08/05/2026
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Tuesday and Friday night basketball games in Flippin, Arkansas not only provide a break from the labors of building premium quality fishing boats and the winter doldrums, but they also teach life lessons about the value of teamwork, community support, perseverance, and the end goal of winning.
They’re lessons lifetime boat builder and Vexus leader Keith Daffron learned as a high school hoopster averaging 22-points per game for the highly successful Bobcats back in the early 1990s, and they’re also qualities he relies on daily in his business and personal life.
So, when Daffron encountered the high school angling team of Drake Dishman and Luke Delahay competing on his home lake of Bull Shoals earlier this summer, he felt compelled to provide a friendly locker room speech that ultimately led to their victory among 182 teams.
Daffron befriended Dishman previously when he and his dad visited the Vexus factory, and at the Vexus booth during the Bassmaster Classic.
So, when he bumped into them at Bull Shoals, he felt comfortable coaching them up a bit.
“The boys were a bit defeated because of an unfortunate dead fish penalty that landed them in 2nd place on Saturday. They were rigging lures for Sunday, and I asked them if they were fishing to win, or simply not to lose,” reflects Daffron.
“They looked a little confused, so I explained that in my experience, success in life, business, as well as tournament fishing, often depends on our decision to focus on the positive possibilities versus the negative thoughts of all that could go wrong. And it seemed to click with them,” smiles Daffron.
It clicked indeed.
The two young anglers woke-up Sunday with the goal of fishing solely for first place, and on the strength of a morning topwater bite, backed-up by shaking a minnow with forward-facing sonar later in the day, they hauled home a first-place trophy to Republic, MO.
They also received a cool Vexus Varsity banner and a $500 Tackle Warehouse gift card as part of their membership in the Vexus Varsity tournament bonus program.
“Mr. Daffron’s talk with us the night before was critical to the way we battled for the win,” says Dishman.
The young anglers compete from the Vexus AVX 2080 aluminum rig that Drake’s dad David purchased three years ago, and in addition to all the dry fiberglass infused storage boxes and the boat’s solid one-piece feel, Drake says they love the speedy hole-shot of their vessel because it adds to the efficiency of their run and gun fishing style.
Drake, who umpired a bunch of baseball games for 8-year-olds this summer will be a sophomore this coming school year. So, he’s got plenty of high school fishing events to look forward to the next three years.
And by implementing Coach Daffron’s fish-to-win mentality each time they launch, this recent win is likely one of more to come.
If you’re a high school angler competing from a Vexus be sure to sign up for Vexus Varsity at https://vexusboats.com/vexus-varsity/.
