Steven Hawkins

Steve "Hawk" Hawkins is the owner of Capt. Bob's Outdoors on Main Street in Clarence. He is a Western New York native, born in Tonawanda, and has over 55 years of angling experience fish area waters - as well as throughout Canada and the Caribbean. Hawk is a NY State licensed fishing guide and has been managing small ponds and lakes (up to 50 acres in size) since 1994. He presently manages eight private ponds and lakes in Western NY and hopes to teach you how to best utilize your present resources to customize your goals for a better place to fish at your private lake. To date, Hawk has reeled in 102 different species of fish. His first fish was a bullhead from Chautauqua Lake back in 1966 using a bamboo pole that was 16 feet long. Back in the day, he won the Heim Middle School Outdoor Education Sixth Grade Fishing Camp contest with a one-day catch of 153 fish - narrowly beating the second place fisherman by two fish back in 1973. Hawk joined the WNY Bassmasters in 1979 at the age of 17. In his first tournament, he placed ninth overall at Keuka Lake despite small craft warnings. His most memorable fishing tournament was when he won a Niagara River Bass tournament while catching seven muskies during the morning contest that ended at noon. He also had 11 additional musky "follows" to the boat. Hawk would like to thank Capt. Terry "River Rat" Jones of Tonawanda for allowing him to win on his turf. Hawk began his first business partnership at 20 years old with 22-year-old Mark Janecek. In 1983, the dynamic duo began their Caps Fishing and Hunting Equipment. One of the store's favorite events was a 12-station "Pathway to Fishing" program (designed by Berkley) to teach the basics of fishing. It was held at the University of Buffalo's North Campus Lake. (Check out YouTube's "Intro to Captain Bob's.) Some of Caps employees through the years included Jim and Bill Stopinski, Brad "Snakeman" Brodnicki, Chad Beyer, Paul Pilkington, Steve Pernick, Dave Kowalski, Dave Fuller, Don Vizzi, Brent Hollock, Jim Barron, Greg Thompson, and so many more.

Hawk also was a staff writer for the WNY Angler publication back in the 1980's. Hosted the Caps fishing & hunting outdoor sportsman show FM 106.1 new country station.

Some of the Hawks favorite events he has coordinated include "Buffalo City Mission Camp Kids", "Boys and Girls Clubs of WNY", "Teen Challenge", and the "Chapel Family Fishing Days"

My mission statement "Keeping Families Together One Fish At A Time"

Captain Bobs Outdoors opened 5/4/2012. Mission programs began summer of 2022. How to fish, clean, cook and go home with the knowledge to feed their families and enjoy their new rod & reel with with their families.