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  Larry Mantle Owner and Fishing Guide                                   Az Great Adventure Fishing

I grew up fishing and hunting in Missouri. I caught my first fish, a blugil at the age of 3 on a cane pole with bobber. My first rod and reel was a Zebco 33. I grew up fishing on small farm ponds, rivers, and lakes in Missouri. My dad taught my 3 brothers and me how to enjoy the great outdoors and what it had to offer. We made our own fun and learned how to respect adults and to treat people how we wanted to be treated.

How I ended up in Arizona. I actually came out here on August 14th 1972, to see a couple I was in the Marine Corp with, and they introduced me to a girl. I was there 7 days and when I was leaving, I told her I would be back in 3 weeks. She kind of wrote that off. Well, I showed up 3 weeks later and knocked on her door. She opened it slightly and closed it. I thought, I really don’t want drive back to Missouri.

Luckily, she opened it, and to make a long story short, we got married on September 30th and just knowing each other for only 6 weeks. We had 3 daughters and made it exactly 2 months shy of 50 years when she passed away of 

bone cancer.

I moved to Arizona in September 1972 from a small town of 1050 people in Missouri. When I told my parents I was moving to Arizona, and they thought I was crazy. They thought Arizona was like what they saw in a John Wayne Western, with red dirt and a lone cactus.

I joined Arizona Bass Club in 1980, became President in 1983 and 1984. I started fishing professionally in 1982. I did several fishing seminars at local tackle stores and seminars at the yearly Arizona Boat Shows. I also did T V fishing shows with Arizona Outdoors and Fishing with the Good Ole Boys. Below are the tournaments circuits I fished throughout my career.

Western Bass, U.S. Bass, Westcoast Bass, WON Bass, All Star Bass, BASS, American Bass, Professional Bass Association, Tournament of Champions. I won several big bass awards in several tournaments, including the U.S. Open.

Qualified for Year End Championships on local and regional level. Won several bass boats during career.

I started guiding in February 2008. My greatest joy was teaching my three daughters how to fish, I even teamed up with them in team tournaments. Now I’ve taught my grand kids to fish and enjoy the great outdoors.

I love guiding, especially seeing young kids and even adults catch their first fish or their personal best. It’s not even the fishing, I also love talking about the scenery and animals in Arizona. I get people from all parts of the United States and several from out of the Country. and enjoy learning their ways of living and their background. I always feel that after our trip, I’ve made new friends. I’ve guided people from 4 years old to one gentleman that was 93 and wanted to fish one more time in his life. He caught fish and stated he lived a full life.

I am also a Marine Corp Veteran and served two tours of duty in Chu Lai Vietnam with the First Marine Air Wing. As a Sargent I was Honorably Discharged on June 30th, 1969 after 3 years of active duty. When I left Vietnam the second time, I told myself that I would live my life to the fullest, and God has granted me that wish. I have a wonderful family and they all live within 30 minutes of me, with the exception of one grandson, SSgtJustin Abraham, who’s been in the Air force for over 10 years and is stationed in Okanawa, Japan

 

MARINE VETERAN OWNED AND OPERATED. PROFESSIONAL FISHING GUIDE IN ARIZONA.