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Bear Wenzel

About Me:

Bear grew up in New York, targeting pond largemouth bass and trout in moving water with his father and cousins. As a teenager, his family moved to Virginia, where his passion for smallmouth bass would grow.   He would spend many days wading the Rappahannock River in Stafford and Fredericksburg Virginia.  As he grew older and his knowledge of fishing expanded, he started chasing tidal water largemouth on the lower Potomac River. 

In 2006 he moved to West Virginia, where he was introduced to kayaks and kayak fishing by Jedediah Plunkert. He started to call the Shenandoah and upper Potomac rivers his new home water.  Learning these water ways was his priority and he joined Harper’s Ferry Adventure Center as a whitewater rafting guide.  Training consisted of swift water rescue and 40 hours of guide training.  Much of this knowledge would parlay well with his earning American Canoe Association certification of River Kayak Fishing in Juan Veruete’s inaugural class for this certification.  

Treasure hunting for civil war relics is his second passion. His kayak helps him get to areas where major civil war battles crossed mid Atlantic rivers.  On his days off from fishing he will load up his kayak with his metal detecting gear and snorkel.   Finding artifacts in the water has become much easier with his Wilderness Tarpon 130X.

But in the end he is a competitive individual and loves tournament fishing the Mid Atlantic Kayak Bass Fishing series to help support Heroes on the Water Maryland chapter.  His love for fishing and nature has progressed with the use of his kayak.   He finds it gratifying to help others that are willing to learn and gain knowledge on river safety, paddling technique, maintaining boat position and pattern development. These skills are some of the topics he will cover in his river kayak fishing school to be established in the spring of 2017.