With his exceptional physical and intellectual scope, Carlos Duncan is one of the most impressive people I’ve ever known. He’s not only a Harvard graduate, he qualified for the World Championships in the Ironman, manages his families business, flies his own plane, hunts with a bow and is one of the finest Tarpon slayers the Florida Keys has ever known! And his efforts as the Chairman of The Board for the IGFA helped redirected its path that was never aspired to before. Fishing against Carlos...

Tim Heng loves fishing, especially the Roaring Fork and Frying Pan rivers near Basalt, Colorado. He’s spent a large part of his life fishing them, loving them, and trying to preserve them for his fellow anglers. His efforts over the years were so compelling he was honored by the Roaring Fork Conservancy as the Conservator of the Year, the highest honor given in the valley. He is considered one of the pioneers of drift boat fishing on the Fork and Colorado River. He founded Roaring Fork...

Jim Hancock is one of the finest people you’ll ever meet and one of the hardest working, too! I’ve know Jimmy a very long time, from Aspen of course, where he started working for the Aspen Ski Company in 1977. He worked in many fields for them: snowmaker, powder guide, instructor, race director, and by 1981 he’d proven himself to take on enormous responsibility when he became World Cup Chief of Course and ultimately the Chief of Race. He shined brightly. The team he assembled to prepare the...

Bert Scherb's journey from Chicago to becoming a beloved figure among the guides and anglers of the Florida Keys, as well as chairman of a prestigious bonefish tournament, is a testament to his passion and dedication to the sport. His 21-year tenure running the spring bonefish tournament reflects not only his organizational skills but also his deep connection to the local fishing community. In 1995, Bert achieved a significant milestone by winning the Don Hawley Tarpon Tournament alongside...

Capt. Aaron Snell embodies the spirit of exploration and innovation in fly fishing as well as conventional fishing. With a soft-spoken demeanor that belies his deep knowledge of the waters around Key West, Florida, Aaron is renowned for his unconventional approach and keen intellect on the water. Born and raised in the heart of Florida's fishing country, Aaron's passion for fly fishing was sparked at a young age. Over the years, he has honed his skills to become not only a respected guide but...

Drew Moret is a highly acclaimed skiff guide and the son of fishing legend, Sandy Moret. You can only imagine his childhood growing up with that DNA in the Sport Fishing Capital of the world, Islamorada, Florida. Sandy’s friends are the who’s who in the flats fishing game; Steve Huff, Flip Pallot, Chico Fernandez, Stu Apte, Billy Knowles, and many others. The inspiration to be somebody in fishing was everywhere you looked. All the kids of that generation became great fishermen and if you...

Thane Morgan has earned the right to be called one of the greatest tarpon fly anglers of our time. Although, no one wins alone, ever. Thane Morgan and his guide, Dustin Huff, have been a highly successful team in pursuit of a 4 pound world record tarpon and winning the biggest tarpon tournaments in the world. They won the Gold Cup twice and set a tournament record in one of their three Don Hawley wins, 27 tarpon in five days - a record which may never be beat! Just like their 119 pound tarpon...

Jake Jordan is a legendary figure in the blue water world. He is neither humble nor reserved when he speaks about his exploits over his six plus decades of catching tarpon, marlin and sailfish; we’re talking incredible numbers here. He prides himself with a technique he refined that has proven itself to many anglers that chase billfish. He’s not a record chaser, he is a numbers man. How do you document 10,000 sailfish he said he’s caught? For tarpon, he fishes at night under bridges in the...

On board for this podcast, is a man that has lived fully in many forms; dentist, angler, artist, and as a free spirit that many only dream of doing successfully. Yes, Fred Troxel has excelled profoundly at all of these. Many know him as a highly professional dentist that has worked bare footed for years. Oxymoron? No, because working close to Key West where the liberty to live your life in whatever form works. He has won three All Tackle World Championship Bonefish Tournaments. All of them...

Capt. Andy Thompson is, in my book, one of the greatest people you’ll ever have the pleasure of knowing, both on and off the water. He’s soft spoken, but his words carry incredible weight. Why?Because he’s truthful, genuine, and his integrity is gold! He’s also one of the greatest guides in the game. Andy grew up in Miami and at a very young age gravitated to fishing and never looked back. He refined his craft and eventually started fishing against the best in the world, in the biggest tarpon...

Capt. Al Dopirak is arguably the best fishing guide to ever chase world record tarpon! He and Tom Evans have put more big tarpon in their boat than anyone. Records are meant to be broken but their 194.5 lb tarpon on 12 pound test is beyond imagination, well mine anyway! They also caught a 190.5 lb tarpon on 16 pound test that broke Billy Pate’s 188 lb record that stood for 25 plus years. Tom Evans has been inducted into the IGFA Hall of Fame, and a very large part of that success story,...

I have fished with many superstar guides throughout my career. Many were on my hit list for years before seeing that day on their bow, but there was one whose boat I never made it on and he was as famous as anyone, Butch Constable! Butch doesn’t just fish his water around Jupiter, he plays it like Hendrix did with his guitar. Inside and out he knows the timing of the fish that migrate through there as well as those that live there. I guess and presume he loves snook more that anything because...

Rachel Finn is a fearless, free spirit that everyone loves. After attending Yale University in graduate school, she followed her heart and began guiding up in the Adirondacks some 30 years ago. Rachel is also a wonderful artist, friend, and inspiration to never grow up and never stop chasing your passions. Finn is a well-known presence in the Adirondack guide scene throughout the fishing season. Serving as the head guide at the Hungry Trout Fly Shop in Wilmington, New York, she accompanies...

As a 21 year old Vietnam veteran, Bob Popovics gravitated to fly fishing for striped bass and the people who chased them from shore. These guys became his family and the collective passion became a maelstrom for the north east striper fishermen. The power behind this fish was real and in 1965 a fishing club called the Salt Water Fly Rodders of America was formed. They exchanged information, established the criteria for world record catches (which would be handed over to the IGFA in 1978) and...

Capt. Sarah Gardner has been a full time fishing guide for over 27 years. Along with her husband, Capt. Brian Horsley, they are the go to guides for fly fishing in the area surrounding Outer Banks, NC. Sarah & Brian both run 23 foot Jones Brother boats and target Cobia, Redfish, False Albacore, Spanish Mackerel, Bluefish, & Sharks on the fly. After getting her Bachelor’s degree in Illustration from Moore College of Art in 1987, Sarah worked in advertising for several years, but she...

Having growing up in Marathon, Florida with the Gulf Stream at his front door and world class flats everywhere he looked, George's playground was a fisherman's dream. It was the ultimate adventure park he’d take full advantage of. His bus ride to school had other kids that loved to fish, too, like Dustin and Chad Huff. They would all become world class at their craft. Sawley dreamed of being a guide and started to fish the bridges at night for tarpon. He began poling locals around at 17,...

Daytime swordfishing began in Venezuela when Aquiles Garcia and Captain Oscar Benito Marcano used a bag of rocks to get their bait down to where these prized fish swim in extreme depths during daylight hours. In 1997, on the La Guaira bank many Captains started to target these billfish with confidence. It wasn’t refined until two brothers, Richard and Scott Stanczyk started to consistently catch them in the Florida Keys around 2002. But it was Richards son, Nick, that took the swordfish game...

Mitch Howell has had a very interesting life on and off the water. At a young age, Howell’s family was failing him so his grandparents took the helm and raised him. His world was coming at him in different directions very quickly. He would eventually find profound joy and success in fishing. It was one of our sport’s great heroes, Flip Pallot, who would be Mitch’s greatest influence and mentor years later. We have heard numerous stories on this podcast how fishing has saved many of our guests...

At 41 years of age, Jarad “Dingo” Boshammer, has been fishing the world for a very long time. He’s renowned now for having an acute sense for catching monster snook and tarpon guiding out of his 18 foot Chittum Skiff in Jupiter, Florida. But Florida is a long way from his roots. He was born into a heavy sport fishing family in Queensland, Australia. His Dad, Sid, was a live-aboard Charter Captain, so naturally his son was catching fish at a very, very young age. He loved it! At one time Jarad...

Betsy Bullard has an amazing heart filled with the love of fishing, her friends, and the insatiable desire to save the Everglades. At a very young age, her father helped her catch her first fish that would eventually direct her empowering life in fishing. I first recognized her beauty when she worked many of the Key's Fly Tournaments as a weigh master. Before she found her footing in Islamorada, Fl she owned and operated the Golfito Sailfish Rancho in Costa Rica. But when she experienced...

During the late 80’s, Capt. Ed Walker was one of my first guides in the fabled tarpon grounds of Homosassa where some of the largest megalops in the world were being caught on flies. Eddie, as I called him then, was much younger than I and possessed an innate ability to find and catch fish that many others couldn’t. He was a joy to fish with and we caught some fatties. He was good, very good and his peers recognized his incredible, young talent. Walker would eventually win some of the largest...

Chris Wittman grew up fishing every second he could. He never thought of becoming a fishing guide until he became one in 2000. This was the same year The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan was signed into law by Governor Jeb Bush and President Clinton, which was a financial engine that was designated to save the Everglades. Invaluable clean water is paramount to insure the future of wildlife, birds and fish, and regain its lost prominence. The Everglades is one of our countries most...

Kyle Holt is Taylor Creek Fly Shop’s head guide, whose favorite saying is "Fish Hard and Die Rich.” Having been raised in Springfield, Illinois, Kyle became heavily involved in fishing, hunting, and trapping the "flatlands" surrounding his home. As fortune would have it, Kyle's family decided to take regular vacations to Rocky Mountain National Park where he hooked his first browns, rainbows, and brookies - subsequently becoming hooked himself. In 1983 Kyle packed up all of his worldly...

Dan Lahren was born in the great western town of Livingston, Montana in 1955. When he was in 7th grade the local fishing icon, Dan Bailey, gave him a fly rod which cemented his life long love affair with fishing and the local waters around the Yellowstone river. Between the ages of 3 and 10 his family traveled often and he found himself in eleven different schools. At the age of 12, he was living alone in the Murray hotel, downtown Livingston. His parent’s marriage had crashed. The railroad...