Bill Dejoseph

Bill DeJoseph was born Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, but grew up in Western Pennsylvania. He started fishing when he was a child and has a picture of himself at six years old holding a couple of bass he had caught in the Florida Everglades. Because he started fishing so early, it helped keep him out of trouble when he was a teenager. He started kayak fishing about eight years ago. HIs first kayak was a $350 sit-in and he upgraded to a sit-on-top about a year later. His third year kayak fishing, he “broke the bank” on a full-rigged, big-time kayak and he hasn’t looked back since.
Initially, he started kayak fishing to get off the bank. However, as he got into it, he found that he loves being able to squeeze into places that other, larger boats can’t get into. He enjoys getting onto new waters, the comradery with fellow anglers, and promoting the sport. He started fishing tournaments about five years ago. In that time, he has managed one win, three second place, one third place and one fourth place finish. In two team tournaments he has a second and fourth place finish. Bill also qualified for the 2019 and 2020 Kayak Bass Fishing National Championships. In 2019, he was able to secure a Top 40 Day One and make the cut over the first two days, allowing him to compete on Day Three and earn a Top 100 finish.
He has volunteered his time and kayaks for Heroes on the Water, Western PA Chapter, and has done so for the past couple of years. He is also a longtime member of Kayak Anglers. While the Western PA Chapter is his home chapter, he has fished events for three out of six of their chapters. He has also fished several KBF events, along with a few events for the Performance Kayak Tournament Trail. He also was Membership and Sponsor Director for Kayak Anglers in 2015 and 2016.
His favorite fishing memory is the first time he fished out of a kayak. He was able to get off the bank and fish places that others couldn’t get to. He had an epic day on a paddle-tail frog, boating 10-12 decent fish. From that day, he was hooked.

“Never leave fish to find fish, and always be prepared for a strike. Don’t just go through the motions.”