Sports
When Choosing a Fishing Guide, Do Your Homework
Not only do professional fishing guides have different levels of fishing experience, they all have one-of-a-kind personalities. Make sure you find the right fit.
“Use your hands. You’re in Florida.”
So said Capt. Doc Lee after my first fishing experience in Florida about five years ago. I was using a fork to eat panfish and, well, that just wasn’t Floridian enough. Grab the fillets in your fingers and get those digits greasy.
Fishing captains are a unique breed. Book one someday, if only to absorb their personalities. Book a bad one, and you might never come back. Get a good one, and you’ve made a friend for life.
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Doc hassled me all day. “Hook ‘em,” he’d shout when I’d fall asleep on a speckled perch bite. Every time: “Hook ‘em!” Doc is only one type of captain you’ll find in the Tampa Bay area. Big, white beard; boisterous voice; 32-year-old Boston Whaler; depth finder bolted to an upside-down bathroom trash can. That’s Doc.
Find your guy. Or gal. They're all different.
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And learn from them. Anyone who is unfamiliar with Florida waters can book a guide once and, if paying attention, learn all the tricks. But don’t even attempt to steal their spots. You might not find a ride back to the dock.
Fishing guides are steeped in fishing pride. Ego pops from their pours. But not all of them show it. This is their profession, and many of them grew up on the water. Rivalries are formed among the guiding community. Captains complain that other guides follow them to their spots, then hit that spot the next day. On the other hand, some captains partner up and call each other to say where the best bite is. They don't know it, but these tough fishing guides are also playing General Hospital.
Speaking of tough, sandpaper has nothing on the skin on fishing guides' fingers. It’s like they’re wearing bear-pelt gloves. After decades of barbs and hook points puncturing their hands, sun rays sizzling through that third layer, saltwater sucking every drop of natural moisture, fishing lines pressing in as they tie thousands of knots, these captains' hands are numb to pain. Their hands are mini multi-tasking machines. Need a can-opener? Get a fishing guide. Stuck in the jungle without a machete? No problem. Book a fishing guide. Trying to use a fork to eat fillets? Not around a fishing guide. Use your hands. You're in Florida.
Like any thriving business, word of mouth is the best advertising. Ask around for a captain who has a lot of on-the-water experience — for safety reasons — as well as a friendly personality. Remember, if you’re going to spend a day with someone, it at least should be someone you wouldn’t mind grabbing a beer with.
All captains are not created equal, so doing your homework is vital. About 35 years ago, captains were few and far between. Now lists of captains in the bay area are endless, although those numbers have thinned a bit with the economic plunge. When calling a captain, ask about their boat, their tackle, their favorite fish to target, and see if it all matches up with your needs. Just don’t go overboard (not literally). One captain, in particular, said a customer once asked about the color of his hull — "My son wants a red boat." The captain said to find another captain.
Oh, customers are their own breed as well. But to keep a long story to a paragraph, here’s the worst of the worst: One client, on a fishing trip with Capt. Rick Gross on Anna Maria Island, was told to “throw the rod” at a tarpon. This technique, as a tarpon angler knows, involves thrusting the rod forward when a tarpon skyrockets to the water, which puts slack in the line so the tarpon cannot shake loose or cut the line. This customer heard a different instruction. He chucked a $500 fishing rod into the water.
I have yet to meet a captain who said he or she wasn’t one of the best guides around. But the best captains are simply the hardest working. They fish even when they don’t have a charter. It's called “scouting” the fish. They want to know where the fish are for their next client. These captains are up by 4 a.m. and fishing all day. They work at their trade. Find a hard-working captain.
They’ll fillet your fish afterward. And they’re usually good enough to dissect every bone and sliver of skin from the meat. Nothing’s as sweet or Floridian as heading home with a bag of the freshest seafood you’ll find. (Mangrove snapper are one of the most abundant species in the water, if it’s dinner you’ll be looking for.)
Captains have a unique sense of humor as well. Probably because they can get a lot of thinking done out on the water. But in the end, when the bite is on, the old rule applies: “Shut up and fish.”
A good guide won’t tell you that.
A great one won’t need to.
How to Find a Fishing Guide
Looking for a fishing guide in Bradenton or elsewhere around the Tampa Bay area? Try these online resources:
