Eric Atkins

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Hello folks. I am Eric Atkins and I’m from Alabama the Beautiful.   I’m a husband and father of two future adventure buddies.  Our family lives in North Alabama near Lake Guntersville and Lake Wheeler. In fact, our backyard is a protected wildlife habitat and contains waters that flow into Lake Wheeler. 

I’ve always grown up near water.  In my earliest years, there was just a screen door, a clothes line, barn, and a few hundred acres of pasture between me and Lake Guntersville backwater.  Catching crappie from the bank of upper Lake Guntersville by the light of a kerosene lantern has burnt positive memories into my head.  Later in my childhood, we moved to east Tennessee to a farm that had a creek flowing across the bottomland into the Hiwassee River.  There my sister and I had a blast trying to catch catfish, rock bass, perch, and the infrequent rainbow trout. 

I want to instill within my daughter and son a sense of wonder and awe towards creation.  From our back porch in Huntsville, Alabama, we can observe wonderful creatures living in their natural environment.  Eagles, owls, coyotes, deer, pileated woodpeckers, chipmunks, and great herons are just a small sample of the magnificent creatures with which we get to share our part of the world.

Jackson Kayak boats help us explore our world.  Their plastics help take me to places that would otherwise be inaccessible; alligator-filled swamps, shallow flats on the Tennessee River, tiny creeks that are sometimes better described as ditches, and raging rivers.  The features that Jackson Kayak integrates into their boats help me and my feel safe, comfortable, and empowered to explore more.

I enjoy documenting my trips and catches on camera.  My photography has been used by companies and personalities throughout the industry.  In 2015 I was on the cover of the summer issue of Kayak Angler Magazine.  GoPro and Flickr have made some of my shots “Photos of the Day” reaching millions of people around the globe.  Jackson Kayak uses many of my photos on their kayak product pages and marketing material as have other organizations such as Power-Pole, Jimmy Houston Outdoors, Trout Underground, Kayak Bass Fishing, and River Bassin’ Tournament Trail.

I also occasionally fish local and national tournaments.  I was a Top 20 River Bassin’ angler in 2014 and have placed in several events since.  I currently hold our club record for longest bass caught during a tournament (24.75-inches) and was the founder of North Alabama’s first club tournament trail.

I am fortunate to be partnered with some of the best names in the industry:  Bending Branches, YakAttack, Power-Pole, Orion Coolers, Red Fox Wireless, River2Sea, LifeProof, and GoPro.  Please follow my adventures from the Jackson Kayak fishing blog linked on this page.  You can also find me at:

YouTube.com/ericatkins
instagram.com/ericatkins
ericatkins.com

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