I had the privilege to know Derek from the days of him working at Vados Bait in Slp in the 90’s, to going to those Thorne Bros seminars, the old Zercom days. He lived and breathed fishing, the guy could flat out school you on Mille lacs, or one of those Aitkin County lakes he loved to fish. I had the honor to fish many times with him, MTT, RCL FLW Tournaments, & the Wave Wacker. He taught me what it took to go from an average angler, to a very good fisherman. Derek could break out a map of a lake, break it down, and in a couple of hours, we would be on fish, good fish! I’m going to miss those days of the Spring Ritual of heading to Knife Lake for the Bull Gils, or waiting for “The Opener” on the Pond. He always told me, “it doesn’t matter what kind of boat you have, flasher you use….it’s about making relationship that develop into friendships.” I will miss that. RIP Derek.