John Sawyer was born and raised in Durham, NC. He grew up fishing Buggs Island (Kerr Reservoir) on the NC/VA border. John attended North Carolina State University, where he earned a masters degree in engineering. Upon graduation in 1989, he took a job with Duke Power Company in Charlotte, NC. During the 1990s, John lived in the Mooresville, NC area and learned to fish for reservoir stripers on Lake Norman. During the late-90s, John was a prominent member of the Lake Norman Striper Swipers (LNSS). John moved to the Lake Keowee, SC area in 2001, and is currently a member of the Appalachian Striper Club. John has fished for reservoir stripers on a number of southeastern lakes including: Hartwell, Russell, Clarks Hill, Murray, Lanier, Norman, High Rock, Badin, Tillery, and Buggs Island. John has fished in many reservoir striper tournaments, and his team has had several major tournament wins, including the 2002 NSBA National Championship (Clarks Hill) with partner Wade Dunaway. John continues to fish regularly on the Savannah River chain of lakes. He mainly targets trophy stripers, but takes time to occasionally long line for crappie in the spring and fall.