Van Hipp has a leadership background in the US Armed Forces and has served as chairman of American Defense International, Inc., for nearly three decades. Among Van Hipp’s favorite activities in fishing. He enjoys catching popular species such as smallmouth and largemouth bass.

Largemouth bass, common in the South, prefer warm water and can be caught year round. They tend to inhabit areas with extensive cover, such as weed beds, logs, rocks, and brush, and typically hover in the slowest moving areas of rivers. Dusk, when the bass head to the shoreline, is ideal for night anglers. The most effective technique is short casts, with the bait softly landed into a small area. While relatively easy to catch on the hook, they are fierce fighters.

Smallmouth bass have a slightly smaller body than the largemouth and tend to spend time in the faster-flowing parts of the river. While both species hunt in areas with cover, the smallmouth limits its foraging to the peripheries. In the summer, the fish migrate to the open water of lakes, even as largemouth bass remain in cover near shore. Come fall, they return to the shore area.