Few have seen the evolution of tarpon fishing in the famous Boca Grande Pass as Frank Davis. In the early 1960’s, his family moved there and as far back as he can remember his Dad used to take him tarpon fishing. Pass fishing for tarpon began in the late 1880’s and by 1910 Boca Grande was booming. Over the next hundred and thirteen years Presidents, athletes, and movie stars were there to capture this prized fish and a photograph of a dead tarpon hanging next to them. In his teenage years, Frank...
Feb 27, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 81
Benny Blanco is one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet, but under his skin, his blood runs hot. In 2015, his life pivoted becoming a devout conservationists after Florida Bay lost over fifty thousand acres of his favorite fishing grounds. These grass flats were decimated by a large algae bloom cause by poor water quality and lack of fresh water. Joined at the hip with Captains for Clean Water, Blanco has been hand in hand with fellow guides and anglers alike on the footsteps of Tallahassee de...
Feb 13, 2023•1 hr 23 min•Season 1Ep. 80
At 74 years young, George Copeland still has the fire in his belly to chase the snook tide late into the night. As a young man of 8, he found a passion that would drive him deep into the fishing abyss. On his bike, similar to Steve Huff, he'd race around Ft. Lauderdale looking for snook and tarpon that would regularly be found in Tarpon Bend, New River, and all the canals in the center of a rapidly growing town. He would soon partner up with buddy, Steve Kantner, and spend much of his time bridg...
Jan 30, 2023•1 hr 27 min•Season 1Ep. 79
As a fifteen year old tenderfoot building boats, Ansil Saunders would’ve never believed he’d one day become a national hero. Stemmed from Scotland, his extended family of boat builders would eventually build the most sought after bonefish skiffs on an Island in the Bahamas. Five generations later, Bimini’s Saunders was not only working with local wood to build skiffs, but he too started to guide and eventually became legendary by catching the all-tackle world record 16 pound bonefish (which stil...
Jan 16, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Season 1Ep. 78
At 49 years of age, Russell Kleppinger has found himself as one of the all time greats in the tarpon fishing world. He was consistently catching around a thousand tarpon a year before he stopped counting. Last year in 2022, he caught three fish over 200 pounds. (based on measurements) Fishing was all he can remember thinking about. When he was five days old, his Dad ran the family to the Bahamas. His Dad was a terrible fisherman who ran aground all the time on the inside flats of Biscayne Bay. R...
Jan 02, 2023•1 hr 59 min•Season 1Ep. 77
Rick Ruoff's infectious personality could calm the roar of a lion. The first time I met this gregarious man, I knew instantly he was my kind of people. I'd see him every morning at the Lorelei restaurant similar to a seawall egret greeting everyone who passes. He's tall and lanky - always sporting a grin under a herculean mustache. Ego and vanity are foreigners to this man's easy going demeanor. He's the type of person who understands the greater aspects of life and how we should all conduct our...
Dec 19, 2022•1 hr 34 min•Season 1Ep. 76
Tom McGuane is a giant among legends across all continents and countries. His boundless heart and endless determination tackled dreams only he could’ve accomplished. Tom’s extraordinary writing is in the record books and for the rest of time he’ll be remember as one of the greats. His literary spectrum includes ten novels, five screen plays, and countless short stories. His work has received a page full of awards culminating with his induction into The American Academy of Arts and Letters. But t...
Dec 05, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 75
Tom McGuane is a giant among legends across all continents and countries. His boundless heart and endless determination tackled dreams only he could’ve accomplished. Tom’s extraordinary writing is in the record books and for the rest of time he’ll be remember as one of the greats. His literary spectrum includes ten novels, five screen plays, and countless short stories. His work has received a page full of awards culminating with his induction into The American Academy of Arts and Letters. But t...
Nov 25, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 74
Ted Juracsik, the creator of Tibor Reels, has one of the most interesting and inspiring stories I know. As a young Hungarian in Budapest, he was the smartest of his friends. At age 17, he was the youngest Hungarian ever to be awarded Master Papers and went to work in a bicycle factory. Not long after the Hungarian revolution began and was in full swing against the Russians and Soviet Union, Ted escaped to Austria. Leaving his family and his sister behind, the big world of the unknown was before ...
Nov 07, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Season 1Ep. 73
Roger Seiders was always building and tinkering with things he thought he could make better. It soon became his motto, “If we can’t find what we want, we make it!” And so he and his two kids did. The father started to build fishing rods but found that the clear coat used to glue the thread cracked when casted. He soon produced his own called “Flex Coat." It worked like a charm and became an instant success. Ryan and Brother, Roy, jumped in the game head first. Ryan built a fishing rod and compan...
Oct 24, 2022•1 hr 20 min•Season 1Ep. 72
I first met Bob Clouser during a trade show in Somerset, New Jersey close to 15 years ago when I first traveled there with Hardy. The industry is small, everyone knows each other in about 10 minutes. But it's people like Bob that give you that special bonus of going to a show. Many of these guys have been in attendance for decades, they’re the foundation of our sport, and Bob was one of my guys. Clouser has a big, boisterous laugh that is full of love. His heart is with Smallmouth Bass and the S...
Oct 10, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 71
Jose "Pepe" Lopez is a legendary big bonefish catching giant. He learned his craft from many of the old school, iconic guides such as Harry Snow Jr., Billy Knowles and Timmy Carlile. His family, like many other well know angling families (such as Chico Fernandez’s,) left Cuba in 1959 when Castro became the infamous nightmare he evolved to. Pepe was one year old at the time and ten years later his Dad built a house on stilts near mile maker 17. Sugarloaf and its surrounding water would become his...
Sep 26, 2022•1 hr 28 min•Season 1Ep. 70
Mike Holliday’s spectrum in the fishing realm has been expansive and varied. He graduated with a degree in Marine Science but his adventurous mind pursued many facets, including time as an ocean lifeguard EMT, an extensive writer authoring six books, editor of two magazines and had bylines for ESPN, and The Miami Herald. He also worked as a marketing visionary for two major companies during their infancy, Maverick Boats and Costa Sunglasses, both became giants of our sport. He also authored seve...
Sep 12, 2022•1 hr 32 min•Season 1Ep. 69
Eddie Wightman will go down in history as one of the legendary guides of Islamorada, Florida! Pushing his boat for his clients over 300 days a year, he was known as one of the hardest working guides and was an independent man who prided himself on finding his own fish in different locations. When the fleet of boats went one way, Wightman went the other. So much so that Flip Pallot named him “The Loner!” Wightman took great pride in that name because that’s who Wightman is. His reputation precede...
Aug 29, 2022•1 hr 25 min•Season 1Ep. 68
Steve Kantner has one of the greatest fishing spirits I know of, and his spectrum of ability on and off the water is legendary. For many decades he’s been known as “The Land Captain”, fishing on foot, out of his car, in the surf, off piers, canal banks and canoes, but sadly the great Captain has been grounded, if you will, because of the debilitating Parkinson’s disease. Steve is famous in South Florida, and was on my radar well before I produced two television shows with him. The finished produ...
Aug 18, 2022•1 hr 22 min•Season 1Ep. 67
A cool thirty three some years ago I fished the sacred water of Homosassa, Florida with Tommy Locke. There, I met a young man I’d soon realize was one of the young, passionate guides of those flats. Initially he was just a name, as I was to him, but we fished hard together and I really dug being in Tommy's presence. We chased the poon in Homo for a few years then I went to the Keys, where I felt I’d see more fish, and have a better chance of upping my game. The poon house is a small house, where...
Aug 01, 2022•1 hr 38 min•Season 1Ep. 66
At ten years of age, Randy Towe started building a fishing life for himself when his mother wouldn’t buy him a fishing rod, instead she bought him the parts to build one. This became a catalyst for his successful life on the water. Most anglers or guides gravitate to the offshore chase or the skinnier backcountry shallows or the oceanside flats. The latter two being the same. This is Pandora's box of the Florida Keys. The options are extensive with a plethora of fish to pursue, and Randy wanted ...
Jul 18, 2022•1 hr 16 min•Season 1Ep. 65
Paul Dixon’s name has preceded his presence for decades, and rightfully so. His life in fishing has had enormous wings, ranging from pioneering the shallow water striped bass fishery with flats skiffs in Montauk and the eastern end of Long Island, to guiding for tarpon in the Florida Keys. He's seen the rise and fall of his beloved stripers and his voice was impactful in their struggle for survival. (Their recovery has been heavily documented and so many years later, today, the fishery is fallin...
Jul 04, 2022•1 hr 41 min•Season 1Ep. 64
It’s only fitting that we air this podcast with Dr. David Dalu and Capt. Scott Collins the same week as the 2022 Gold Cup Tarpon Tournament. In 2008, Scott and David won all three major tarpon tournaments; The Gold Cup, The Don Hawley and The Golden Fly. It was the first time anyone had pulled off the triple crown in one year. It was also a confirmation that their wins in the previous year’s Gold Cup and Don Hawley were no fluke. They knew their methodology of catching sensitive ocean side tarpo...
Jun 20, 2022•1 hr 44 min•Season 1Ep. 63
I first met Howard Croston 14 years ago when I was hired by Hardy to help with their salt water rods and reels. Howard was their product developer and designer, and we instantly hit it off. His knowledge and experience in the fresh water world was profound. He’d competed in 16 fresh water World Championships, and was the individual World Champion in 2019 when the English won the Team Championships. Howard had also competed in casting competitions and lectured about the spectrum of his craft. The...
Jun 06, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 62
Before I ever met Darren Clarke, I loved him. The big man from Northern Ireland played golf with vibrant passion and his big smile showcased a wonderful demeanor, someone you’d want to share a pint with. When he was stalking one of his great wins, I leaned in closer. When he won the British open, my heart jumped for joy. When he took down Tiger Woods in the World Match Play, it was incredible. Two of my favorites were in the ropes. Soon after his wife, Heather, passed, he became a captains pick ...
May 23, 2022•1 hr 30 min•Season 1Ep. 61
Glenn Flutie is one of our sports greatest fisherman with accolades few have. He won the prestigious Fall Fly Invitational Bonefish tournament when he was 16. His passion for them was relentless and when he found his footing with Tarpon, he became an obsessive predator. He would eventually win an unprecedented five Gold Cup Tarpon tournaments in five years. He was a prodigy, born with fisherman’s blood. His father was an offshore Captain, but sea sickness kept Glenn in the bonefish’s shallow wat...
May 09, 2022•1 hr 32 min•Season 1Ep. 60
Born in Miami in 1935 Gary Register would travel into the keys fishing with his family until he moved there in 1965. It was a small fishing village back then - everyone knew each other. He’d play softball with Eddie Wightman and the young Klein boys. Clarence Lowe mentored Register and inspired him to be a guide. Clarence showed him the nuances of the profession and eventually Gary became one of the best. He purchased the La Siesta hotel and would spend day and night guiding. He was known to be ...
Apr 25, 2022•1 hr 22 min•Season 1Ep. 59
David Mangum is unquestionably one of the most highly exposed tarpon guides there is. His early notoriety came with a film shot by Howard films titled “Location X,” located somewhere in the Apalachicola region of the Florida Panhandle. The darker water and monster fish that swim there are much more prone to eat a fly, creating the opportunity for some highly energetic footage. It was an eye opener. Many locals already knew about what was going on in the Panhandle, but now there was a movie. Then...
Apr 11, 2022•58 min•Season 1Ep. 58
Timmy Klein is a great husband, father, friend and one hell of a fisherman. I’ve been on his boat shooting tv shows and fun fishing, often we hooked so many tarpon we lost count. But it was the bonefish game that elevated his reputation to being second to none. He’s not only won the biggest tournaments, but his domination was such that, most likely, no one will ever match it. He’s won eight fall fly tournaments, three spring fly's, four all tackles and world record bonefish caught on 6,8,12,16 a...
Mar 28, 2022•1 hr 38 min•Season 1Ep. 57
Rufus Wakeman has been a friend before I ever met him. His legacy precedes his presence. He's big, boisterous and lovable, with the ability to out fish the best of them. We traveled to the Amazon eons ago and was awarded with a trip of a lifetime accentuated by my new found friend! His passion for fishing took him around the world and into the fishes' most demanding and far reaching homes. He’s held numerous highly cherished world records including a 57 pound dolphin on 16 pound tippet. He also,...
Mar 25, 2022•1 hr 45 min•Season 1Ep. 56
Born in Illinois in 1955, Dave Denkert had a big life ahead of him in fishing. Two years later, after his family moved to Miami, they found themselves located on the doorstep of some of the greatest fishing on earth. Soft spoken and kind, he eventually found his calling in the backcountry of Florida Bay. His expertise was exposed with his tournament success, highlighted with numerous wins in the Redbone series and a Spring Fly Bonefish invitational. His family too, dove head first into the sport...
Mar 14, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 55
As I stated in the intro to this podcast, Carl Ball has been a true brother for many years. I first got connected with Carl from a fellow guide, John Glorieux, as I was looking for a camera boat operator for my fishing TV show at the time, “Sportsman’s Journal.” Carl and I instantly hit it off, and he was the first to show me how exhilarating tarpon fishing with mullet can be. We would light up a cigar, catch bait in back finger canals, and troll under the metropolitan bridges for the massive si...
Feb 14, 2022•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 54
Dan Malzone experienced first hand the halcyon of Homosassa's tarpon fishery when all the big guns were there chasing the holy grail of Tarpon, a 200 pound behemoth. All the players were there: Evans, Apte, Pate, Huff, Dopirak, Delph, Robinson, Chittum, and everyone else who wanted a shot at catching the biggest tarpon on the world. I showed up in the late 80's when the fish had already been rapidly thinning out. I just wanted to see what all the buzz was about, and hopefully catch some fat fish...
Jan 31, 2022•59 min•Season 1Ep. 53
Andrew’s relationship with the Everglades began before his first screams as a baby were heard. Back when the land was free with the long lost term of homesteading, Bostick’s ancestors staked their claim in the Marco Island area in the late 1800’s. Their rugged life simulated the labyrinth waterways of the nearby 10,000 islands, which would eventually become Andrew’s sanctuary and office. Andrew’s dad, Curtis, was a fisherman and introduced his young son to that tug at the end of the string which...
Jan 19, 2022•58 min•Season 1Ep. 52
