I was born February 14, 1959, in Harrisburg, PA.  When I was a year old  my parents and I move to Florida.  I lived in the same house on the west  side of Orlando from 1960 till 1980.  I attended Lockhart Elementary School ,  Lockhart Jr. High School and Edgewater High School.  I graduated from Edgewater High School in 1977.  From there I went to  Valencia Community College for two years and received an Associate Arts degree.  After that I attended the University of Central Florida and received a Bachelors of Science degree in Engineering Technology. 

In 1978 during college I began working for Seabury-Bottorf Associates, my fathers engineering business.  I was hired to run the Environmental Laboratory and manage field operations.  In 1986, my fathers business partner retired and the company name was changed to Bottorf Associates.  In 1994, I replaced my father as president of the company. More information about Bottorf Associates, Inc. is available at the companies website www.bottorf.com.

My father loved to fish and took me every chance he got. He taught me to catch bass with shiners and bought me my first boat when I was twelve. I used to spend a lot of time in that boat on our local lake fishing, skiing and swimming.  While I was camping along the lake shore I learned about the magic of fishing and boating at night . I have been fishing and boating mostly at night ever since.

In 1986, I got bought a bass boat and began fishing every Friday and Saturday night in the Butler Chain in Windermere, Fl.  It is a pristine chain of lakes with clear water and lots of good spots to fish. I caught quite a few trophy sized bass and met a few good friends who were out there at night doing the same thing I was. I made occasional trips to the Mosquito Lagoon where my friends and I camped on the islands and did some shrimping, crabbing and boating.

In 1996, while camping with my wife Linda the bass boat sucked up a garbage bag and overheated destroying the motor. I sold it and took the insurance money and put a down payment on my current boat a 19 foot Key West Center Console. I the last six years I have spent countless hours on the water at night trying to learn how to catch saltwater fish for half the year and shrimping the other half of the year.

People are always asking me why do you fish at night.  My reply is simple. I fish to relax and enjoy myself on the water.  I spend all day interacting with people and it is nice to get away from it all that and just go out on the water with nobody else around. Most of the time you have the entire place to yourself.  Nobody’s fishing in your favorite spot and the fish don’t seem to mind that it is dark.

In October, 2001,  I discovered that there was an organized group of people who were fishing and shrimping in the same places I was and they did things at night.  Eager to learn more about my favorite sport I joined the Internet Shrimpers and Anglers Association and have really had a great time with them.  They are probably the greatest group of people I have ever met. If you fish or shrimp in the Indian River or Mosquito Lagoon you owe it to yourself to check this organization out.  Their website is at www.isaa.cc.

Thanks for visiting

Kent D. Bottorf