Eight-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier Brandon Lester depends heavily on his wife Kimberly to keep their household running like a well-oiled machine. Thank goodness the teacher didn’t confiscate the note sent between these two crazy kids or their amazing family unit might not exist.

HPFC: Can you share the story of how you and your husband first crossed paths?

Kimberly Lester: I met Brandon our Junior year in High School at Lincoln County High School in Fayetteville, TN. We passed notes to each other in Geometry class, and he asked to take me pond fishing for our first date! We dated through high school. He was my prom date! We decided to take a break when we both moved to Chattanooga to attend UTC. I ended up getting married and he did a few years later. We actually didn’t speak to each other for 6 years. After I got divorced, I came home to Fayetteville to visit and our paths crossed. We were both divorced at this time and decided to start a rekindling of our relationship. The rest is history - God works in mysterious ways!

HPFC: What were your initial impressions or your husband when you first met him?

Kimberly Lester: I thought he was super shy but sweet and he was a country boy through and through. He lived, ate and breathed fishing even then.

HPFC: Did you know anything about fishing when you first met?

Kimberly Lester: Yes! My daddy used to take me to the local creeks and ponds on Saturdays to fish with cane poles!

HPFC: What if anything did you know about professional bass fishing before you met?

Kimberly Lester: Brandon is who taught me all about professional bass fishing. When we were dating in high school we would watch Bassmaster when it aired on Sundays and Saturday nights including DVDs of Bill Dance!

HPFC: Was there a specific moment or event that made you realize your feelings were more than just friendship?

Kimberly Lester: There was never really a moment – just a friendship that grew to much more in high school. When we started talking after our divorces, we took things slow as I had a 3 year old daughter this time around, and we didn’t physically meet up for a few months. When we did, he took me on a day date fishing and when he hugged me it felt like I was home!

HPFC: How long have you been married?

Kimberly Lester: It will be 8 years this November 11th.

HPFC: When you met was he already fishing professionally?

Kimberly Lester: When we first met, no, we were in high school. When our paths crossed again, he was finishing his first year on the Elite Series.

HPFC: What doubts might you have had with him going on tour and how did you overcome them?

Kimberly Lester: No wife looks forward to their husband and father of their children having to leave for lengths of time, but when it is a dream that we all help to support it makes it much easier to handle. I hold down the fort and he chases the dream! He is my biggest supporter in my endeavors so I love being his biggest cheerleader in his!

HPFC: What challenges or obstacles did you have to work through?

Kimberly Lester: I was a single momma to a 3 year old by the time our paths crossed again so I was used to being on my own and shouldering a lot so I feel like it was easier for me to jump into that role. The hardest transition was the travel, if we were going to travel the whole week or just the weekend? Would we drive or fly? Just a bunch of questions to figure out but that becomes second nature as you get used to this life.

HPFC: How do you manage the frequent separation and limited time together due to his on the road schedule?

Kimberly Lester: I am not going to lie and say it is easy because it isn’t. Especially the first trip after the long off season with him home. However, after the first initial sadness of him leaving passes (usually 2 days for me) the girls and I fall into a new routine and it works. We are luckily in a tech savvy time so we get to FaceTime him every single night which makes tucking the girls in for bed a bit easier! Also, we have a family rule that if he is going to be gone for more than two weeks at a time – the girls and I will travel to him that 3rd week! I also like to stay extra busy those days he is gone so I will throw in an extra workout for myself (personal trainer and all) or volunteer for a project at their school or youth program at church! When you are busy the days seem to pass faster!

HPFC: How do you adjust when your husband returns home after being away for weeks at a time practicing or from competitions?

Kimberly Lester: I like to think we do a really good job of keeping our home life on a predictable routine so he just always jumps right back in when he comes home! I do have an extra pair of hands for bedtime routines (baths/checking homework/laying out clothes/nighttime prayers/etc) which I am grateful for! I always tell him I can keep the wheel turning but I do like it better when it spins a bit easier, haha.

HPFC: Are there any activities or special events that you and your husband enjoy doing when you are together after he has been gone all season?

Kimberly Lester: We do try to have a date night on Friday nights with our friends – we don’t do anything fancy just dinner and then driving backroads singing to old country songs and talking! We also love deer hunting together – he was with me when I shot my first doe and my first buck! Just spending as much time together doing our favorite things and taking things slow is the best part of home life! I always say, “I love traveling but there is nothing like the view from your own back porch!”

HPFC: Do you have any pet peeves?

Kimberly Lester: I do not like it when people try to be something or someone they are not. I am very unapologetically myself. I try to teach our daughters that God made us special and they should be comfortable in their own skin! It is okay to want to fit in but in this world we live in, it is better to be yourself and let people know and enjoy that person!

HPFC: What do you think your husbands pet peeves are of you?

Kimberly Lester: I buy too many tennis shoes. Haha. As a personal trainer, I spend five or six days a week in the gym and my tennis shoe game is strong! I probably do have too many shoes but let’s not agree with him on that one!

HPFC: What are your retirement plans?

Kimberly Lester: I pray Brandon gets to fish as long as his life will let him and he enjoys it! I will be training until I am a grandmother I am sure! We both really love what we do for our careers and I hope we get to enjoy them for a long time but when the time does come to retire; we both agree that we want to live in Florida at the beach – our kids can come vacation there and we can be snowbirds!

HPFC: What is something off the wall that no one knows about the two of you?

Kimberly Lester: I am older than Brandon! Only by 8 months ;)

High school sweethearts -- hooked, line cut and hooked again.

Kimberly and Brandon were obviously meant for one another. They went about their lives, fished for others not knowing it was each other they were actually fishing for.