I first got to know about Allen from Troy (yakonthefly).  He and Allen had fished a couple days out of Valdez, AK in the summer of 2007.  Allen is a member of the Four as I call them.  Four anglers who were the first and I still believe the only guys to fish for and land salmon sharks from a kayak.  I got Allen’s number from Troy and we spoke.  I really enjoyed that first conversation as he’s a hard core kayak angler and very nice guy.  Troy arranged a trip to Alaska the following summer and needed five guys besides him. Allen became one of the participants so I spent week fishing with Allen.  He also started the Northwest Kayak Anglers website.  He’s also very involved with organizing the fight against the fishing area closures on the west coast.  Allen's going to send KFM an article explaining what's going on regarding this important topic.  When we get it we'll run it in the current issue.

Also check out his article Foggy Bay http://www.kayakfishingmagazine.net/community/trip-kayak-fishing-reports/678-foggy-bay-alaska.html

1) How did you first learn about kayak fishing and when did you get started? Where was that?  What was your first kayak?

I started fishing out of a kayak in 2003.  The previous fall I was returning from a fishing trip on a power boat and saw someone kayak fishing.  I believe it was Allen Bushnell of Santa Cruz Kayak Fishing.  At that time I owned a Cobra Triple and I thought to myself, "I can do that".   So the next Spring I went out on the Triple with a buddy and I caught a 12# California Halibut.  We went out the next weekend and I got a 34# butt and he got a 25# butt.  There's been no looking back since...

2) What kayak(s) are you presently using today?

I currently have a stable of Ocean Kayaks including a T11, T13, P15, and a Scupper Pro.  I use them in different situations.  The T11 gets called up for lakes and rivers.  The T13 is my general all around boat.  The P15 gets used on the ocean.

3) Where do you do most of your fishing?

I fish the ocean mostly from Northern California to Alaska.

4) What's your favorite type of fishing and favorite species?  What type of gear do you use?

I fish for whatever is biting in the ocean including salmon, halibut, lingcod, and various rockfish.  For salmon I like to troll spoons on a downrigger.  For the others I'll jig plastics and irons on the bottom.

5) I know you travel to Alaska a lot to fish?  How many times have you gone there on trips?  What other places are high on your list?

I've kayak fished up in Alaska each of the past 4 years, twice to Prince William Sound out of Valdez and 3 times to the Ketchikan area.  I also did a kayak trip out of Seward which was more touring, but I did bring a rod to catch dinner with.  When we go out of Valdez we get dropped off 60-70 miles from town at these remote Forest Service cabins.  It's a true outback experience.  We did something similar on one of the Ketchikan trips, although last year we did a camping trip to Foggy Bay which in 2010 will be offered as a guided trip.  Of course there was our Shark trip too.

9) When did you become a member of the OK team?

I joined the OK team in 2006.  I had just moved back up to Seattle and couldn't find anyone to kayak fish with.  So I started NorthWestKayakAnglers.com and soon thereafter joined the OK team.