Dave grew up in Drumright, Oklahoma, where his family owned a ranch.  Being horrible at sports, he discovered early on that wading a pond was a lot more fun than warming a bench. 

After spending way too much time fishing in high school, in 1993 Dave graduated magna cum laude from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, with a double major in Biology and Fisheries.  He went on to earn a master's degree in Fisheries from Louisiana State University in 1998.  The title of Dave’s thesis was Hematology and Stress Responses of Largemouth Bass to Hypoxia in the Atchafalaya Basin, Louisiana.

Dave’s experience includes several temporary and seasonal jobs working on fisheries projects for NSU, Oklahoma State University, Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, and Johnson Controls World Services.  In February 1999, Dave went to work as a fisheries biologist for Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries, where he worked through June 2007.  Dave quit his job at LDWF to start Professional Fisheries Services in July 2007.

Dave now lives in Ferriday, Louisiana, with his wife, Shirani (a licensed veterinarian with a bachelor's degree in Biology), and their two beautiful little girls, Patty Jo and Annie Grace.