Darrel Robertson was born and raised on a farm near Grove, Oklahoma. He still lives on that farm with his wife, Carol. They have three daughters and five grandchildren. He considers himself a blessed man because his daughters and grandchildren live near him.

Darrel learned to fish at an early age, tagging along with his Dad along the banks of the Honey Creek arm of Grand Lake. Darrel started fishing local tournaments around 1985. He saw a lot of success at this level. He actually won 13 consecutive tournaments during this time.

Darrel started fishing professionally on the national circuit in 1991. He fished the BassMasters circuit for 8 years, finishing “in the money” several times.

He also fished the Anglers’ Choice Circuit and was Angler of the Year in 1991.

Darrel began fishing the FLW TOUR and the FLW SERIES (EVERSTART) and has had a blessed career so far.

In September of 1999 Darrel won the FLW TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP on Fort Gibson Lake in Wagoner, Oklahoma. ($260,000.00)

In November of 1999 (5 weeks later) he won the Ranger M1 Millennium Tournament on the Winterhaven Chain of Lakes in Cypress Gardens, Florida. His winnings for that tournament were $600,000.00.

Darrel believes that his wins were because of being blessed more than being a great fisherman. His testimony of those wins follows:

Darrel and his wife, Carol and daughters and family attend the Full Gospel Church in Southwest City, Missouri. In 1998, the (FG Church) had begun building a new Life Center with gymnasium. The church runs about 150 on Sundays. But on Wednesday nights, it had started running 150-200 kids in the youth programs. They actually had outgrown the facility. Construction began, and Darrel told Carol that he felt that God was putting a calling on him to pay for the Life Center. He told Carol that he didn’t know if it would paid through his construction business, All State Tank, or, if cattle prices were going to get really high (they operate a Black Angus cattle ranch), but he really felt like he would pay for the Life Center through Bass Fishing. At that time, though, there wasn’t the paybacks like there are today.

Construction was finished and the church congregation was paying on the loan, but Darrel still felt that he was called to pay off the loan. He continued running the Construction business, operating the cattle ranch and fishing. He won some money fishing, but not enough to pay off the loan. Then, in March of 1999, a lady, Sharron Saltee, from Louisiana came to the Full Gospel Church to conduct a ladies seminar, then stayed to minister in the Sunday evening service. She was closing the service, when she stopped. She told the congregation that God told her that she was suppose to tell the church four things concerning the new Life Center. She said that she didn’t understand this, but that she had to share this “word”. 1. The church was not to feel a “burden” to pay off the loan. 2. The money for the loan was already in place. 3. The loan would be paid off supernaturally. 4. The loan would be paid off before the year was over.

Darrel and Carol walked out of church that night and Darrel told Carol that he felt that he knew how they would pay the church loan. He said that he would win the FLW CHAMPIONSHIP in September and pay $40,000.00 and then win the RANGER M1 MILLENNIUM TOURNAMENT in November and pay the balance. Carol told Darrel that it sounded great, but there was only one problem—he wasn’t qualified for either of those tournaments. He told her not to worry, that he would be soon. He fished an FLW tournament that month, got a check, but didn’t qualify. He fished the FLW tournament in April, got another check, but still didn’t qualify. Then, he fished the FLW tournament on the Mississippi River in Memphis, in May. He finished in 6th place and qualified for both the FLW CHAMPIONSHIP and THE RANGER M1 MILLENNIUM TOURNAMENT. Carol said that maybe she should start paying more attention, because it looked like Darrel knew what he was talking about.

Darrel fished the FLW CHAMPIONSHIP that September, (1999), on Fort Gibson Lake in Oklahoma and WON! He paid the amount on the church loan that he said he would. Then, just five weeks later, in November, he fished the RANGER M1 MILLENNIUM TOURNAMENT on Winterhaven Chain of Lakes in Cypress Gardens, Florida and WON! He was then able to do what he had felt like God had told him almost two years earlier, and pay off the balance of the loan on the Full Gospel Church Life Center. Darrel says that he is a fairly good fisherman on some days, but that he knew that winning the two highest paying tournaments there had ever been wasn’t really about his fishing abilities. God had a plan and that plan included a fisherman named Darrel Robertson.

Darrel continues to fish the FLW Major and Open circuits. He has made a total of 24 Top Tens. Darrel has qualified for seven FLW CHAMIONSHIPS, (Forrest Wood Cups).

Darrel finished 2nd in the 2008 Forrest Wood Cup, on Lake Ouachita, in Hot Springs, Arkansas where Scott Suggs won $1,000,000.00 for his 1st place finish.

Darrel was ranked 10th for the 2009 FLW TOUR season.

Darrel finished 15th in the 2009 Forrest Wood Cup, on Three Rivers, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Darrel’s 2010 fishing season wasn’t exactly what he had hoped for, so he was quite excited about fishing this 2011 season. He also plans on having a great year.

Darrel is a member of the Castrol Fishing Team. Darrel was one of the original team members when Castrol came on board as a sponsor of FLW OUTDOORS ten years ago.

Darrel is also sponsored by Ranger Boats, Mercury, MinnKota, Lowrance, and by All State Tank Mfg. Darrel is in a different niche than most of the other professional anglers. He actually has three other careers. He and his wife, Carol own All State Tank Mfg. LLC, as well as All State Tank Construction Co. located in Grove, Oklahoma. His third profession is being the owner of Circle R Farms, which is a Black Angus cow-calf operation on their farm located between Grove and Jay, Oklahoma. He feels that he relates to most of the anglers throughout the world who work other jobs for a living and are fortunate enough to be able to fish tournaments and win some money doing it. He believes that any success he has seen has been a direct blessing from God. He also plans on those blessings continuing for a long time.