Remembering Our Friend and Fishing Buddy

Following is the first of what I hope will be a number of testimonials from anglers who fish the Dewey Mullins Memorial Bass Tournament Series.

Let's face it: Not every angler is willing to share his wealth of knowledge about bass fishing, but some are, and according to Red Bruun (left in accompanying photo), our recently departed friend Al Napier (right in accompanying photo) was one of those "open books," so to speak.

"That's the thing I admired most about Al," said Red. "Much of what I know today about the area around West Neck is the result of Al's willingness to share what he knew. I hadn't fished West Neck much at all until he talked me into fishing a few of the Dewey tournaments.

"The first time I talked at length with Al must have been at least 20 years ago," continued Red. "My wife and I were camped next to him and Penny at North Bend Park on Kerr. The last time I talked to him was a couple of weeks ago. We had had a couple of nice days, and I was planning to go fishing the next day.

"I called Al, but his son said he wasn't feeling good and to call back the next day. I figured he would not be up to going out on the water, so I went by myself. I hit the water about 9 o'clock and had not had the first bite yet when Al called me around noon.

"We talked for a while, and before we hung up, he told me to go catch a good one. I put away my phone, made a couple of casts, and...don't you know...caught a good one.

"Having fished with Al in several tournaments over the years, including some in the Dewey series, I learned one important thing: I always could count on him for good input on where to fish and to catch that 'key fish' when we needed it.

"Rest in peace, buddy."

As noted in the previous testimonial, Al (seated right) was an "open book" when it came to sharing his wealth of fishing knowledge with others.

Here's a photo of him talking to a young Wounded Warrior during a Region 7-sponsored event held at Munden Point Park in Virginia Beach. The Wounded Warrior pictured here was Al's non-boater companion for the day.

Whether it was Al's sons, Chris and Allen; his tournament partner for the day; or a total stranger, if fishing was involved, you always could count on Al being "all in."

So, what happens when a couple of seasoned anglers decide to hook up as tournament partners? To put it bluntly, they become a force to be reckoned with, especially when they both prefer the same style of fishing. The evidence of that became abundantly clear during a March 12, 2016, Region 7 tournament on Lake Gaston.

Al and his region partner, Wayne Hayes (left), put on a clinic of sorts en route to capturing first place. Their final tally for a six-fish limit was 22.45 pounds, which included Al's 5.76-pound big fish. The ticket to success was their deep-water expertise. They spent a good part of the day with the boat resting in 25 feet of water, while they plied the bottom with jigs.

Those same "winning ways" continued into 2017, when Al and Wayne claimed the Dewey Mullins Memorial Bass Classic crown with a two-day record-setting total of 32.69 pounds of fish. The duo also walked away with the 2017 seasonal-lunker award for a 6.82-pound bass that they weighed during the July 22nd tournament.

Can't get much better than that.