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Podcast by a Panhandle Surf Angler for all anglers of any level. We will talk weekly to guests that are anglers and also industry professionals. I want you to walk away from this podcast with some knowledge either refreshed or new for you to become a better angler. Though it will start in the Panhandle of Florida, it will be around the entire United States so we can all learn something about fishing in different regions.
Speaker 1 (00:00:00):
This episode of Finding D most surf fishing is being brought to you by Ds Custom tackle. Ds custom tackle.com is a great website to go to the Delaware team. They've got so many things in the shop from rigs, floats, teasers. It's not just for Delaware, it's not just for Florida. It's worldwide. That website will take care of all your, uh, needs for building and just getting rigs set into a whole different one. It's more than just Pompano, so many different species. Take a look at the site. You won't be sorry. Lots of good stuff in there. Ds custom tackle.com. Go take a look. Get your order in today. You won't be sorry.
Speaker 1 (00:01:05):
All right. New week, new episode. Hope you're doing well. Wherever you are, fishing has been phenomenal and it's just, everything's going the right way. That's what, that's what we hope for this week. We're taking the digital wall oil. I guess we'll go with the plane, make the jo make the journey a little faster. We're gonna head over to the east coast of Florida and we're gonna talk with Captain Adam Morley of Jung's Fish Camp. Uh, lots of different things we're gonna talk about in that program or with him. We're gonna talk about the tackle shop, his guide business, uh, a certain special program, which actually is really cool. We really, I really enjoyed getting to hear about it. I gotta dig more into it. But the Litter Gator program and, well, since we're taking the digital plane, we might as well take the digital boat too because, uh, yeah, this is actually gonna be really fun. I can't, like, I keep looking back and I'm in the back green room and we're gonna have a guest appearance 'cause he is out fishing with somebody that's been on the show before. So you'll get to see a couple people. Alright, without further ado, welcome to the show, captain.
Speaker 2 (00:01:58):
Hey. Hey. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:02:00):
Yeah, it's so good to have you. And, uh, hi, Mike
Speaker 2 (00:02:04):
.
Speaker 1 (00:02:06):
Sandman in the back rear. Oh no, I lost that picture. Whoops. Glitch on my side. Hey, look, it's Sandman, it's Mike. He's out fishing too.
Speaker 2 (00:02:19):
What's going on? Demo. That's good to see. How's it going to see you podcasters? What's up?
Speaker 1 (00:02:23):
Oh man, you guys go back and take a listen to his episode. That was a lot of fun. And if you're not following him, he's had a hell of a concert series. He has been quite a busy man. Quite a busy man. Well, uh, this just is a cool happenstance. So we got KA out here on the boat. They're out there going after some reds. They're sitting by a school. So if we, uh, happen to catch a catch while we're watching, it's not gonna be a bad day. Not even,
Speaker 2 (00:02:44):
That's not gonna be a bad day at all. e even if we don't catch fish, it's still not a bad day. It's, it's quite beautiful out here. A little bit on the cool side.
Speaker 1 (00:02:52):
You're in the office. It's,
Speaker 2 (00:02:54):
Yeah, it's rough. The, the office view isn't too bad. Is it?
Speaker 1 (00:02:57):
? No, not even a little. It's so much better than mine right now. That's, yes, absolutely. Alright, so let's, uh, let's not burn any time. Let's get you right into it. Tell us your story and what got you into fishing.
Speaker 2 (00:03:08):
So, I've been fishing my entire life. Um, I actually grew up here in northeast Florida. I got my first fishing rod probably when I was seven years old and started fishing the, the Paler Flats here in northeast Florida. Uh, when my mom lived at, when we lived at Princess Place Preserve. And ever since, ever since then, I've just been absolutely hooked. I started working as a teenager at the Ungs Fish Camp, and years later I actually had the opportunity. Uh, my wife and I had the opportunity to come back and kind of close that circle as, uh, the new owner operators of the ONGs Fish Camp in Crescent Beach, Florida.
Speaker 1 (00:03:51):
Definitely full circle .
Speaker 2 (00:03:53):
Yeah, it, it was, uh, it back and think of when I was just a teenager wrapping shrimp and making liter in the back shack for the, uh, the Jung's fish camp. And then years later actually being the, the operator. That's, uh, that's been a really fun and humbling experience.
Speaker 1 (00:04:13):
. Yeah. Well, you definitely know the ins and outs of the business then. That's for sure. For starting that down the bottom, all the way, working all the way to the top. Mm-Hmm, . Well done. What's your favorite thing about fishing?
Speaker 2 (00:04:26):
Uh, like you're, you're looking at it be being out, being out here, spending time with good company, catching fish. I ke catching fish is, is a nice part. But honestly, just being out on the water, um, with the perfect conditions and watching, watching that School of Red Fish just kind of swim by, uh, it looks like they're actually coming back this way. Hopefully Mike's gonna hook up here in a second, but just being in skinny water, watching these fish move through these creeks and through the flats, I get it. It's a rush. It it's a, it's a true rush. And that's probably my, my favorite thing is being, being out here perfect. Calm conditions and watching, watching a School of Reds move right by us.
Speaker 1 (00:05:16):
Hopefully you're gonna throw again too. I mean, you, I know
Speaker 2 (00:05:20):
You're just gonna
Speaker 1 (00:05:20):
Wait. I see what you're gonna do, .
Speaker 2 (00:05:23):
I probably should. My, my rod's right here. I I have it. Go for
Speaker 1 (00:05:25):
It.
Speaker 2 (00:05:26):
My,
Speaker 1 (00:05:27):
Yeah, audio's fine. We can still hear You don't, yeah, don't, don't.
Speaker 2 (00:05:30):
Okay, good. I, I wasn't sure. I didn't, uh, I don't do I don casting if the, if the audio picks up the, the drag zinging as I hook into one of these red fish that that'd be ideal.
Speaker 1 (00:05:42):
I'll change the view if all of a sudden one of you hook up like that. I'll try to get it so it's zoomed in on them and be like, all right, here, I'll send you the clip. That way you have a, you know, the, the always be recording thing. Uh, nice. You're welcome to Yellow Tech. There you go. I'm using your, I, I just used your thing. . Okay. So, uh, while you're talking about that, let's nail into a fun one. What's a bucket list fish you still wanna catch? 'cause I know you've been after this a long time in life and enjoying.
Speaker 2 (00:06:08):
So a bucket list fish. I, I might be one of the few anglers that doesn't really have a bucket list fish because I've, I've already caught it. My, my, oh, okay. Like, I'm a very niche fisherman. I, I know what I like to do. I'm not, I don't like to travel a lot to fish. I don't like to go to new places. I like my backyard. I, I like the Northeast Florida flats and what it has to offer. I don't have a huge desire to fish other places and target other species. I love skinny water, red fishing. Like that's my, that's my jam. Now if I did have a bucket, bucket list fish, it would be that snook that I lost down at Matan Inlet while I was with Mike. Uh, last year. Like, I, I still haven't got like a, a real good snook. I've, I've caught some snook, but I haven't got any real big ones. This is kind of a little bit far north for them, but we have been seeing them moving northward and we're starting to get them at the Matanza inlet with more consistency enough to target them. So if I had to pick something, I'd say a, a big snook, uh, would be my, my bucket list fish.
Speaker 1 (00:07:30):
Okay. That, that, that must have been a heartbreaker for the one that got off like that.
Speaker 2 (00:07:33):
Gosh, it, like, for the viewers that follow St. Augustine Sandman on YouTube, they probably, they probably know what we're talking about because it was, it was caught on camera. He is got it posted on his YouTube channel. Like you could see the look on my face as this monster snook just rolls up on the surface and then throws the bait back at me. I, I catch the jig that it threw back at me in my hand and I'm just sitting there jaw dropped looking at this fish. I, I lost it. Was it, looking back, it's kind of funny, but I'm still crying a little bit on the inside .
Speaker 1 (00:08:10):
It's fair. Absolutely fair. All right, last one for this one, and then we'll get into the quick piece here for you. Can you share a memorable phish, uh, anything memorable beside, well, hell, you kind of just did I, I feel bad, but is there any other memorable surfacing stories including unexpected catches or challenging fishing situations that you came out with a win?
Speaker 2 (00:08:31):
Um, well, let's see. As far as far, far as surf fishing, like I don't do a lot of surf fishing, but a memorable, memorable experience there was actually with who, who was it? It was Brett, uh, Mike Cook here. Uh, Jake. We all got together for, catch him up with Colin, catch him up with Colin. Um, we all got together as a, as a group here in northeast Florida, and we went out and had basically a father son's, uh, fishing day on the beach. So that, that was memorable. Uh, can't say that I caught anything, but it was memorable because we got to spend time with, again, good company and our kids on the beach. So that, that was memorable. A memorable fishing experience for me back here. Uh, def definitely fishing top water for, uh, red fish. This was years ago still probably one of my, my favorite stories.
Speaker 2 (00:09:25):
It's when I converted from mono to braided fishing line, I was thrown top water for red fish along grass line, 25 inch red fish comes up just blasts top water and then berries itself around this oyster cluster. And I'm using, I'm using braids, so it just wraps around this oyster cluster. I fight this fish all the way in with the oyster, a five pound oyster clump, untangle the oyster from the, from the line land, the fish. And like, had that been mono game would've been over immediately, but for whatever reason, that braid held up with that oyster clump. And I've been fishing braid ever since. I've, I've never gone back to mono after that. So that, that was a really memorable experience.
Speaker 1 (00:10:16):
Wow. I would not expect that with braid off a cluster. That's impressive.
Speaker 2 (00:10:20):
Yeah. And like if, you know, if you know oysters, especially live oysters, there's a live cluster oysters, they're basically living razor blades. And the fact that I was still able to get that in was we're we're talking years and years ago that I still remember that as just being absolutely amazing.
Speaker 1 (00:10:38):
So you got red and oysters for dinner, that was kind of a nice win. Yeah. Gosh.
Speaker 2 (00:10:42):
And I've been thinking about it at a time. Yeah, like there, there was a good couple dozen oysters on that cluster. I, I definitely could have steamed those suckers up .
Speaker 1 (00:10:52):
Okay. Well let's move into some fishing tips, tricks and knowledge here. Now, I know, like you said, and lu listeners, listen, this is gonna be kind of a, a mixture. This is gonna be a little bit of surf and a little bit of skinny water. Uh, we're, we're gonna combine them here and we're gonna pass through it because I really want to get into, uh, talking about the, uh, the charter business that you run and the litigator program and the, uh, and, and the tackle shop. So we'll kind of go with this. How do you plan your fishing trips?
Speaker 2 (00:11:22):
Uh, Mike texts me and says, Hey, you wanna go fishing? I'm like, yeah. And then we end up, uh, on a, on a boat fishing . So I like, but no, and in all, all seriousness, um, I don't put a lot of effort into planning the fishing trips. I, I've got a boat on the, the lift, it's ready to go. I, I'm kind of the, the king of short notice in that we'd go out in all weather. We, we go out in all weather, like Mike is saying, we, we don't really care. We, when we have time and we have the ability, we'll say, we'll text each other. I've got a few friends that I'll text and be like, Hey, can, can you be here in like 15, 20 minutes? I've got some time. Let's go fishing. Um, but as far as like, the best way to do it, you definitely want to check the weather, check the wind, know the area that you're gonna be fishing. I know this area so well that regardless of the wind direction or the tides, I've got some spots that I'm gonna hit that will usually produce regardless of the, the conditions. But for a novice, I would definitely recommend, um, check, checking the weather, checking the tides, stopping into a local bait and tackle shop, seeing, uh, seeing what their odd, what they can do to increase their odds for catching fish, um, the day that they're gonna be going.
Speaker 1 (00:12:53):
How do you adjust your tactics for fishing when the bite isn't on fire?
Speaker 2 (00:12:59):
Uh, I'm super stubborn. Like if the bite's not on fire, I typically am not, I'm just not loading the boat with fish. If the bite's not on fire, uh, I know a lot of guys will constantly change baits. Uh, I'm pretty much strictly artificial. I, it's gotta be a real dry spell for me before I even consider going to any natural bait. So I'm, I'm typically throwing, uh, the fish bites Fight Club lures, uh, paddle tails and curl tails. Those are typically my go-to skinny water lures is another, uh, local bait. I like supporting the, the local lure makers. Uh, they fish the local waters. They, they know the patterns. They know the, the profiles that the fish in the area are hitting, and they try to mimic that with their lure.
Speaker 1 (00:14:01):
Okay. So the Fight Club lures, you're liking artificial, uh, you were starting to say before I had to do the pause there with another loss. Uh, you like using the small businesses and you were talking about in the shop there. Go ahead. Yeah,
Speaker 2 (00:14:12):
So the, uh, I like using the local bait manufacturers, bait makers, uh, skinny water lures, even Fish Bites is local to us, even though they are now international, which is awesome to see. But I like using the, the local lure makers because they fish the local waters. They know the baits and the profiles that the fish are eating, and they're, they're mimicking that with their, the baits that they're making. So I, I really like a lot of the, the local baits. Uh, fish Bites is definitely high on that list, along with Skinny water lures, uh, kiss My Fish Lures. There's a few really good, uh, bait profiles out there from all those companies. Uh, like I said, it's gotta be a really tough, tough spell, not just a tough day. I, I'm talking, it's gotta be a dry spell for me before I start considering switching to any sort of live or natural bait. Um, it's, it's pretty much strictly artificial in this boat.
Speaker 1 (00:15:08):
Oh, all right. And you, you can't go wrong there. Uh, let's talk seasons real quick. Uh, are there any unique challenges for, or tips you can give up for fishing in different seasons, such as our chili winters and our dead su dead summer beat down of the humidity and hatred? ,
Speaker 2 (00:15:26):
I, I, I can't relate to the last one. I love that weather, like the, the hotter Oh no, love it. I love it. . Um, hon honestly, the, the thing that I've learned most is that the difficult times are usually in the transition period before, um, kind of the season changes and becomes more consistent with that weather. So as we are coming out of cooler winter weather, what I'm finding is that we're in kind of that transition zone, that transition period where the fish are on the move, they're changing their, their behavior from their winter haunts, like their hangout spots in the winter. They're moving out of the, the creeks that they're hanging out in the winter and they're moving more out into the flats. Um, we're still finding some in the creeks, but they're not super active as far as feeding. So I would say, while I may be stubborn and switching baits, what I try to do is I try to stay on top of that movement.
Speaker 2 (00:16:30):
Those pattern changes. So when they start moving, the water temperature starts warming up, they'll start moving out into the flats. And while I've noticed a lot of people wait weeks and weeks and sometimes months trying to fish it, like they fished the conditions, like it was still winter when the fish have moved to their summer or their, their springtime haunts before they moved to their summertime haunts. So the, the tips I would say for the, the season changes is if you're not catching fish in one spot that you've been catching them, it might be because you have a season change that's changing their patterns and to go and look for other conditions, other ha other structure, other habitat that they may have moved to, uh, that, that usually produces fish for me. So if I'm like, Mike and I were catching fish in this creek for months and then it just turned off and I gave it a couple more tries, a few days of fish in these creeks and they just weren't there. We moved out to the flats and we started catching fish again when those fish weren't in the flats for those months that we were in the creek. So don't be afraid to change location change, change tactics as the water temperature starts to fluctuate with those transition times during the seasons.
Speaker 1 (00:17:56):
Perfect. Well, I'm gonna do a bait check here. It's been about 20 minutes, so you can go ahead and throw for a few. , you, you don't have to, you don't have to talk for a minute, .
Speaker 2 (00:18:03):
Alright, let's, uh, actually be, be, before that happens, I think we're gonna like move from the spot that we're at before the tide drops too much lower. Otherwise this might be a really long fishing trip. So I'm gonna , I'm gonna go ahead and grab the push pull and gonna push this out into a little bit deeper water.
Speaker 1 (00:18:19):
Perfect.
Speaker 1 (00:18:30):
This paycheck is being brought to you by Kids. Can Fish go over to kids can fish.net and take a look at the great things that they're doing for this industry and these kids and getting 'em out fishing. It is a 5 0 1 3 C federally and state recognized charity. They take these kids out to the camps and what they do is they show 'em, whether it's a CNET clinic or a, uh, surf fishing or maybe inshore, they have these things set up. So they take 'em out, they teach them kids, and then after that they give them the gear that they use that day so they can go do it again on their own. They're setting a huge great, or I, I wanna, I don't wanna say precedent, but they're just building something brilliant. Not every kid can go out and fish because we all know this is a little bit of an expensive sport, or, hey, mom and dad, we don't know how to fish, but our kids wanna learn.
Speaker 1 (00:19:15):
So, hey, this camp's designed to get them out there. You're building memories, having a good time, and parents, you're more than welcome to be there for these camps. They're freaking awesome. So if you go over to Kids Can fish.net, take a look, you're gonna see all the things on that. You can buy gear from there and it goes back in all the money they get from you, from these camps, or I'm sorry, from the Red Fish Tournament in St. Simon's Island. All that comes back together and goes back into it. So they can continue this mission of getting kids out fishing. Like they always say more tackle boxes, less X boxes, helping these kids out. Kids can fish.net. Go take a look, make something happen. These kids will love you for it. I'll love you for it, man. Just do it. Uh, such a good go. Such a program. Alright, got your audio back. Sorry, I had to put, I I always mute you in the background for that . That,
Speaker 2 (00:20:04):
That, that's fine. I'm, I'm just smiling and nodding along because I, I love those guys over there. Kids can fish. Uh, we actually had one of their camps down at our fish camp Jung's Fish Camp. Um, and I thought I was getting a bump there for a second. But one, one track mine. As soon as I start feeling I get a hit, all everything
Speaker 1 (00:20:26):
Stops fair. That as that's requires a hundred percent in my opinion. Would you do that? I I will either pause this thing or I will just sit here and watch quietly. Happily.
Speaker 2 (00:20:36):
Yeah. We, we've done the, um, the kids can fish camps down at the, um, down at our fish camp and like, it, it's awesome seeing the, the kids come down the smiles on their faces. We've, we've got the marina right at our fish camp, so we get to drop some lines in and watching, watching some of these kids catch the first fish they've ever caught and the smiles on their face, it pri it's priceless. It's awesome organization. Love those guys over there. Kids can fish.
Speaker 1 (00:21:05):
It's funny, Tom actually was just texting me in the background. I was like, ah, or he was calling me. I was like, I am recording. I'll call you back, .
Speaker 2 (00:21:13):
Alright, let's let, let him know I said hi. And uh, tell him me. I hope you deleted the, the Nashville picture, uh, before it got spread too far. he'll, he'll know what I'm talking
Speaker 1 (00:21:22):
About. And now that's on the podcast. That's gonna be what's you talking about? You don't need to worry about it, . Alright, let's talk about the guide business. What got you into guiding and doing charters?
Speaker 2 (00:21:33):
So I actually got my captain's license and started my guiding career out of the Genung Fish Camp where I worked as a, as a teenager. So that's where, in another school of reds. So that, that's where I got, um, kind of got my start and actually started the, the kayak fishing charters in the area back before kayak fishing was even a thing. Um, we were, we were taking just regular recreational kayaks, not fishing kayaks. There wasn't even really a thing then. And we were outfitting them with rod holders and shallow water anchors and all that. Um, so that, that kind of got me into it. Like, it, it was just kind of the, the natural progression working at the, working at the Bay and tackle shop, uh, selling bait, talking to people coming in and like everybody asking, Hey, like, will you take me fishing?
Speaker 2 (00:22:24):
Will you take me fishing? And seeing that as a opportunity. Started doing the kayak fishing charters and eventually got my captain's license and started running charters out of the Jung's Fish camp as a, as a teenager. I got my captain's license before I even got my, uh, my diploma. It was, that was kind of a funny thing is that I had my captain's license before I even graduated high school and was doing charters and it, it was, it was great. I was already living the dream before I even, uh, graduated high school. And then, uh, just kept it going for a couple years. But I did get burned out on doing the fishing charters for a little bit. So I took a break, used my captain's license for other things, and now I'm back, uh, doing a little bit more, more fishing and, uh, doing limited, limited chartering. But I am, uh, I am doing some charters now. I don't wanna get burned out on it, so I don't wanna make it too big of a thing. But taking folks out, catching fish, yeah, that's, that's one of the things that I'll, uh, I'll do down at the Jung's Fish Camp.
Speaker 1 (00:23:34):
Very nice. Uh, how do you approach teaching and guiding clients with varying levels of phishing experiencing during the charter?
Speaker 2 (00:23:42):
So, I'll, I'll be honest, one of the things that I gotta do now in order to keep myself from burning out, uh, I, I enjoy fishing. I, I tell people this all the time. I enjoy fishing. I'm, I don't enjoy babysitting. So the, the charters that I book, it's usually after having a conversation with them in the bait shop, kind of getting a feel for what they know, their level of experience. Um, personally, I, I only take folks that already know what they're doing. Um, I'm not the, uh, I'm not the guide that you want to book if you don't really, uh, have much experience. Uh, there's lots of guides that really excel in that department in, uh, their patients, shall I say, in baiting your hooks, untangling your lines, doing a lot of that type of guide work. When, when you fish with me, we're, we're fishing together as fishing buddies. Uh, you're, you're taking care of yourself. We'll, we'll talk about some of the things that we're seeing out there. I'll point out the, the schools of red fish tell you where to cast if my line's already in the water, but I'm, I'm not doing a whole lot of babysitting as I call it, um, because I want to continue to enjoy this. And I remember what happened last time when I was younger, that burned me out on it. So that's, that's where I am right now in my, in my guiding career.
Speaker 1 (00:25:13):
Hey, learning experiences, man. I mean, why, why make things painful when make it less fun? It's not worth the, uh, it's not worth the aggravation.
Speaker 2 (00:25:21):
Right?
Speaker 1 (00:25:22):
Yeah, I get that completely.
Speaker 2 (00:25:23):
But, but I still do take, uh, Mike out and babysit Mike, uh, from time to time. Uh, he, he's all right. He's getting there. He's getting ,
Speaker 3 (00:25:33):
Aime, .
Speaker 1 (00:25:35):
Uh, it's, we we've only been going 20 something minutes. You're doing okay. You got plenty, Mike. You'd be all right. .
Speaker 3 (00:25:42):
Yeah, man. Um, we're surrounded by
Speaker 2 (00:25:44):
Red fish. They're just not chewing. Yeah. We're, we're we're seeing red fish, like the water's still clear with the, the cooler water. We're, we're seeing red fish probably, I would say mid to upper slot red fish. Every couple minutes there's passing us on the boat. And if we were using shrimp, we probably would've been on if Yeah. You, you, you see that shade? He's throwing like super sunny. And I can feel that shade on the back of the boat here. .
Speaker 1 (00:26:13):
Well, we were talking about it. So before everybody freaks out, like, oh, why aren't they catching? Um, this episode is actually right after a very interesting cold snap that just slammed Florida. Um, it's March 20th. So we just had, um, I know in the panhandle we hit in the thirties. Um, how'd you guys end up, you guys get down that low too?
Speaker 2 (00:26:31):
Uh, we are in the forties on the water this morning, uh, which, which was chilly considering like three or four days ago. It was in the upper eighties. Yeah. Uh, so like, it was like, like the Facebook meme, uh, the temperature dropped. Like, uh, somebody saw his state trooper like,
Speaker 1 (00:26:52):
Don't fall, Mike. Oh, if I get you falling, Mike , what do you got? I turning turn what? In the, what, what, how?
Speaker 2 (00:27:02):
That was this morning. That, that was this morning. Are
Speaker 1 (00:27:05):
You
Speaker 2 (00:27:05):
Serious? Dude, that
Speaker 1 (00:27:08):
Is beautiful.
Speaker 2 (00:27:09):
That's, that was this morning here. And then I called him, I'm like, Hey man, let's go fishing.
Speaker 1 (00:27:14):
Oh,
Speaker 2 (00:27:16):
Catching. Yeah. So those are some of the, the unusually large blue fish that we've been getting in the area down towards Matan Inlet, uh, recently we're, we're seeing some 10, 12, 15 plus pound blue fish. Oh. Uh, coming in the inlet, which is really unusual for our area. We're used to like, 18 to 20 inches is a big blue fish for us here. But these, I, I had one at the side of the boat on camera, lost it at the side of the boat, but it was every bit of like, probably 36 inches. I think it was a big blue fish for, for us.
Speaker 1 (00:27:55):
Yeah. Well, and that's, that's the funny. So that's where I was getting at, well, when I was talking about that, if you guys have watched this show before, you've heard us talk about it. Um, if you've been a long time angler, you kind of know this too. When you get a huge weather change like that, you get a big snap in, a cold fish are gonna be like, whoa, what the hell? They're same. They're just like us. All of a sudden it's um, mm-Hmm, no, I don't like this. They're gonna go look for what they can to be comfortable and they are gonna lock jaw. That is very common. It's just a matter of getting it. You know, they're gonna eat when they're gonna eat. You can put it right on their nose. If they're hungry at the time, he's gonna say, oh, thanks, appreciate you. They, they're not gonna chase as hard. So it requires more work. So before you guys start coming at the comment saying stuff,
Speaker 2 (00:28:35):
It's working. I can't catch fish. There's no fish there. . ,
Speaker 1 (00:28:40):
Man. Yeah. You guys, and I, again, we're going off script here. Now we're in the conversation mode. But, um, I've had it noon, I think the last, I wanna say the last seven or eight podcasts I've done, we've had a section where we've talked about how it strange fish, strange differences, changes. And it's attributed to, hey, things are changing in the water, temperatures are changing, currents are changing. Absolutely. You can point your fingers however you want, but it's undeniable that things are changing. So you have to be able to be willing to change your tactics.
Speaker 2 (00:29:12):
Yeah. You, you've gotta adapt. Uh, and even when you adapt, like, like today, we're, we're finding fish. They're just not, they're just not biting. So even when you adapt, sometimes they're just, like you said, locked jawed. And I've found that it's usually two or three days for them to acclimate in our, our region. The, the Northeast Florida region, the, the waters that I tend to fish, the, the flats, they will, they will be kind of turned off with, uh, significant weather or temperature changes for about two to three days before they really start to fire up and start feeding again. So, um, but today just looks so beautiful. We had to get out here know, knowing full well that it's gonna be fishing with hopefully a little bit of catching.
Speaker 1 (00:30:06):
Hey, that's, and that, that's just fishing though, isn't it? Uh, Hey, hey Mike. What did that blue fish eat?
Speaker 4 (00:30:15):
Oh, uh, top water, uh,
Speaker 2 (00:30:18):
, wasn't it? No,
Speaker 4 (00:30:19):
It wasn't. It was a, a shug or
Speaker 1 (00:30:21):
Something. Oh, they went after the top water. So he was really hungry.
Speaker 4 (00:30:26):
Silver and, uh, silver chart truce and pink.
Speaker 1 (00:30:31):
Nice silver
Speaker 2 (00:30:32):
Chart truce and pink top water. Right, right around sunrise, uh, kind kind of in that golden hour you saw that, saw that picture that when you showed me that picture that I, I
Speaker 4 (00:30:41):
Hooked up one on a, uh, spoon too.
Speaker 1 (00:30:44):
They love spoons. They love shiny things. They just love to attack. Bluefish are just, they're almost indiscriminate. Ooh, ooh. Yeah. They, they just go nuts.
Speaker 2 (00:30:54):
They, they got, they got four of those blues this morning. I've, I've been targeting them. I still haven't actually put one in the boat, so I don't have any pictures to show, but I've, I've found them throughout the day. But they're turn, they're just not real active. Uh, like I'm sight fishing for 'em down at the inlet. But it sounds like the, the early, early morning bite, which I haven't done, might be the ticket to get them, uh, feeding a little bit more aggressively.
Speaker 1 (00:31:26):
Yeah. I've seen, for me it's the same, uh, the sunrise bite, uh, or right after the sun has gone over the horizon for the sunset bite, that's when I normally end up catching into the blues with a, with a lure, whether it's a spoon or one of the jigs. They seem to get that way Midday. I, I've caught 'em on accident. I think I might've just found one that was like, Ooh, that looks yummy. But yeah, that, that started the day, man, they go nuts. And that's what I found.
Speaker 2 (00:31:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:31:54):
Okay. So let's see here. What else can we ask you about that one? So if people want to do charters, 'cause you guys offer the guiding and charters out of Jung's Fish Camp as well. Yeah,
Speaker 2 (00:32:03):
We, we do. We've got a few guides and captains that we book for, and that includes myself.
Speaker 1 (00:32:10):
Mm-Hmm. . So people can go, if you're good down in that area, you can go over to Jung's and you can call in. They've got a whole different set of charters. There's lots of things available. So definitely look at that. It's worth it, especially if you're traveling. 'cause a guide business and that stuff, if you're out of town, you don't have to bring your gear. You don't have to learn areas, you don't have to do anything. You're gonna go out with somebody that knows all these things and you're gonna be, you know, you got a better chance of success than not. So, hey.
Speaker 2 (00:32:34):
Yeah. And, and you will, you will learn a lot in a half day charter. Uh, that would oftentimes take folks years and years to figure out on their own with, if it's a new area, if they're not familiar with the area. Um, you, you gotta invest the time in learning an area before you really start to produce fish consistently. You might go out and you might get lucky, but book booking a, a local guide who's been fishing in the area while like, you're not necessarily paying for that trip. What you're paying for is the years of experience and the, the knowledge and the, the consistency in catching fish and that experience alone is worth it.
Speaker 1 (00:33:24):
Oh, definitely. Can't, can't go wrong there. Um, well, let's knock on another paycheck real quick. 'cause I think we're gonna, we're gonna hit into a couple more pieces here. We'll ask a couple more questions about this, but then we're gonna get into the, the fun stuff. We're gonna get into the Litigator program and into the tackle shop. So let's get that paycheck.
Speaker 1 (00:33:49):
This paycheck is being brought to you by the singer guy. Oh, chip. He's got fun things. Go to the sinker guy.com. Take a look at all the stuff that chip's got going on in the Sinker Guy garage. Sinkers got you covered. Great Sputniks. It's my primary thrower and I love them. But if you also need to get your hands on anything else, maybe you need to get your hands on rigs. He's got the Bruno, the Uno, the fishing mortician. He's got all sorts of fun rigs, plenty of things in there. Float speeds. The green Get 'em rigs. He's got it all. If you need supporting equipment such as scissors, pliers, uh, clips, all that. He's got it in there too. The sinker guy.com. Go over there, take a look. Get your order in today. You definitely won't be sorry. You guys are having too much fun. I'm freaking super jealous sitting here and like, oh, you know, it's like I could watch this and I, maybe it's just that weirdness in me. I could sit and watch this all day. Just watch. Oh, people are fishing. That's nice. That's nice.
Speaker 2 (00:34:42):
We miss you buddy.
Speaker 1 (00:34:43):
. Yeah, I miss
Speaker 2 (00:34:44):
You. Next time you come down, I'll get you out on the boat.
Speaker 1 (00:34:47):
Yeah, I need to plan a trip, man. This whole working and adulting thing is getting way out of hand. I'm sick of it. . . I need to get a job that pays, like, that pays reasonably. Like this job for working on Bird, working on Helos. I need to find that in the fishing industry. Then I'd be like, look, life is really good.
Speaker 2 (00:35:07):
You living the dream at that point.
Speaker 1 (00:35:09):
. Oh yeah. That, that's why I can't do it. It's not allowed . So. All right. Let's talk about the Litigator program. Tell us about it and what it is and all about it.
Speaker 2 (00:35:18):
Yeah, so The Litigator is a program that I started, um, actually crowdfunded the, uh, original lit getter going on nine years ago, eight or nine years ago. And it was after I started noticing just a huge amount of trash in our local waters. Im impacting our, basically the, the water quality and the quality of life while out here fishing. Uh, nobody wants to be on the water out here and seeing a bunch of trash floating by. So, um, few friends and I came out, did a little cleanup, got the idea that we could crowdfund a vessel just to do waterway cleanups. And so the idea for the litter getter was born. Uh, we crowdfunded the first one and started bringing out volunteers, uh, would post on social media that we had trips going out, and folks would sign up and we would take them out and basically just show 'em what's going out, what's going on out on the water, and giving them a hands-on experience while we talk about water quality and its importance on the, the local fishery and such.
Speaker 2 (00:36:34):
And in, in the time that I was the captain for the, the litter getter, we had collected over 50 tons of trash out of our local waterways. Um, we, I've, I've stepped away from that. I'm no longer the captain. I actually, uh, it's actually one of my proudest, uh, accomplishments is the fact that it's a program that I started years and years ago, and then I stepped away and it's continuing to grow and flourish now under the Matan River Keeper organization. Uh, so they have it going. They've got a, uh, captain Silas is now the captain that runs the litter getter program for the Matanza River keeper. But it's just really cool to see something that I started, uh, kind of planted that seed continuing to flourish and people getting out on the water and cleaning up the, the waters that we are actively fishing.
Speaker 1 (00:37:34):
One of the, excuse me, one of the things people don't realize, and I, I mean, well, I shouldn't say no, I'm just gonna be a jerk. Some I think a lot of people don't realize is litter isn't just from boaters or people like that at the day at the beach. It's not, it's not normally, it's not that. It's rainwater. The rain stuff picks stuff up in the street. It's the average person that throws that cheeseburger wrapper outta their car window, or it blows down the street, uh, outta your trash can. It gets snooped, uh, swooped up, goes down through the sewers, and then where does all that end up? It ends up in our waterways.
Speaker 2 (00:38:04):
Yeah. A a lot of people really don't realize, and that's one of the things that I learned while being the captain for the litter getter and something that I really kind of dug into. A lot of people don't realize and understand that the majority of the litter that we see out here in our waterways is actually unintentional litter. It's not from people intentionally throwing it out because they're jerks that think their mom was gonna come clean up behind them. It's because they have used the lightweight plastics or the, the trash in the first place, and when they dispose of it, they put it into a garbage can. The, the pests, the, the birds that will pull trash out of trash cans, garbage trucks as they drive over bridges. Like, I've got videos from when I was, when I was much more engaged in the, in the litter aspect.
Speaker 2 (00:38:58):
I've got videos of trucks driving over bridges and the wind is just pulling the trash out. So it's the unintentional litter that makes up the majority, the bulk of the trash that we see out here. And the best way to, um, really combat that is reduce it in the first place. Just because we think we are properly disposing of it doesn't mean that it's ending up where it should. Our, our waste management system is really kind of, um, faulty in that it lets a lot slip through the, through the cracks. And if we, if we care about not being a part of the problem, considering reusables, um, using less lightweight plastics and trash that blows away and moves around easily, uh, that's, that's a big step in reducing the amount of trash that we see in our, in our waterways.
Speaker 1 (00:39:54):
The unintentional side is the thing. It's what gets a lot of people. And if you don't know, you just don't know. And it, it's an, it's understandable. I mean, how can you know if you don't, but those pieces for how it all comes into a giant cycle and circle is not something you think about in your twenties, thirties. I mean, I think about it now, I'm in my forties, but it's just, it's, it's just there. It just kind of happens as you grow. But you can plant that seed like Captain did here. I mean, you plant it once and then you plant it out, a younger person now you know what's gonna happen that's gonna grow with them. That's gonna become something for them to go, Hey, that's something I need to think about. We can only make things better for ourselves. We're not saying be truckers, huggers, tree huggers. Like me, I like trees, I'll hug them. Um, but it is, it matters
Speaker 2 (00:40:40):
Too much. SAP too. Too much sap on, on the trees in my area. I I, I can't hug them, otherwise it gets a little sticky.
Speaker 1 (00:40:50):
Yeah. Mike, is that your lure popping back out there in the front? Or is that something floating?
Speaker 2 (00:40:57):
Oh, stick. Oh yeah. Oh, that's stick. That's, that's a stick.
Speaker 1 (00:41:02):
I was like, hmm, some red's gotta wished it wants to be caught.
Speaker 2 (00:41:07):
Who's that mullet? Uh, big school of mullet just passed us.
Speaker 1 (00:41:11):
That's bait
Speaker 2 (00:41:13):
Now we're, we, we are coming up on a creek bend on this boat. Demo . That's bait, that's boat. We, we don't do that on this boat. He'll bite the head off before you
Speaker 1 (00:41:27):
Move . I think it's more entertaining for that part. Like, no, no. I mean, if we had this, maybe we would , uh, this is perfect. So the litigator has done really well and now it's Matanza River keepers. They're, they're running it and they're doing that, and it's, and it's shown. So you've seen this when you started to where it is now. Now, even though you're not running that anymore, you've seen a positive infl or impact.
Speaker 2 (00:41:56):
I, I have. And it's, it's been great to see like hundreds and hundreds, probably even into the thousands of people now that have been out on the litter getter, uh, participating in the waterway cleanups, learning about the, the impacts that basically pollution has on our waterways and the, the fisheries. Um, so yeah, it, it's, it's really cool to, to see that even though I'm not active with, uh, as the captain anymore, of the, the litter getter, the, the Matan river keeper, which is part of the, uh, the Waterkeeper alliance, the, the river keepers throughout, throughout the nation, really, uh, they're doing a great job continuing on those efforts and, and more like they, they have the, the resources and everything to do an even better job. So it was, it was nice to be able to hand it off to somebody that was able to grow it even beyond my capacity.
Speaker 1 (00:42:55):
Well, well done. Good job on starting it. And congratulations on how it's become something so big. And you're, you, you did something great, man. You just,
Speaker 2 (00:43:04):
I did something
Speaker 1 (00:43:05):
added to the list of things you're winning at because you're just crushing it. This That's perfect.
Speaker 2 (00:43:10):
Intentionally crashing us. Uh, Mike says he's intentionally crashing us.
Speaker 1 (00:43:15):
Is that, is that just payback?
Speaker 2 (00:43:17):
Um,
Speaker 1 (00:43:18):
Oh no, that's paint.
Speaker 2 (00:43:20):
I think, I think it's because we're, uh, getting back into shallow water on a little sandbar and he is trying to stay in the channel, which goes under a mangrove. Uh, but
Speaker 1 (00:43:32):
I'm
Speaker 2 (00:43:32):
Just bored. Oh, oh, he says he just bored.
Speaker 2 (00:43:35):
I I was trying to give him a little bit of, uh, like skill credit here, but Well, I was trying to do that, but we are gonna have to push pull probably. So we're, we're gonna have to push pull here again for a minute because tide's going out here. We have about a six foot tide change every six hours and 12 minutes. We are on a falling tide back in this little tidal creek. Uh, usually, usually do pretty well on the, the last of the outgoing tide in these creeks. It's not producing today. But the, the thing about fishing like this is if you're not paying attention to where you are in the title cycle, you may end up on a, uh, may end up stuck in a creek for a little bit longer than you, uh, were hoping,
Speaker 1 (00:44:18):
Well, while I'm doing on that case, I'll do a paycheck. You guys do some polling. How about that? We'll, we'll get you, get you outta that sounds good. So you're not stuck all day. Oh boy. That's nothing good's gonna come from that. Well, we'll let them do their thing on the boat and make sure that they, uh, don't get stuck for six hours making a phone call saying, Hey, I'm gonna be late. Um, we have, can you drop, you know, airdrop me a peanut butter and jelly, but we don't want that one. So without further ado, let's go ahead and knock out another paycheck.
Speaker 1 (00:44:53):
This paycheck is being brought to you by Ninja tackle, ninja tackle va.com, the Ninja Dagger series. Oh, I love those rods. The seven footer, you guys know I love that travel rod stays with me in the car. You can get it with the two different tips that comes with it. So you got a bigger and smaller, it helps out with different weight ranges and stuff. Fun to throw the bummy sticks, the little bummy great range series. And you can get a, the Ninja Series all the way up to 13 footer right now. So lots of different sizes and in there if you need to get your hands on any kind of bait, maybe, uh, you got artificial. He's got it in there. If you need line reels, all that sort of stuff in there. It's almost a one stop shop if you're into firearm, firearm accessories, yeah, you can get your hands on it with a Ninja tactical series. If you need pieces for Glock, any of those ones, there's a lot of different accessories, lots of good stuff in there on ninja tactical va.com. Go take a look. You definitely will be set up for success. It's all good.
Speaker 1 (00:45:48):
Okay, so now we're recording again. 'cause the, the, they were moving the boat. They were in a, they were in a skinny water situation and as you can see, we got Mike. Hi Mike. Now if you're watching this on video, Mike, show us the oyster beds. 'cause that's something people don't really, I don't think see and they know what to look at. Something
Speaker 2 (00:46:03):
They don't see every day.
Speaker 1 (00:46:04):
Yeah. 'cause it's something we don't, I mean, I, I have never seen an oyster, but hold
Speaker 2 (00:46:07):
On. We're breaking up. We're breaking up. Are we good? Are we good? We're good.
Speaker 1 (00:46:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:46:14):
Yeah, yeah. Okay. On our end, it's, it's kind of weird, but, uh, check out these oyster flats right here. We're about to fish these and get on some red fish.
Speaker 1 (00:46:23):
Ah, okay. So when they're sticking out like that, you can see 'em pretty clearly.
Speaker 2 (00:46:27):
Yeah. So at this tide approaching the lower tides, you can, the bars become exposed. We tend to fish around them. Uh, anything that is not exposed is generally gonna be just a kind of a soft mud bottom. So you don't have to worry too much about what's beneath. Uh, it gets real tricky when the tide comes in and those are just beneath the surface of the wa surface of the water. Uh, that's when a lot of folks end to end up basically running up onto an oyster bar and sitting there for a little bit.
Speaker 1 (00:47:00):
Oysters are sharp. They don't do good things to hulls
Speaker 2 (00:47:04):
Or, or flesh or flesh , especially flesh especially. They're not great for hulls, but they're really bad for flesh.
Speaker 1 (00:47:15):
A sad truth. Well, let's do this, let's get into the tackle shop stuff real quick. We'll get you through that one. And then what we'll do is we'll get you guys outta here so you can go fishing. 'cause you guys are, you guys are gonna catch some, a lot of fish here and I don't want to be, you know, tying up your lines.
Speaker 2 (00:47:28):
. Well, we, uh, we hope we'll catch some fish. I get this back in the, the mount. There you go. Oh. Hoping to catch some fish. It has been, uh, a tough bite so far this morning. We've got one. Oh yeah, I did catch one. I, right, right before we ended up, uh, of course on the, on the call. I, I got one little short red, uh, so yeah, I, I did catch a fish today. Skunk
Speaker 1 (00:47:56):
. See no skunk. And you know what I am, I, I, well, I am formerly the King of the Smalls. Uh, my crown was removed at the last kids can fish tournament, but hey, I always catch the small ones. I never seem to catch the big fish. I don't know why. Uh, it's just my luck. Alright,
Speaker 2 (00:48:10):
Catching is catching. I'm, I'm happy. That's true. I'm happy with anything.
Speaker 1 (00:48:14):
So can you tell us a bit about the Tackle Shop, its history and how it became a place where people were like, Hey, you gotta go there and you gotta stop in?
Speaker 2 (00:48:21):
Yeah, so the Ung Fish Camp was actually established by Jack and Mary Jane Genung in, uh, 1948. And the Fish camp, the establishment was family owned and operated until the late nineties, early two thousands when the, the family sold the property to a local group of really neighbors in the, in the neighborhood of the fish camp, who wanted to preserve it as the old Florida Fish camp that it is. So they, they pulled their money, they purchased this fish camp and had, has been basically leasing it out to different operators over the years. Um, but they couldn't really keep it going. They would, each operator would last a couple years and then it would turn over last a couple years and then turn over. Uh, because I had my foot in the door, uh, from working there as a teenager, uh, I would get these calls every couple years.
Speaker 2 (00:49:23):
Hey, do you want to, do you wanna own own the bait shop? You wanna take over and run the Bait shop? And I turned them down a couple times, to be honest. Um, I, I wasn't in the, the right place. Uh, like we were, we were doing too many other things and I just wasn't ready to, uh, take on that responsibility of running, running the business. And then the last time that they gave us a call, which was about seven and a half years ago now, my wife and I talked about it and we were like, you know what? Yeah, now now's the time. So we, we came in, we are about to be, um, the second longest, uh, operator there at the, at the fish camp at the Bay and Tackle shop. Um, and it's just been a, it's been a great experience. The number of people that come in that have been coming in since they were yay, high hold, holding a hand up to their knee.
Speaker 2 (00:50:23):
And they would tell us stories about how they've been coming to this fish camp since, since they were children with their grandparents. And to hear them come in and tell us stories. And we've got a bunch of the old historical pictures that they, they took back then the black and white photos of the fish that they would catch and bring in. So it's really cool to, to see generation after generation coming in. So now these guys, these people that are coming in that are talking about how their grandparents used to bring 'em in, they're bringing their grandkids in, and it's just a, a really for fulfilling kind of thing to see, for us to know that we are, we're part of that, that tradition that that family tradition of getting the next generation and the, the kids out there fishing. So that, that's kind of the, the history. It's, it's been here a long time. People really like what we do, and the support's been great. We see 'em coming back with their kids and grandkids now too.
Speaker 1 (00:51:28):
Very well done. Very, very well done. When it comes to tackle shops, why is going to that, why is going to your local tackle shops such a huge advantage when you're trying to get into fishing?
Speaker 2 (00:51:41):
The local knowledge that, that's one thing. Like we, we get people coming in and people that don't really understand the industry. They're like, how, how can you compete with the big box stores? And the answer is simple. Like the big box stores can't compete with us. We have what they will never be able to provide. And that is local knowledge and passion and the selection of whether it's live bait or artificial, being able to tell you how to rig it, where to use it, all of that stuff may makes us and makes small local mom and pop paying tackle shops absolute necessities in the fishing community because you could be the, the best angler in your lake up in Michigan. But if you come down to visit Florida, it's a completely different world. And you need some of that local knowledge. You may know how to cast a line, you may understand the, the gear, but when it comes to the actual bait and tackle that you need to produce fish down here, you're gonna need that local knowledge, or you're gonna need to move down here and spend years on the water figuring it out for yourself.
Speaker 2 (00:53:00):
So coming into a local May Bay and tackle shop, you're able to really get a lot of information in a very short period of time, uh, and that, that's the advantage to coming into a, a local shop versus a, a big box store.
Speaker 1 (00:53:16):
And ONGs does you, you also host, uh, camps like we talked about with Kids Can Fish and you also host other events as well at the shop was, so what are some of those, uh, that you do host and what are they about?
Speaker 2 (00:53:29):
Yeah, so we, we do a lot of different events at the Fish Camp, as, as we mentioned, the, uh, the kids Can Fish. We'll host, actually I think one's coming up in April. Uh, one Sunday in April. We have the kids Can Fish coming down hosting a camp, but we also do oyster roasts and fundraisers for different local nonprofits, which has been great. So we're, we're really a communi, we're so much more than a bait and tackle shop that the Bait and tackle shop is a big part of who we are. It's kind of our day-to-Day foot traffic business. But we're really a community hub where we've got a great venue space right on the Matan River that we host events for different local charities, local nonprofits, and so some of, some of those, and it's, it's not always fishing related. We're, we just had one for the St. John's County Homeless Coalition. They did a fundraiser. Um, we do it for the Matan River Keeper and just, um, epic Cure, which is another one that does regular events with us. Um, they, they do feeding, uh, feeding the, the less fortunate folks. So there's a lot of organizations that really benefit from our, our fish camp, essentially. It's a, it's a great little community hub that's so much more than just fishing.
Speaker 1 (00:54:52):
That's awesome. Well done. I mean, you're just building it up. That's, so that's, that's great. That keeps you together with that one and, and really helps. Assuming you nailed two more questions. You nailed the education pieces and the community pieces. Well, well done , but the other one, uh, I didn't talk about. So let's talk about the bait side of it. At your tackle shop, like you said, you've got bait and tackle. What kind of bait do you carry? Yep.
Speaker 2 (00:55:12):
So even though I don't use anything except for artificial, we do have a large selection. We try to keep the, the largest selection of live bait in the area. Uh, we're consistently carrying, uh, live shrimp, mud minnows, sand fleas, fiddler crabs. We try to carry finger mullet when they're, when they're in the area. Uh, pin fish, croker's. A lot of our bait can be seasonal. Like the last half of that list is very seasonal. So depending on the time of year, it may be easier or harder, harder to, uh, catch. But we do have a large selection of those live baits. We'll also do some, uh, some of the frozen baits and fresh dead shrimp as well. And then because, because our passion tends to lean towards artificial, we've got a great selection of artificial baits as well that we are always talking about and, and recommending to people who may not be interested in the live bait options.
Speaker 1 (00:56:16):
, all I see is Mike, I can almost see the thought bubble above him. just had a piece of shrimp right now. . I've
Speaker 2 (00:56:25):
Got two bites already. I'm Yeah, he, he, he just said he is had two bites and, uh, that, that he is missed, which is kind of par for the course for us. Like we, we do, we do miss a, uh, a few fish here and there before we put something in the boat.
Speaker 1 (00:56:40):
That's normal. Plus I'm, I'm causing, I'm a little bit of a curse today, so, you know, as soon as we hang up, you're gonna end up hooking up on like four. It's gonna happen. Oh,
Speaker 2 (00:56:47):
Oh yeah. We'll, we'll probably end up sending you like some video and some pictures of like, Mm-Hmm, in the next 10 minutes after we are are done of the fish that we caught.
Speaker 1 (00:56:57):
It's very standard. Uh, so you've also talked, so we talked earlier about the litter getter, but there's also other conservation efforts. What are some other things that Ungs is involved in when it comes to conservation?
Speaker 2 (00:57:08):
So there's a, uh, constitutional amendment that is, uh, making its sway onto the ballot for 2026. So it's a little ways out. Uh, it's the right to clean water, which, uh, it did not get enough signatures, uh, this last time around. So they pushed it out to 2026 in order to, uh, obtain enough signatures to get on the ballot. But that's a really, really important, um, important amendment that we need to get on the ballot that protects, uh, everybody's right to clean water in Florida. The reason it's important is right now there's really no teeth or enforcement of a lot of the pollution regulations and the, the clean water, uh, standards that we have, but there's no enforcement on, uh, maintaining them. So this, this ballot initiative will, will give people the ability to hold the state and hold legislators accountable for clean water issues.
Speaker 2 (00:58:16):
I just read, um, for a lot of folks in South Florida, they already know this, but, um, I just read today that one of the, uh, gypsum mines down in South Florida since December has had a tear in their, uh, in the lining for the gypsum mine. And they don't know how much, uh, radioactive wastewater has leached out into the estuaries and the, and the aquifers down, down there since December. Uh, cha chances are they're, no, nobody's gonna be held a probably got that cast on video. We're just gonna need to edit that one out.
Speaker 1 (00:58:55):
Didn't see anything or I can't see your hands. So it doesn't, you could, you could have just been like, oh, I'm just working with this. But now we know ,
Speaker 2 (00:59:04):
But by being able to, to hold, hold polluters accountable, uh, when they're impacting the health of our, our fisheries and our, for many our livelihoods, like my livelihood, whether it's as a charter captain or as a bay tackle owner, like clean water is the economic driver to the state. It, it is so essential. Um, and making sure that that's, that protection for clean water is enshrined in the state constitution, I think is, is paramount. So that's one thing that we are active in, um, and continue to be active in, is the right to clean water amendment that's coming through in 2026.
Speaker 1 (00:59:49):
Nicely done. Makes sense. Total sense. Um, last two questions here and then we'll, uh, pretty, actually three questions then we'll get you outta here. Uh, as the sport of fishing evolves, what trends do you see emerging in terms of tackle techniques and angler preferences?
Speaker 2 (01:00:05):
So in the 20 plus years that I've been fishing here, I will say, and I'm, I'm proud to acknowledge the shift in, in how people view and really just participate in the sport in general. Uh, w I'm seeing fewer and fewer what I would traditionally call meat haulers. People that just wanna load the boat, uh, ca like charter captains that would historically just load the boat even though there is no use for the fish after they, after their guy, after their clients go home, they can't bring all of this fish home with them. They're down for a couple days, took a charter, have a cooler full of fish. I'm seeing a lot more guides understanding and realizing that catch and release is just as beneficial to their, in fact, more beneficial to their business and to their livelihood because these fish can be caught many times in, in this estuary.
Speaker 2 (01:01:13):
The there's fish out here, there, it's a resident population. We know that we're catching the same fish from the same schools for all season long. And as soon as we remove those fish from those schools, that's one less fish that we could put a client on. So I'm seeing a lot more, uh, guides shifting to more what I would call sustainable practices in the fishing industry, which is great because it also leaves more fish for the average recreational fishermen and my clients that come into the bait shop to be able to catch fish when they go out. Um, the other trend artificial is taking off compared to, um, 20 something years ago. Over, over the years that I've been out here, it really shift has shifted from all these people coming in always buying live bait and not a large demand for artificial to seeing a, a significant shift in the number of anglers that are shifting to artificial. So those, those are the two things that, that I would say trend-wise, I'm, I'm on board with, I I'm here for it. I, I love seeing conservation practices, catch and release, and the number of people using artificial
Speaker 1 (01:02:34):
And the artificial industry has really upped their game. I mean, it's, it's not just what it was when we were kids. You know, we, we've seen so many good ones. Fish bites, perfect example. So much scent coming from it the entire time you're launching it, uh, biodegradable except for the glitter. That's the only thing they said. If, you know, you got glitter in it, that's the only piece, but it's just a ball of scent that you can continue to send for hours and hours. And even after it gets hit, it's still just fine.
Speaker 2 (01:02:59):
Yeah. I they you did that the other day. Oh yeah. He, he's, he's reminding me the, the other day I, I think I caught like seven something fish on the, the one fish bites, uh, bait before it was a little bit too raggedy to and lost three and, and lost three, uh, before it was time to, uh, change bait. So like pe people, I, I don't think they understand that it's artificial's cheaper. They, they look at a bait and they're like, wow, that's really expensive. It's like you're paying four 50 a dozen for shrimp and those shrimp are gone like that. Whereas you pay 6 99 for a pack of artificial and you're, you're catching fish for a week. So easily, easily, the, the, the cost per per fish comes way down when you, when you really look at it with artificial, like you're, you're, you're catching several fish on one piece of beta on one artificial before you need to change it out or before you lose it, and that, that adds up. Whereas live, live shrimp one hit if you, if you catch one fish per live shrimp, you're doing really well.
Speaker 1 (01:04:17):
Yeah, yeah. If you were one for one on shrimp, well dude, you just, just go ahead and call into the, the tournaments. You, you're just, you are, for lack of a better terms, the man or the woman. You are the king. You nailed it. Well, that'd be so nice. Now can happen.
Speaker 2 (01:04:32):
I, yeah, we're not gonna happen.
Speaker 1 (01:04:33):
la last one on this one and then we'll get you to the last two questions. Uh, how do listeners find your tackle shop online and access to promotions, services, products, all the things with the charter businesses, all that together?
Speaker 2 (01:04:45):
Yeah, so website's probably the easiest way to go. And that's genung fish camp.com, uh, spelled G-E-N-U-N-G-S uh, fish camp.com. It's got all of our contact information there. You can give us a call, shoot us an email. Um, it's got the address. We are here in Crescent Beach, uh, just south of St. Augustine, Florida. And it's a, uh, it's a cool little spot even for those who don't need, uh, don't need any tackle, just to come down and check out the, the spot and the water, have a drink on the, on the bank of the Mattan River and, and hang out.
Speaker 1 (01:05:26):
Perfect one there. Alright, last two questions. What knowledge would you give to a brand new angler? Start now? I,
Speaker 2 (01:05:34):
I would say be patient and don't, don't give up. Like fishing is a a lot about patients, but visit your local bait and tackle shops. Go in, talk to them. Uh, like I I've heard that you will have, uh, varying experiences depending on the different shops you go into. So if you don't have a great experience at one shop, don't write it off as the industry is like that. Uh, stop in at other local bay and tackle shops and you'll find the one that you kind of vibe with, you mesh with really well. Uh, you, you like the person behind the counter. They're helpful, they're friendly and, and just talk to them. They're, they're gonna be able to give you a lot of confidence, a lot of advice, and really put you on some fish. And that that's really what it's all about is, is having a enjoyable experience. So if you ha if you have a, a bad experience at one shop, try another shop. Don't think that it's that, that way at all of the shops.
Speaker 1 (01:06:35):
Well put, well put indeed. All right. Last question for you, for this one. What's next for you?
Speaker 2 (01:06:43):
I think a lot of the same, I'm gonna be out here fishing quite a bit. We're gonna be running our bait shop. My wife and I are gonna be running the bait shop. We also have a, a new shop opening. It's not a bait shop, but it's gonna keep me, keep us busy either way. Um, but really just a lot of the, a lot of the same what you're seeing uh, and what you've heard so far on the podcast where water, water conservation issues, we're gonna be fishing, catching fish, slinging bait out of the tackle shop and living the dream here in St. Augustine, Florida.
Speaker 1 (01:07:16):
That's good stuff. Ka Adam, thank you so much man. I appreciate this you guys, Mike, good seeing you. Always fun having you around buddy. I look forward to seeing you when you come over to the panhandle. Thanks listeners, thanks
Speaker 2 (01:07:26):
For
Speaker 1 (01:07:27):
Watching but thank you so much for coming on. Everything you've been doing, you've done a hell of a job with all the long stuff from the past to where it is today. Thank you for building that. Thank you for making this what it is and I appreciate you. I look forward to coming over there and actually seeing you face to face when I come over to the East Coast.
Speaker 2 (01:07:42):
Absolutely appreciate you having me.
Speaker 1 (01:07:44):
Alright sir, you take care. We'll see you next time.
Speaker 2 (01:07:46):
We'll see you.
Speaker 1 (01:07:47):
Alright ladies and gentlemen, there you go. We just talked with Captain Adam Morley of Jan's Fish Camp out, uh, the East Coast on Florida. There. Lots of cool things. You'll be able to find all his stuff. The website, it's gonna be linked back to the tackle shop. You'll be able to find that. It'll be on finding demo suring.com and it'll probably also be on wherever you found this podcast on social media. All that will be put together. You've been listening to finding the most surf phishing. Thanks for being here. Take care of yourselves. I am outta here.