When Jennifer Combs told me her parents had her in a crib on their boat when she was still in diapers, I thought she was kidding. That’s taking fishing a little over the top. On this year’s El Salto trip I finally got to ask her father, Roy Reid — It turns out that it was 100% legit.

From boat partners to life partners, Jennifer and Keith Combs made the most of a one in 200 chance. Although they were competitors on the water something lured them towards each other and a lifetime of happily ever after, minus a pet peeve or two, or three.

The backdrop that I built may seem like a haphazard group of epic fish and scenery pictures, but I used a great deal of purpose when I put it together. I wanted to tell HPFC’s story and show all of the people who have become our family over the course of our travels.

We are fortunate that the Half Past First Cast family includes lots of women — of all experience levels — who love to travel and fish. Here are a few of the ones who’ve gone on the most trips with us.

On Wednesday, I wrote about why YOU might consider attending a Bassmaster Classic in the future. I shared some pictures of this year’s experience in Knoxville, but I was negligent in not calling out my “Classic Team.”

The staff at Anglers Inn makes every trip special but this time they went over the top for us. They had a cake to celebrate our birthdays and we smashed our face into it at the same time and then laughed hysterically. It was also my best trip to El Salto so far from a fishing perspective and I was thrilled to share it with my sister Janet.

As one of the wives who is not on the road full-time, a lot of fishing fans probably don’t know much about Jennifer Combs. It’s a good story, and while they’re better together even without Keith in the mix she has a lot to say about the fishing life.