, but with the finances, I didn’t. I am looking forward to Apex bringing that type of competition to the West and fishing a bunch of new bodies of water that we don’t usually compete on has me really excited. It’s never easy to win; but fishing against 32 guys as opposed to 100 guys will give a whole different aspect to competition with a smaller boat field. I am also super-excited about the APEX payout and that the Wild West is coming out with a circuit like this for the best in the West.

• 2021 APEX CUP Lake Almanor Champion
• Two boats
• The Bass Federation’s 2019 Living the Dream prize package winner (a $120K package to fish the FLW Tour)
• WWBT Pro/Am Angler of the Year

Austin has fished his whole life as far back as he can remember. He stepped into tournament fishing at the age of nine.

Austin loves power fishing, specifically throwin’ big swimbaits, such as a Huddleston, Osprey, 3:15 and Hawg Hunter and to punch and flip. He loads the boat with a little bit of everything, including boxes of crankbaits and Dobyns spinnerbaits. His soft plastics arsenal includes Zoom Brush Hogs and Gary Yamamoto Senkos. He throws Dobyns Rods with Shimano reels spooled with P-Line.