Hey all! Bear with me as I am new to the blogging world. This is my first career post. Today I don’t have anything to share with actually on the water but wanted to give you all an idea as to who I am, where I come from, and some background information on how this whole Midwest Lip Rippers started.
I want to first start out with how incredibly excited I am to be joining my good friends Nick Harrington and Chris Seylar in this new adventure. These boy are some straight up sticks on the water-some fishing freaks. Midwest Lip Rippers is based out of an idea started by Chris and Nick right in good ole Brookings, South Dakota. Brookings is a special place to me as this where I met Chris and Nick on the very first day of college at South Dakota State University. It took a while for us all to come together but as soon as we all talked it clicked and led to many adventures thumping around 81 Ponds and Sinai. Our friendship grew and our ideas on everything became similar. We all knew we wanted to contribute to this industry and we’ve finally found a way to combine all our talents. Nick and Chris are soon to be graduates of SDSU’s Wildlife & Fisheries program. This is a program I spent two years of my life loving. I am very confident you will love the academic content as well as their adventures on the water they provide, I know these guys well and I know they are going to have some absolute A1 content for you all to digest.
On to a little history of me. I come from a family of fishing, I come from the “Propst” family. If you’ve followed walleye fishing for a while chances are you have come across this last name, whether it’s my grandfather, Bob Propst Sr, a true pioneer of Walleye fishing and one of the most iconic walleye anglers to ever live or you’ve followed my dad, Bob Propst Jr, who has put together a very impressive professional fishing career including two Professional Walleye Trail wins, the first ever PWT Energizer Rookie of the Year and multiple top 10 AOY Finishes and plenty of success in other organizations such as the RCL/FLW, MWC and many other trails. It’s not only tournaments when it comes to fishing in my family, chances are you’ve used something my grandfather helped invent or even invented himself while walleye fishing. He was a man that many considered part walleye (haha). My grandfather and father also created one of the most recognized guide services on the Missouri River System, Propst Professional Anglers, something I hold very near to my heart and a legacy I’d love to continue along with Midwest Lip Rippers.
My love for fishing came at a very young age. I spent my summers traveling spending time with my father and grandfather on either dads’ tournament boat or grandpas’ pontoon boat. As I got older I had the privilege to tour the country with my dad as he fished the professional circuits. I found myself often fantasying of being just like my father and grandfather: fishing professionally, going toe to toe with some of the most recognized names in fishing. I was fortunate to be able to watch and learn not only from my father and grandfather but I got firsthand experience watching and learning from people like Mike McClelland, Ron Seelhoff, Gary Parsons, Keith Kavajecz, Pete Harsh, Chad Hall etc. all the big names you can think of I got to see do work first hand. I feel so fortunate to be able to say I’ve got to meet and learn from so many amazing pros. I want to thank each and every one of these guys I grew up watching as well. It is far too many to name as I could write a list a mile long of all the names. You guys helped fuel the fire to me wanting to be a fisherman and carry on not only my last name but an industry you all created and added to.
What to expect from me and this blog. Today’s post is just me trying to get the hang of this, and do some explaining as to why we are here. I’m not sure how often I will blog. I will be soon figuring that out. I hope to give you all content at the very least once a week. This blog is basically going to be me sharing what’s going on with fishing, whether it’s guiding, or if it’s fun fishing. I will also be providing details from tournaments, as I will be fishing an abundance of tournaments this year including the Master Walleye Circuit with my father. I plan to tell stories from being on the road, share information to hopefully help all you and I also hope if anything I can just give you all something to follow and get a good read from.
Until next time, I’ll see you “On the Water”. Tight Lines.
– Mason Propst
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