Full Day Tarpon Fishing: April - August*

I have loved to fish for as long as I can remember although no one else in my family has the least bit of interest in it. My parents don’t fish but they were always willing to drive me to the local lake or river when I was a kid. I grew up chasing the salmon and steelhead of the great lakes and have many fond memories hiking for hours looking for those first couple king salmon of the year. My only saltwater fishing as a kid was when my parents were missionaries for two years on the island of Pohnpei, which is part of the Federated States of Micronesia. Although I never had a real fishing pole, I spent my days with a pop bottle and line fishing with hermit crabs from the beach or even while snorkeling. If only I had a fly rod in my hands back then…

After graduating from high school in Michigan, I went to college in Chattanooga, TN and obtained my Bachelors’ degree in K-12 physical education with a minor in biology from Southern Adventist University. After moving to Florida in 2007 I immediately began to research and fish during all my spare time. I joined my local Club The Tampa Bay Fly Fishing Club and began soaking up the knowledge from experienced saltwater anglers. I was lucky to meet several local guides who took me fishing and became some of my closest friends. Without them and their dedication to share the sport of saltwater fly fishing I would never be in the position I am today. After teaching 5th-10th grade physical education and science for 5 years in the Tampa area I have decided to pursue a lifelong dream of being a professional fishing guide. I have made a lot of good friends in the area many of whom are professional guides and I can’t thank them enough for showing me this incredible fishery. One of the greatest joys I had while teaching was taking my students out fishing. We had some incredible times and caught a lot of fish. This is one thing that increased my desire to become a guide. To see the smiles on their face and their hands shaking with excitement always made my day. The practice was great as many of them had little or no experience fishing and by coaching them we were able to land some trophy fish.