Aaron Hood & Ryan Hood the dynamic duo from New Brunswick

Aaron Hood & Ryan Hood the dynamic duo from New Brunswick I had the opportunity to gets some insight on how these two up and coming competitive anglers think. After only 4 years of fishing tournaments, they were crowned with the title of the 2016 Mercury Molson Bass Tour Champions! In New Brunswick where our average age of tournament anglers is in the mid to late 50's, it good to see two young guns making a name for themselves. Our sport is always looking for ambassadors to take the torch, share the drive and passion for the next generation. The Hood brother's come from a family that taught them the importance of fishing and still to this day they eat sleeps and dream about fishing. New Brunswick couldn't ask for two better anglers that are so competitive but always willing to share their knowledge with other fishermen to make our series as completive as possible. The Hood brothers Hood are always honing their skills to stay at the top of their game. While talking to them both they mentioned they want to take their fishing to the next level by getting more involved and actively promoting our great sport like teaching our current and future anglers. I wanted to ask them a few questions that showed their drive, knowledge and how they got started and how they continue to grow. 1. Why do you think you reached success so early in your fishing career? Four years is very respectable to win your first championship. I think just having the competitive drive to keep competing is what kept us going. We both love to be throwing lines, and when we are not competing we are learning new techniques or at least trying. 2. What advice would you give to someone just starting out on the tournament scene? The advice I would give somebody today starting the tournament scene would have to be not to get frustrated when you're not hooking up take that time and learn new tactics and strategies for upcoming events, believe us not having fish in the boat can be a buzz kill... 3. How did you get involved with tournament fishing? We both were lucky enough to have grown up on the water with fishing rods in our hands, but I think what done us in was watching our uncle (George Hood) with the success he had in his angling career (and fast boats). 4. Are there any products that helped you with your success this year? Our products that really helped us out this year was Cotton Cordell Berkley, Jackall Storm, Zoom Cabela's stick-o baits are mostly what we use gallon of Smelly Jelly gammie hooks, gear 90 percent Shimano rods and reels, other 10 percent is Abu, Rapala and good electronics Humminbird and Lowrance. 5. Now that you're NBFSA Champions, what are your goals for next season? We try not to set to many goals for ourselves, but if we were to set one it would be trying to get in the running for "Team of the year 2016 6. I think it's pretty awesome to be able to fish competitively with your brother. Do you both have different skills that you to the table or do you focus on individual skills that are tried and true? Its great getting to fish with your bother, just getting to spend time together is great, but when the competitiveness kicks in we both know what needs to be done and don't not shy away from letting the other know when we screw up, its takes a lot of the tension off in competition because we know how each other work, we have fished together long enough now to know that what fishing spots we do have we found together so there is no argument where the boat is headed..(Except for that hole Keith Cormier lent us). Pretty much we get along and it seems to work for us. As far as our how are skill differ we are pretty much the same when the fish are on, and if they're not we are trying different techniques at both ends of the boat. 7. What are your favorite technique and why? And your worst favorite technique? This may sound funny but we both are addicted to running Zoom Flukes, the Jerk bait in our area is bait the works all season for us, weather fast action at the front of the boat or slow action at the back. I would say drop shotting is our worst, We like to keep moving and running out baits whether it be a jerk bait, crank bait, or even dead sticking a stick-o- bait, I find drop shotting monotonous. 8. Where do the Hood brothers see themselves in the next couple of years? Will we see you listed on any of the tours in Ontario or Quebec? That's a tough question! In the next couple of years the "Hood brothers will probably be fishing the NBSFA tour with possibly a few more learning curve tournaments in Ontario and Quebec under our belts. We would love to say yes to see Hood/Hood listed on a tour in Que/Ont in the future. We have come a long way from a couple of kids standing on the shore of Magaguadavic Lake throwing original , so who knows what could happen with a little help in years to come. 9. Do you think it's important to have ambassadors and mentors in our sport? We definitely need ambassadors and mentors in our sport! Those are the people who keep dreams alive and help make what we do possible. If it wasn't for our Sports ambassadors such as yourself Jason, the Rick Greens, Jeff Wilsons, Andrew Oliver's and every other member who brings sponsors to the east coast smallies community, where would we be? And as far as having mentors they are just as important! Everybody needs those couple people who they can look up too, and ask for advice or a helping hand. Like the many guys who helped myself and Aaron out when we headed to the Berkley B1 made it possible for us to even put a line in the water on Lake St Francis, those are the guys who are going to keep our sport alive, and I hope someday there are guys in our shoes looking for the same help and advice, so we can help and pay if forward. That's what it is all about. With a team that is so competitive and dedicated, I can tell you that they will be a big part of the New Brunswick sport fishing scene for a long while. Currently they have no fishing sponsors but the way these two are improving and actively looking for ways to improve our sport, there will be plenty of opportunities knocking on their doors in the very near future. You will also see these guys picking up a few cheques at a tournament near you! Thank you, An obsessed angler, Jason