Fishing Gallery

I grew up fishing in Florida, starting by fishing off the bridges in the Florida keys with my parents in the 1950's at a very young age. Next, it was fishing from the shore in North Biscayne Bay before discovering the drift boat fleet at Haulover Inlet on Miami Beach. I eventually got a job working on the driftboat Mucho K when I was 16 years old.

Next it was a move on to the Haulover Charter Boat Dock where I became Captain on the Duchess, a 44' LeMay custom sportfisherman in 1969. Meanwhile, I was attending the University of Miami studying biology. In between studies, I brought the first tilefish into Haulover Dock and was the first there to successfully and regularly catch sailfish using the fishing kite which we bought from the legendary Captain Bob Lewis Sr.

Also in the late 1960's I began fly fishing in salt water for bonefish, permit, and snook and tying my own flies. the planned career in biology was put aside and I went sport fishing full time, skippering a number of boats which ranged from two 37' Merritts Jingo and Prowess, a 44' Striker, 53' Hatteras, to a 74' custom yacht fisherman and many others in between.

I've been very lucky to have fished in many distant and different parts of the world and have met many interesting people along the way.

A fishing trip to Everglades National Park always offers more to the angler than great fishing for snook, tarpon, redfish, seatrout and the like.  There is prolific bird life including the usual native land birds,  raptors from bald eagle to perugrine falcon, wading birds including virtually every North American heron and egret species, roseate spoonbills and ibis, numerous gulls, and terns. The reptile list includes alligators, crocodiles,  and a wide variety of snakes including introduced pythons, and boa constrictors. . Mammals frequently sighted include manatees, dolphins, raccoons, and deer.  There are many wild and native orchids and the opportunity to see a flourishing mangrove swamp in its purest form.

Recently, your host was fishing with client Captain Bill Lindsay from Chokoloskee Island in the famous Ten Thousand Islands. Bill fishes his clients from a choice of two Hell's Bay skiffs, one of 16' and the other 18' depending on conditions. The smaller boat is pushed by a 40hp Yamaha while the bigger boat uses a 60hp Mercury. Bill prefers tiller steering and the boats are comfortable and practical to fish from, particularly for anglers fishing fly and casting artificials.

The fall and winter months can be very productive as huge schools of baitfish move into the area, bringing gamefish along with them.

We fished the outside shorelines and beaches of the barrier islands, passes, as well as inside shorelines from Chokoloskee Island to Lostman's River. The "back country" offers a different perspective of the area with crystal clear waters and the chance of catching a black bass as well as a snook or redfish.

There are huge forests of mangroves and still very visible evidence of hurricane Andrew which passed through the area in 1992 while on the shorelines facing the gulf, there are numerous trees felled by hurricanes Charley and Ivan that passed by in 2004.