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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 (00:00:01):
This episode of Finding D most surf fishing is being brought to you by the Kids Can Fish Foundation. Great organization told you a lot about it on every episode because well, they're just doing great things for these kids out there. And it's not just in, uh, St. Simon's Island. No. It might be, uh, increasing in distance. You never know. You're gonna have to take a look on the website. Lots of cool things coming from kids Can fish. They are a 5 0 1 C three charitable organization, which you can donate to with your great little awesome dollars to keep them doing awesome things for these kids. All your money goes back into the organization to help these kids stay fishing. And anytime they have these camps and these clinics, these kids go out there and they come home with maybe a cast net new rod and a ton of education and knowledge.
Speaker 1 (00:00:41):
It's a great opportunity for these kids to get out. And it all thanks to you, the people that donate in a couple months here coming October, we've got the Ss ss i running of the Bulls charity tournament. Yep. Yep. I'll be there and my guest will be there too. Lots of fun stuff coming up with that. Hopefully you all can come and you still got time to sign up and, uh, they did just drop a new message that said they will not turn any kids away. So that's a huge piece right there. Lots of fun things are gonna be happening. So kids can fish.net. Go take a look at it. You won't be sorry. Without further ado, get into the show.
Speaker 1 (00:01:47):
Digital Road trip time. Yes it is. Yep. We're heading over to the east coast of Florida here and uh, it's gonna be a fun one. This episode has been planned for a while and uh, I just haven't gotten a chance to do it. Uh, we've been talking on and off for a long time and uh, we had something planned before, but I'm the one that stopped it and it's just me and then it's worked out. So now we're in a better position that we can finally do this and I think it's gonna be even better 'cause there's even more experience and cool pieces coming. So this week we are talking with, if you haven't heard of a Phish girl known as Kathy Sanders, lots of cool stuff on our website. It'll all be linked back to finding demo most surf phishing.com. You'll be able to find it on there. And on the social media, uh, if you click on those links, that'll take you to her page, my page, all of it. So you'll be able to link up with that. So without further ado, me running my mouth the whole time because you guys know I do that. Welcome to the show, Kathy. Good to have you here.
Speaker 2 (00:02:37):
Yeah, it's good to be here. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:02:40):
Yeah, yeah, like I said, my bad. I'm glad I got you. Finally. So , you're out of the east coast of Florida. Whereabouts you at?
Speaker 2 (00:02:49):
Uh, I'm over in Palm Coast, so that is, uh, Flagler County. And um, yeah, this over here, Flagler County, St. John's Volusia, up and down the coast as much as I can get. So
Speaker 1 (00:03:03):
Nice. Yeah, and it's good fishing over there, that's for sure. It's been, I've been fortunate a few times to see your area and yeah, y'all, y'all can get on some good fish, that's for sure. So let's get right into the podcast episode questions here, and we're gonna start right out the beginning. Tell us your story and what got you into fishing.
Speaker 2 (00:03:18):
Well, um, honestly, I am not sure what exactly got me into it. I remember fishing as like a younger teenage girl, um, little runoff ponds near, uh, I was in upstate New York, grew up in Syracuse, New York area. So, um, we had, uh, on a dog lake was our biggest lake, and it was completely polluted. So , um, you don't wanna eat anything out of the, supposedly they, um, what do they call it, not refurbished. They, they dredged the whole thing and they cleaned it up and supposed to be able to eat fish out of there, but I still would never do it. after growing up there. But I used to like have my mom take me over there, go fishing and be catching little, uh, blue gill and bass and things like that. I remember, um, waiting, every time it rained, I would be collecting the, the earthworms off the driveway so I could take them and go fishing .
Speaker 2 (00:04:10):
So I was a tomboy growing up. Um, I don't know, I didn't, my, my mom didn't fish. My dad, I didn't have like grandparents or aunts and uncles that took me. So I honestly don't remember like where I picked it up. But then it just continued all my life. Went fishing in college, uh, met my husband Andy in college out in Missouri. And we used to go fishing in cat fishing table, rock lake and little, uh, streams and ponds and creeks and things around there. Uh, we like to go, um, actually night fishing. Uh, I remember so many times we would go night fishing with lighted bobbers and just whatever gunk you could find that you put on the hook for a catfish and just throw that out and sit there, play cards under an overpass or whatever while we're fishing. Um, getting chased by Gar as we were, like, you know, walking through streams and stuff.
Speaker 2 (00:05:02):
Yeah, fun times. So, um, I remember just all my life I loved fishing even like, we went on the road full time for a while with our kids and my husband would see me staring out the window as we passed, like ponds or lakes or something. And he's like, you're thinking about fishing, right? And I'm like, yeah, , . So it's, it's been like all my life, just growing up fishing. And then when we moved down to Florida and I saw people fishing on the beach, I was like, heck yeah, that's what I wanna do. . So that's when I started learning everything I could. Um, all hours of the day and night, just surf fishing and watching videos and getting out there doing it, making mistakes, trying again, going months without catching anything and just pushing it through until I figured out what worked. And, uh, yeah, that's kind of my, in a nutshell, that's my story.
Speaker 1 (00:05:54):
. That's a good story. And nothing wrong with that old, full-time travel, man. That's fun times right there. I I miss that one. Now that you've been doing this for a while, and like you said, your whole life and you pushing through that and been in there in Florida, you've done a lot of good things with fishing. What type of fishing do you like to do now?
Speaker 2 (00:06:14):
Um, pretty much surf fishing. I mean, you really have to drag me kicking and streaming off the beach , you know, I've done, you know, I, I do ensure I've done some freshwater stuff. Um, I want to do more of that. Uh, partly I don't have a boat, so I'm limited to where I can get to on foot. And so that kind of limits me some with, with inshore. 'cause all the good spots, you know, you're gonna find better with a boat. And the alligators I'm kind of afraid of, so I don't do a lot of like, wade fishing and things like that, so, um, but yeah, the beach, it's just fits me like a hand and a glove, I think. So,
Speaker 1 (00:06:53):
Yeah, the water dinosaurs are jerks, you mean? No need to give them into their territory, so I understand what you're saying Exactly. I don't like playing with it. Nope. Oh no, I actually think I'd deal with a shark better than I would a gator. I know that's really cheesy, but I think I would
Speaker 2 (00:07:09):
No, I agree. . I just ate one for dinner last night, so Yeah, I agree. .
Speaker 1 (00:07:15):
Nice. Very nice. What's your favorite thing about fishing?
Speaker 2 (00:07:22):
Um, honestly it's like such a big stress reliever. Like when I'm going out by myself, it's just, you know, I could have the worst day, I could have the most stressful thing going on. And it seems like you get out there on the beach, especially sunrise, you know, you, the sun's coming up, you know, there is no other worries. There is, you know, just thinking about trying to get on the fish and where you're gonna be throwing and just enjoying, uh, the, you know, God's creation is just nothing like, and that's, that's the best stress reliever I've found. And, um, you know, it's, it's so different day to day. There's, you never know what you're gonna expect, you know? I mean, there's, you can kind of know, but at the end of the day, you probably use caught stuff that you weren't expecting or had a situation come up that you, you didn't like totally know was gonna happen. So it's, it's so different every time. And I'm sure you can attest to that too, with surf. Especially with surf, I think.
Speaker 1 (00:08:23):
Yeah. It's always nice to go out and it's something different. Yeah. And I, you can, I was recording a podcast earlier and we were talking about different fishing and one of the things that I laughed at was the thought of, you know, here in Florida you can run up in the inshore real quick and go fresh water and go after bass for, you know mm-hmm. first thing in the morning, and then you can hop in a boat and go offshore real quick for a few hours and go catch monsters all day. You, you can catch tuna if you want to get really far after it, then come back in, hit the bay, hit some red snapper, and then finish the day on the beach catching Pompano and whiting. You know, it's, it's such a fun, fun experience for that. So yeah, I totally get what you're saying.
Speaker 2 (00:09:02):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:09:04):
What, uh, what's your favorite fish to target?
Speaker 2 (00:09:09):
Um, probably no surprise to anyone but Pompano. Um, I just, you know, love trying to track 'em down. I love chasing them. I love the, the way they slice back and forth through the water as you're fighting them in. Um, I don't know. And they're great to eat, so, you know, all around I think they're, they're an awesome fish and, um, definitely, definitely one of my favorites for sure.
Speaker 1 (00:09:34):
Yeah, it's very tasty. . Yes. Do you have a craziest or favorite catch story?
Speaker 2 (00:09:43):
Um, well probably, honestly, when I was up at the, at the tournament last year and caught that Pompano in Georgia, so for, for those of you who don't know, um, last October I was at the, the kids can Fish, uh, tournament, the Redfish tournament. And I ended up, uh, just to make a long story short, we weren't catching redfish . There was very few people actually catching red fish, so you can only have two lines in the water. So I sacrificed one of them and I was really going for, um, Whiting and trying to find, you know, if I could get a fresh whiting, this is my thinking, this is what's swimming in the waters right now. Find something, cut the head off, throw it out on my other line, and maybe have better chance of hooking up instead of using something that I brought with me that might be days old or weeks old in my cooler, something fresh, something that's native to the waters there.
Speaker 2 (00:10:43):
Maybe I might have better chance of hooking up when a red fish comes by. So, um, throw the line out for, for Whiting or whatever. 'cause my friend Justin was telling me, oh yeah, we get Whiting all the time. So I'm like, ah, redfish love Whiting. So, so then I threw that out and one of the locals there, um, you already interviewed him, Dylan, um, he was saying, yeah, we don't, we don't catch Pompano. 'cause I threw Pompano rig out. That's what I normally am catching Whiting on, is Pompano rigs usually. And, um, it's like, yeah, we don't catch Pompano up there. And I'm like, yeah, I'm gonna catch whatever's there. Um, and not even, you know, maybe 20 minutes later I'm reeling in Pompano, which to me I was like, oh cool, a 12 inch Pompano. And I was like, oh, this is really cool.
Speaker 2 (00:11:29):
And everyone else was like, oh, we don't catch those this big up here. And I was like, did not even realize that it ended up being tying their state record 40 year old state record. So for me, like that was like, not only was the, the, the whole tournament was really cool and it was so much fun to be there and to fish and walking our lines out all the way to the sandbar. And I don't know, it's just, just, I like doing stuff like that but, but just being able to catch that fish and, um, I personally feel like God put that fish in the water right for me. So . But it was, it was definitely a good memory.
Speaker 1 (00:12:07):
Yeah. That was a tough tournament. Yeah, I mean, even Tom had even said, you know, him and I still talk about it. He's like, dude, that was, that was rough. But this year he said all the conditions are looking really good for everybody. So I think it's gonna be an even better tournament this time.
Speaker 2 (00:12:20):
Yeah, I caught him at icast and that's what he said too, so I'm looking forward to it. I can't wait.
Speaker 1 (00:12:26):
Oh, icast, I wish I'd have gone . It was pretty cool. Yeah, it's, I had fun last year this year. Uh, I had other stuff, uh, kind of going on, so it, it was a little busy going here. Uh, but yeah, it's, it, it to me, anybody that can go to that, if you can go, it's worth it. Especially if you're really enjoying this or you're in the social media game or content creation. Lots of fun, lots of things to learn. And, uh, you'll see how small the surf fishing world really is because, uh, the fishing world revolves around bass
Speaker 2 (00:12:58):
. Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:12:59):
The, the ba that's the bass world has, uh, has the grip.
Speaker 2 (00:13:03):
That's a good way to describe it. 'cause I'm walking around there and I'm like, I felt like a tiny little ant , you know, walking around this huge place. And yeah, it's mostly revolving around fresh water fishing and bass fishing. So even like salt water in general was like a very small portion of it. And then you have surf fishing, which is even smaller of a niche inside of salt water fishing.
Speaker 1 (00:13:27):
Yeah. And then when you have, it was still
Speaker 2 (00:13:29):
Very cool.
Speaker 1 (00:13:30):
And when you have the conversations with certain vendors, that was, uh, that was really eye-opening to me. Uh, I think it was, who was it? It might've been 13 fishing. Um, I was having conversations about, uh, lures 'cause they had that really beautiful, uh, what was it, lady Fish last year that they did that soft plastic. And it was like, oh man, that's so cool and it won't work for me in our current situation where we're at. And when I had a conversation with their sales rep about, oh, what do you do for surf? They're like, yeah, no, that's not really our game. And then I, after that I started realizing is I went up and down the aisles. They're, that's not a big deal for them. They're like, we appreciate we love you here, but you're maybe 0.1% of what this game is. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:14:14):
So
Speaker 1 (00:14:15):
It's interesting. Exactly. A lot of fun. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:14:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:14:18):
With all the fishing there and you've been doing it for so long, you got a great one on the craziest and good. Congratulations again on that. That was really cool. Hopefully next year you may catch the 13 iner. What is the bucket list fish that you want to catch?
Speaker 2 (00:14:32):
Um, well I have, I have a really big bucket list. 'cause you know, I, one of my like goals is to not just catch these fish, but as many of them as possible to catch 'em in the surf. So for me, um, I would like to catch a snook in the surf. That's like my next kind of goal of, and I've been watching videos on how to do it and stuff like that. So I've been, yeah, that, that's my next bucket list.
Speaker 1 (00:14:58):
Okay. Very cool. And that will be a fun one. You'll get it, you're in a good spot for it. And you got 95 to run up and down, so you're definitely gonna get one.
Speaker 2 (00:15:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:15:09):
What would be, or where, I'm sorry. Not what, where would be a dream place for you to go fish sometime?
Speaker 2 (00:15:16):
I would love one day to get over to Australia sometime. I mean, they've got beautiful. Not only is it beautiful island, but I'm sure tons of really cool fish over there that I would love to to go catch .
Speaker 1 (00:15:30):
Yeah. When I did the, uh, the Go Fish Australia uh, episode, man, they, uh, whew. They really sold me on just coming out. I mean the idea that you can go there with a guide is cool because you know how it is, you're a guide, you understand we go somewhere new more often than not, a lot of us are gonna be like, yeah, where's a guide? I'm not gonna play this game and, and get on. Especially going over there. They'll have the gear, but they have that other one where they were doing the helicopter drop you to an island where you're not gonna have to have pressure fishing, get on it, or you can go fish with the, uh, aboriginal team. I was like, yeah. So Australia totally smell what you're putting down there. That place sounds like a blast. Yeah,
Speaker 2 (00:16:07):
I remember that episode. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:16:09):
Yeah. They killed me. Every time I message I'm like, so what are you guys doing? What's going on? ? Um, I wonder if you're gonna have a different one for this answer. Uh, what has been your favorite fishing memory? Um,
Speaker 2 (00:16:22):
Yeah, I was thinking about this one 'cause I have quite a few fishing memories that are really cool. Um, but I would have to say, and it's kind of a spinoff of what happened in Georgia, but what happened several months down the road is I had, um, the lady who also that I tied her record, she actually contacted me and wanted to do a charter. So I ended up doing a charter with Laura Cutter, who is the, um, actually her name back then was Laura Cheek when she got the, the Pompano back 40 years ago. 41 now. I don't know. But, um, yeah, so she came up to, uh, where we're at. She actually lives in Titusville area now. And, uh, she was like, yeah, I wanna learn how to surf fish. She actually didn't catch that while she was surf fishing in Georgia. She had been on a charter with her father and some other people and happened to catch it like in the marshes.
Speaker 2 (00:17:27):
So it was just really, really cool to be able to not only meet up with her and um, get our pictures together and stuff, but actually we got her on some Pompano that day too. And it was her birthday and it was just so much fun. And, um, so yeah, I didn't think that I, my, like a charter would actually be one of my favorite fishing memories. But that one actually was really special. It was really, really cool to teach her how to surf fish. And I tied her record, you know, so here we are together doing that.
Speaker 1 (00:17:58):
That is cool. I didn't know that part. I I've seen your videos. I didn't know that was her. That's really fun. Mm-hmm. .
Speaker 2 (00:18:04):
Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:18:07):
We're moving right into the fishing tips, tricks and knowledge portion. But before we do that, let's go ahead and knock out a ba check. Get that day started real quick.
Speaker 1 (00:18:22):
Yeah. You know, you want to check your bait, that's important 'cause you know you're gonna catch a bunch of fish today. That's what you do. And if you haven't caught yet, man, you might need to switch it up. Maybe you need to put one up on top, switch it around from bottom to top, or maybe you just need to change bait completely. Myriad of Bates. Always important to have out there. This bay check is being brought to you by the sinker guy. Head on over to the sinker guy.com and take a look at everything. Chip's got going on in the sinker guy garage. You need sinkers. Hey, it's in his name. Sputniks got 'em all day. He's also got some other ones. If you may need a special kind of sinker, you can reach out to Chip. He may be able to work with you on that as well.
Speaker 1 (00:18:53):
Maybe you need, I don't know, the Bruno rig. We don't talk about Bruno an excellent double driver that's been well known up and down the East coast and crushing it. Lots of people Love that one. There may be another rig coming out here soon too, but make sure you're paying attention to the website terminal tackle scissors gear. He's got you covered. So head on over to the sink guy.com, get your order in quick shipping, awesome customer service and chip's. Just an all around good guy. You can't go wrong. So now that we've moved into the phishing tips, tricks and knowledge, let's talk about your personal time, not the charters unless you really want to link it in together here. But, uh, normally I kind of like it this way. How do you plan your fishing trips?
Speaker 2 (00:19:32):
So the first thing I check is an app called surfline. And Surfline gives up to date, um, up to the minute information about the tides, about, um, the water temperature, all of those different things that is important for us when we're surf fishing. Uh, uh, I notice a lot of the other apps for fishing, they have, um, tide, uh, what do you call it? Tide stations. But most of them are either in an inlet or they're all inshore. And so they don't really give accurate tide. You have to like, you have to like figure out what tide it's gonna be for the beach you're on. Whereas if you're using an app for surfers, which Surfline is, and there's some other ones out there too. Um, but Surfline has been working for me. I actually used to use magic seaweed and then they got rid of it , I was like a little upset about that.
Speaker 2 (00:20:27):
So then they, they suggested they use Surfline, so, you know, had to, had to pick it up somewhere. And, um, but this, it's been working for me. So I'll pick a beach based on the tide. So whether it's a a, you know, moving into high tide, I, I prefer like a, uh, high impact beach. If it's moving down to to low tide, then I'll, I'll actually use a low, low impact. Beaches seem to work better for me, so I'll, I'll check there first and then I'll check the weather and make sure that there's not gonna be thunderstorms. Like lately it's just been thunderstorm after a thunderstorm. I don't know what it's like over, over there where you guys are at, but like northeast Florida is like, seems like every day. So, um, I'm, I'm typically fishing first thing in the morning, and I'm probably going to a different question here, but , um, typically going first thing in the morning is the best bet here or later in the evening, but later in the evening you're also gonna deal with those thunderstorms. So I'm, I'm just sticking to mornings and um, just uh, trying to go from there. So based on the tide, I'll pick where I'm gonna be going and then from there I'll know which fish I'm gonna be targeting 'cause I know which ones are at different beaches and then I know what else to bring with me.
Speaker 1 (00:21:46):
Very good. I mean, especially with the tide point and the high impact, low impact, that's actually a really cool tip. I haven't heard that one yet. About, uh, jumping on for a low tide for a low impact and vice versa. That's kind of a cool little, uh, added piece and there. Nice.
Speaker 2 (00:22:01):
Yep. And you can jump around work for me
Speaker 1 (00:22:03):
And you can jump around all you want with questions. I mean, it's just a conversation, so it's not even a big deal. Yeah. So now that you've, uh, got your plan set, how do you select your spot?
Speaker 2 (00:22:12):
Well, when I'm heading over to the beach, the first thing I'm looking for is really, and some of this I've picked up from other, other podcasts that I've listened to from you, from your other people. The first thing I look for is, uh, a rip, a good, rip, a good cut. Um, once I locate that, I'll also look at a few other things. Um, I know you had Allison Statter on there, um, and she talked about looking at the shell line. So I'll, I'll watch the shell line too. I'll be looking for places where that's pushed up and where those shells are are getting, well, not just the shell line, but the shells in particular. Are there A lot of 'em are there not, um, that's also gonna tell me what kind of bait to use. Um, but yeah, the shells can tell you a lot about what you're gonna be doing.
Speaker 2 (00:23:02):
So, um, I think that's been that since she said that, that I pay attention to the shells and that helps out a lot. Um, and then I'm also looking for, um, especially high impact beach, you can really tell where the is 'cause um, I don't know how many high impact beaches you guys have over on the Gulf Coast. Yeah, no, probably not too many . But, um, over here we've got quite a few of them. Especially in Flagler Beach area. It's like, it's all high impact. So you'll come out to the beach and you'll see places where there's like, there's like a little rise and then it dips down and another rise. And so the places where it dips, um, especially with it dips really deeply. You'll know that there's a big cut there. 'cause the water at high tide is gonna push up really far and not as it knowing, not only is it going to like gather the shells there and push those all up in that dip, it's gonna, um, just cut right into the sand.
Speaker 2 (00:23:57):
So I look for those cuts in the sand at a bug flying around my head, . Um, and then I also picked up from another one that you, uh, another guy that you had on, I can't remember his name for the life of me, but he talked about looking for where the water looks different. And that's like what he looked for is where the water looks different. And I just dropped a video this last Sunday kind of introducing our new float rigs that we're selling. And uh, we were testing out our float rigs that day and Kat and I came home with like 50 whiting between the two of us just from that one trip. It was crazy. And um, but I just looked, the beach was already kind of full 'cause it was later in the day. And so I was like just looking around and spots that I would typically pick were were taken up. And so I just looked over to the side and I noticed the water looked different. I mean, I can't really describe it too much, it just, everything else looked the same. And this, there was maybe some spots where it was a little glassy, a little deeper. Um, it just looked different from all the rest. And I was like, let's go over there. And boom, as soon as we got on and there was like other people watching us who were fishing and they were , they were, so one guy had his hands on his hips.
Speaker 1 (00:25:11):
, I love those ones. Oh, how you doing ?
Speaker 2 (00:25:15):
I know. I was like, why don't you just come down and ask us questions instead of getting upset or mad, you know? But eventually he left. But I was like, man, you know, we couldn't stop it. The fish were just like, boom, boom, boom. The second we put the lines in the water and it was like, and they didn't even want like bait. We just had fish bites on there with our floats. And we're like, uh, 'cause we've, we've engineered our float hooks through with the floats on the hooks because we had that and the fish bites and they were just, that's all they needed. They were going crazy.
Speaker 1 (00:25:44):
Mm. I love those days. But yeah, different water. That was a cool tip he had. Um, I think I know which one you're talking about, but different and rips. Okay. Good stuff. Nice. Good plant there. Okay. So now that you've got the spot you're already gonna be doing here, now let's talk about the, the, the, how you set your gear up. Um, you already nailed the tide piece so we can cross off with that. Let's talk about where you're casting. Where do you looking forward to send your lines out and how do you cast them?
Speaker 2 (00:26:14):
Well, I like to stagger my lines. Usually when I'm coming out, even on my own, I've got three to four lines out in the water. So I'll cast one close, I'll get one about midway to the sandbar, and I'll try to get one out as far as, I can't cast as far as some of these dudes who cast to Cuba. But, um, I'll try to get it to the sandbar over, if possible, if I can reach it. And then, um, you know, go from there, see what's, what's hitting at, what, what, uh, depth. And honestly, it's usually the, the closer ones that get hit first. So, um, but, uh, I don't know if you had, was it, did you have Noel recently on your show? Mm-hmm. . Yeah. And he talked about the A one, a Route one and 95. Was that him? Mm-hmm. .
Speaker 2 (00:26:58):
Yeah, that was, yeah. Yeah. So we use that terminology all the time now. We're like, , we'll be casting and we catch a fish. Oh, they're on Route one, or oh, they're on a one a . So I, I love that. Uh, actually taught some people I was, I was, um, teaching at a, at a club this last week and, um, I, I taught 'em that I saw people taking notes because , it's just such a cool way to describe the, the distances that people can really relate to, especially if they're here on the east coast.
Speaker 1 (00:27:31):
Yeah. Noel's little trick there. Numerous people said that, they're like, holy crap, that makes sense. I was like, yeah, I was very thankful for that. So that's, that's, that's one thing I love about the pod doing this podcast is there's always something. Oh yeah, there's one nugget. I mean, you could be the best angler out there, but there may be one piece that you're like, that's cool. And they might add it. So yeah, thanks for bringing that back. That was a lot of fun. .
Speaker 2 (00:27:56):
Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:27:58):
So you talked about, all right, so you're staggering your lines in between the different highway zones. Got it. Um, now this one's kind of, you brought it up and let's talk about it before we move into moon phases. What type of rigs are you using?
Speaker 2 (00:28:13):
Um, I'm using, uh, typically one of, one of three rigs. I'll use the regular, like double drop rig, Pompano rig. Um, right now we're, we're selling the Pompano rigs and the, the new float rigs, but, so I'll use the Pompano rig, I'll use a Carolina rig if I'm like trying to target something bigger with maybe like a three ounce egg sinker, uh, with heavier line or maybe a metal liter, um, and a bigger hook, maybe five, anywhere between five and 10 odd, um, with a chunk bait, you know, on there. Uh, and I do like mortician rigs too, so, um, you know, if something's gonna bite it off there, I, I've got a Go Fish cam now, so I specifically use a mortician rig on that. So if something bites off a hook or something, it's not biting off my camera and I don't have to go swimming to find it . So yeah, that's, uh, mainly the, the type of rigs I like to use.
Speaker 1 (00:29:14):
Yeah. Tell, tell us about that new float rig you're doing.
Speaker 2 (00:29:17):
So the, the float rigs, um, got the concept for it a while back and we've been testing it out. So if you watch like under, I love underwater footage, actually wanted to bring marine biologist when I was younger. So like anything sy with, and there's tons of science behind fishing, so I know you know that. But, um, if you look at underwater footage of fish actually feeding, like especially Pompano and Whiting, a lot of times they're gonna suck the float in before they even suck the bait in, which was like, okay, when I saw that, I was like, we've gotta get the floats on the hooks. 'cause then you had a better chance of hooking up. If they're biting, if they're gonna suck in the floats, they might as well be sucking in Rehook too and might, you know, everything else. So that's kind of where the idea came from. And then we've been testing these out and uh, found a way to get those floats on the hooks. And, uh, so now I'm adding it to my list of things that I'm doing in my life is manufacturing some rigs too. So it's been super fun and uh, I've been having some people buy 'em up, so I gotta make more. Actually, I'm almost actually completely out of our double drop ones, so. Oh
Speaker 1 (00:30:27):
Wow. Yeah, you gotta get on that. Yeah, . Very cool. Have you noticed that, uh, with a moon phases, any kind of differences in the bite out there?
Speaker 2 (00:30:38):
Um, I, I do. Um, I don't pay attention to it honestly as much as other people do. Um, I do watch The Barometer 'cause I noticed that has plays into it too, and that following the barometer starts following that fish, you know, start to bite better. Um, but I, I know, uh, I do, I'm a member of Salt Strong, so I have access to all of their stuff with the, um, things that they look at. Um, they've got the smart fish fishing spots that shows you like the contours of underneath the water and stuff like that. And that's super helpful. They also can show you like the days or have like a, I don't know how to describe it, like, like a rating of how good the fishing's gonna be on that certain day. And it follows like the so lunar calendar and um, and other aspects too. But, but it's based a lot about the moon phases and things like that. And, and I do notice the days that they say, yeah, this is like a, a seven, eight or nine. Yeah, the fishing's gonna be a lot better those days. So I know it plays a lot into it. I have not like paid tons of attention to it, but yeah, I do, I know that it, it does help to fish according to those moon phases.
Speaker 1 (00:31:52):
Yeah, I mean I just hate the full moon. That's the only one I hate , the rest of 'em are fine. But yeah, full Moon and I, we don't get along. Um, I know you play with different beaches too, and I think I know the answer, but I'll ask anyway. Uh, what kind of sinkers do you like to use and what weight category?
Speaker 2 (00:32:08):
Um, I am always typically using a, um, unless it's on a Carolina rig or I'll use a, um, Sputnik sinker and it's almost always a three or a four ounce. Um, I find that twos personally for me, they don't stay as well. Um, I think that has to do with our, our, the way that our waters are here, the way how violent our waves are here on the Atlantic coast. Um, it's, it's a little different than other areas. So, um, three, three, I'll use a five ounce if it's really, really bad. But, you know, those three or four work really well. Um, uh, I have fished some rocky areas and, um, I will actually use a different sinker when it's, when there's a bunch of rocks. There's um, ones that are like a, um, double pyramid. I don't know if you've seen those before. It's got like more angles on it so they aren't as sharp and well defin, well-defined so they don't get stuck in the rocks as easily. Or there's ones that have like a little plain thing on it that that kind of lifts as you're starting to reel. It lifts the sinker up out of the rocks and we'll keep it toward the top of the water. But, um, I typically try to stay away from rocks, 'cause I don't like losing all my tackles. So
Speaker 1 (00:33:26):
. Yeah. Yeah. That, that is definitely a, a, a factor to deal with . Yeah, I've, I've heard good things about the planers. Um, depend, I, yeah, I haven't seen it much here 'cause you know how our, our beaches are quite soft up here. Um, yeah. But I have heard that planers are, they can be a really cool tool to use.
Speaker 2 (00:33:44):
Yeah. When, when needed. They are. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:33:48):
Well, we, moving into this now. So let's talk about bait and lures and all that stuff. Um, do you throw any lures and do retrieve or do you do primarily set rig fishing?
Speaker 2 (00:33:58):
Um, I've, I've been throwing lures when I can. Um, typically, like lately time-wise, I've only been fishing pretty much when I'm doing charters. So, um, I try to like throw lures before my clients get there, but then they always come early so it's like I just start throwing and then they're coming and I'm like, oh man, I wanted to, because that early morning I'm finding is the be better time to throw the lures for me at least. Um, but I have caught flounder in the surf. I've caught some sea trout, um, on lures. And it's typically, um, either the, uh, like the salt strong slam shady or the fish bites, um, uh, what, what do they call it? The dirty boxer with curly tail Uhhuh. , yeah. Um, put that on a jig head, one of those. And um, yeah, the, well, of course slam shady is just a color. It's the paddle tail usually. Um, but yeah, those, those seem to work pretty good. I just don't have enough time, I guess to just go do it on my own, you know, I would love to someday just take a backpack and just go up and down the beach on, you know, a day that has good conditions for throwing lures and just play around with it more. So
Speaker 1 (00:35:14):
Yeah,
Speaker 2 (00:35:14):
Typically it's, I'm doing set rigs mostly.
Speaker 1 (00:35:17):
Okay. So when you're talking about set rigs, let's talk about the bait there. What is your primary choices of bait when you're fishing?
Speaker 2 (00:35:24):
Uh, mainly shrimp. Either fresh dead. I, I rarely put them live on there. I use 'em fresh dead, so I pull the heads off and this is what Spencer brogden up in Jacksonville. He shows, you know, know a great way to use it. Fresh dead. You rip the head off, you leave all the legs though 'cause he calls 'em Whiting candy . And then take the tail off. And then if it's a big one, you can get probably three baits off of that. I'll cut it up into three pieces or two pieces if it's, if it's not super big, um, and then thread that onto the, the hook, um, with a piece of fish bites on it to help secure it. And also if something steals that off of there, which I'm finding there's lots of crabs out there stealing bait from my underwater footage lately.
Speaker 2 (00:36:09):
Like I'm watching it like, man, this crab's stealing this stuff right off . But something else I like to do is I take my leftover shrimp and I, um, I salt it. So I, I got tired of throwing away my money on shrimp that I would just either like toss in the ocean or end up throwing away because I tried to reuse it three or four times and then it smells terrible. You know what I'm talking about . So I just start salting him. Um, after I'm done with a trip, anything I have left over, i, I salt and that works really well too.
Speaker 1 (00:36:42):
That's what I do. I mean, I'm not losing money. Are you kidding? I paid for it. Oh it. I'm gonna use that stuff as long as it's not that. Oh yeah. Red color and awful oh's done.
Speaker 2 (00:36:51):
Yeah. Yeah. But the sand fleas have come back too, so, and the fish are actually biting. I've, I've been in situations where there's like thousands of sand fleas and I guess they're like sick of 'em, so they don't, they're not biting on 'em at all. So lately we're finding a lot of 'em and the fish are actually wanting 'em too. They're still, uh, still hungry. So so that's been, I like using sand fleas too. Um, and then of course the fish bites. I always have a, a good array of flavors and colors of those to, 'cause the fish are really finicky. They, they may not, they may want the pink shrimp. That's been really good lately. The, the bright pink shrimp fish bites over here and then sand fleas been picking up the, the purple clam has been really good too here, especially on beaches where you're seeing a lot of shells, you know, that the, the fish are eating clam actively. So, um, you know, you wanna throw some clam out there and see if they're still biting on it.
Speaker 1 (00:37:49):
So great tips, great points. Absolutely. And I will say this, so this is something else I do when it comes to the sand flea thing. So if I have an abundance of sand fleas during this time, I save 'em for a winter and I bring 'em home and then I brine them to keep 'em for later. 'cause in b brining them, I can put the brine solution in the freezer and it doesn't, it doesn't freeze and it doesn't crack the shells. And then come time to go fish, pull out the brine solution. And here I am, I've got sand fleas that are still firm, ready to go saved and all done. And brined ones have got me into, uh, they've knocked out the, they've made sure the skunk stayed away the few times I've had to, to go that route. So could be , I
Speaker 2 (00:38:32):
May have to do that. I have to learn how to brine 'em. Cool.
Speaker 1 (00:38:36):
We'll talk, we'll talk . Okay. , what do you do when you go fishing in a new place?
Speaker 2 (00:38:44):
Um, if I know ahead of time that I'm gonna be going to a different spot and it's not just like an on the spot decision, um, I will look at YouTube videos of, you know, try to find videos of people fishing in that area to try to get a picture, uh, of what it looks like before I get out there. I'll also look at the Google, Google maps. Um, even, uh, even like if you look at different websites like, um, Google Binging, anywhere that has like mapping software, they can look different from place to place. So, um, as you zoom it in and look at a location might, you might see something in one spot that you don't see another. Um, of course with, with the surf, um, it's not like ensure where things are pretty much static, pretty static. Our sand is changing constantly.
Speaker 2 (00:39:33):
The next thunderstorm can like shift a riptide. So I, I don't depend on those completely. Um, I'll, I'll also check that Salt strong, uh, smart fishing spots. Um, if it's, if it's like a place that's maybe has a jetty or something like that. So I can see, um, location wise, what it looks like. But, um, I'll also ask around, you know, um, especially in Facebook, Facebook groups are like great places to all the fishing groups are, are a good place to start. If you're gonna fish in a new spot, um, say, hey, you're gonna be fishing this, this such and such place, you know, not giving away your spot. What's a, what's a good access point? Because the biggest thing for me is if I'm going to a new place, I need to find somewhere with a ramp. I mean, I've got a big cart and especially if I'm by myself, I can't carry that downstairs all by myself.
Speaker 2 (00:40:24):
So I'm looking for access ramp, you know, bathrooms are a plus 'cause I'm a woman, you know, we like to use the bathroom and um, so I'm, I'm looking for safe places too. Um, and um, I'll try to have a friend with me if it's a new place, you know, 'cause I don't wanna get in a situation where I might be in danger. Um, as a woman, there's usually just men around fishing and which most men that I've found out who are fishermen are, are kind and helpful and, but you know, you don't wanna get yourself in a situation. So hope that makes sense. ,
Speaker 1 (00:41:00):
It does absolutely makes sense. And completely, you know, hey, you gotta plan ahead and, um, yeah, I know that that's important for that. Uh, especially when I'm finishing or finishing when I'm fishing with Abby. I mean, that's something I look for. I'm like, okay, where can I get her to the restroom? Where can I make sure I can get her safe and all that? So I totally get what you're saying. Yeah, absolutely. Hold on. How would you say that fishing in your area is different than others?
Speaker 2 (00:41:25):
Um, I would say, um, our, our beaches, especially in Flagler County are, are very different. We have the Cochina Rock everywhere, so maybe all the way up from, uh, just south of Matanza Inlet all the way down to, um, almost Beverly Beach. You've got just miles and miles of beach, which a lot of it's closed right now 'cause they're doing dune restoration from the hurricanes last year. Um, but it's just lots of rocks. So you need to know where, like if you're coming to this area, find places that aren't filled with rocks if you can. Um, and I, we got a lot of high impact beaches here. So, uh, for those who don't understand what high impact beach is compared to low impact, um, low impact, you may walk out like a hundred yards and you're still knee deep in the water, uh, at high tide as compared to, uh, high impact beach, like Flagler Beach.
Speaker 2 (00:42:26):
Um, even Orman by the Sea has been one of my favorite places to fish lately. Um, down there you've got this deep, deep trough right at the front. So like you step out into the water and like within just 20 feet, you may drop like five, you know, four or five feet down sometimes. And that's, you know, really cool 'cause a lot of fish hang out there, um, no matter what the tide is. So, um, it can, can be fishable either tied, um, incoming, outgoing and, um, but our, I think one of the biggest things is we have pretty violent waves here. Um, especially compared to the Gulf compared to South Florida. Um, our waves are pretty strong, so we don't have too many Lake Atlantic days we call 'em where it's like everything's nice and still and um, but yeah, and our water kind of tends to be dirtier too because of all the wave action.
Speaker 2 (00:43:21):
So, um, with my, um, go Fish cam, I've been, uh, you know, trying to get that out there into places where the water is clean and you can see, you know, clearly to see the fish. And it's been, that's been challenging because like, even when I think it's like clean water, I get the camera out there and I'm like, what? It can only see like, maybe a foot ahead of it. And so you're waiting for fish to come in view of that camera. But like, you don't realize how, how dirty it is sometimes until you go and watch like the videos from the Gulf and like, whoa, I can see like 10 feet away under the water. So, but it's, yeah, it's, it's not like super dirty compared to like, I guess Georgia's got like really, really dirty water on average, so it's better than that, but not, definitely not as clean as the Gulf. So
Speaker 1 (00:44:14):
Yeah. We'll get some clean days though. . Yeah,
Speaker 2 (00:44:17):
Yeah, we do. .
Speaker 1 (00:44:19):
What would you say, uh, so let's talk about the seasons there. I mean, we've got four seasons and it's always fun to see different, uh, different things that happen per season. Tell us about your seasons and fishing there and when's good, when's bad?
Speaker 2 (00:44:32):
Um, I would say best seasons here would be spring and fall. Uh, summer, it just gets too hot. It's, you know, I'm, I'm doing charters pretty much only in the morning because it's just, once you get to 10 o'clock, it's already like, almost unbearable. The heat index has been like over a hundred lately. And then the beach is full of people swimming. And even if you're there first , you know, they, they think that they should be there, you know, that you need to leave and, and it's their spot. So, um, and I don't wanna cause trouble with people swimming and having fun. So, um, so, uh, fall obviously we all look forward to fall and fishing 'cause like everything's running in the surf and you got the mullet run and the Pompano come back. And so, I mean, being that I love Pompano so much that Spring Pompano run and the fall Pompano run are like, you know, really my favorite times of year, uh, wintertime.
Speaker 2 (00:45:29):
I know a lot of people leave the beach. Um, they just go inshore for the winter. Um, I stick it out and I stay there and, 'cause I know there's still fish, they still got to eat. Um, so it's typically like the larger whi and you know, of course we get into black drum and some other fish that run in that colder, the colder waters. So I just like to adjust and, and see what I can find in the different situations. Um, but yeah, it's definitely harder. Um, summer and winter are definitely harder fishing times in the surf, so
Speaker 1 (00:46:03):
Yeah, hot and cold. I'll take winter though. Give gimme, gimme a winter over, uh, over what we're dealing with right now. As I look out my window and I'm like, I don't wanna go out there 'cause I know what's out there and I know it hurts .
Speaker 2 (00:46:16):
It's really, it's really been hot. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:46:19):
And it doesn't help. I mean, we can go into this one a little bit here. Uh, it doesn't help even with if it's hot for us, it's hot for the fish. I mean, if the water temperature's too much and we've seen it, we've all had warnings for Florida of our water is extremely warm this year. Um, the fish will adapt, they'll do what they do. But yeah, when it's too much, you know, they're getting locked on. They're getting, they're trying to go where they can. Yeah. So you just gotta be ready for that.
Speaker 2 (00:46:44):
Yeah, they get pretty lethargic when the water's hot. Especially midday.
Speaker 1 (00:46:48):
Yeah. Oh, midday's horrible. I mean, gimme gimme the sunrise and gimme the sunset. Midday. I'll, I'll go if I have to. I don't Well this is a perfect time for us. We're in a perfect transition. We're gonna move over to the guiding portion, but before we do that, let's go ahead and knock on another paycheck.
Speaker 1 (00:47:13):
It is the second paycheck of the episode. Actually, no, I take it back. It's the third man we've been moving along. It's just that time is just cruising. Geez. Oh, bring that line in. Make sure it's good. And hopefully you've caught a bunch of fish right now. And if you haven't it's definitely time to switch it up. Now might be the time to start moving spots. We've been at this almost an hour, hour. So get on out there, change it up, catch those fish. This paycheck is being brought to you by Ninja tackle. Ninja tackle va.com is the website that's stacked with all sorts of fun gear. You hear me talk about the seven footer? I love that Rod. That's my metal slinger hit at the beach. It's also my inshore rod, my boat rod. I mean, it's such a useful thing. And I also have the travel one that goes with me in the car and the travel case.
Speaker 1 (00:47:49):
Love that keeps it safe. Such a great setup. And you got two different tips on that. So you can go on that special light fishing. You gotta be careful or that little bit beefier tip. That'll take care of a lot of other fish. Real good things all the way up to, should be 13 feet here pretty soon. Go on big rods. But if you need terminal tackle, he's got 'em in there. Rigs. Got 'em. East coast, west Coast. It works everywhere, man. I'm telling you man. If you're into firearms and shooting. Yep. He's got a whole other side for Ninja Tactical. Any kind of gear that you might need, he might have it optics, Glock accessories, other pieces to add onto your ar, whatever it may be. Ninja Tactical might have you covered. Go into ninja tackle va.com, take a look. I bet you're gonna find something you want need. Well, yeah. Needs relative, but you need it. You do . All right, so moving into the guiding side, let's talk about that. What got you into guiding?
Speaker 2 (00:48:39):
Well, I had, um, been teaching like all my friends how to fish 'cause I didn't wanna fish alone. And, um, my husband was like, you know, you're teaching all these people, uh, why don't you consider getting paid for doing it? 'cause um, you know, I was getting them just as addicted as I was and they were catching fish. And, um, so I, I kind of, at first I was like, well, I don't know. But, um, the more I thought about it, the more I was like, you know, I, I don't like, like I'm also a book designer, so I am, am working on like, currently probably 15 to 20 books for different people. Um, and that's like not something I wanna be doing the rest of my life necessarily. I've, you know, I'm good at it because I've been doing it a long time. And, um, but, you know, let's see, uh, sitting behind a desk and going fishing, teaching people how to fish. So it's like I, I just felt like it's time for a change and, um, wanted to be doing something that's more along my passion and that I can help people, uh, be able to not only just fall in love with, with fishing, but get outside, get outdoors and be doing something, um, fun and entertaining. So that's kind of what got me into wanting to do that.
Speaker 1 (00:50:02):
Very cool. Very cool. What comes with going on a trip with you?
Speaker 2 (00:50:06):
So I supply all of the equipment. I supply all of the bait and everything. Um, people will, I'll have them bring like whatever they would bring out to the beach to have fun, like a chair. If they wanna, um, bring a cooler with ice, if they wanna take fish home with them, um, sunscreen or all that stuff, they'll bring on their own. But, um, I'll supply all of the equipment, all the bait and uh, all the knowledge. Um, I'll teach 'em as much as they want. Or if they just want me to do all the work and reel the fish in when they, when they hit the lines, then I'm fine with that. You too. Like whichever, um, if they wanna download of knowledge, then well, we'll get to it. They'll learn a lot.
Speaker 1 (00:50:47):
Yes, definitely. What's your service area?
Speaker 2 (00:50:52):
Um, I cover mostly Flagler County and up into, uh, St. John's and down into Volusia. It's pretty much those three counties areas.
Speaker 1 (00:51:04):
That's a decent amount of road right there, that's for sure. Okay. What, uh, how is running a charter different than your normal fishing day?
Speaker 2 (00:51:17):
Um, I will have probably one extra line out and I will, um, typically be doing a lot more proactively to make sure that we are getting on the fish. So I, if something's not working, I mean, it's not like super different because I don't, I'm not the type of person that just will sit up at the beach and just sit there forever and wait. If, if we're not catching fish, we're gonna move if we're not, you know, if nothing's happening, but I know there's fish out there, then I'm gonna be switching the baits out. I'm gonna be doing everything I can to make sure that we get on fish. I just, I mean, maybe on a charter it might be doing a little more praying if we're, if we're not getting the bite going on, saying, okay, time to get these fish on . But I do a whole lot of teaching while I'm on my charters, so that's probably different. 'cause I'm talking, instead of talking to my camera on my GoPro , I'm talking to people. And especially kid, I love when there's kids on the charter because they just, they have so much fun, you know, reeling in fish, finding sand, fleas, doing everything we, you know, that we do out there, they're usually like really into it. So, and just seeing the smiles on their faces is super cool. So,
Speaker 1 (00:52:37):
Yeah, kids make it, kids make those trips so much better. , they always are like, yep, yeah. Now you're addicted. Welcome, welcome to the pri the pain and suffering that we're going to enjoy. Yes.
Speaker 2 (00:52:50):
.
Speaker 1 (00:52:50):
. How do you tailor your trips to your customers?
Speaker 2 (00:52:54):
So, uh, and I mentioned it before, whatever they wanna learn, um, that's what I'll do. So basically, like, if they tell me, one of my questions I have on like a booking form is like, I, I have some, a lot of choices of like, what would you like to do on the charter? And so like, if they tell me they just wanna have fun and real in fish, uh, they wanna tell, tell me they wanna learn as much as possible. 'cause some people are like, maybe they've moved to the area and this is something new that they wanna do, um, full like for the future that they're, they're trying to learn so that they can keep doing it themselves. Some people are just on a, on a vacation and they're just trying to find a, it's like a fun activity for them, like an excursion.
Speaker 2 (00:53:40):
So, um, I try to find out ahead of time what type of trip it's, it's gonna be, and then I'll tailor it for, for that. 'cause I know like the people who are just wanting to have fun and like real sufficient, they get really bored if I'm just talking nonstop about , you know, teaching them how to reach, read the beach and um, you know, this is why we picked the spot and here's what it's bait we're gonna be using. They don't care , they just wanna catch fish and, and have fun doing it. So, you know, that's really different from the person who's like, okay, I wanna learn everything that you can teach me in these three hours. And so then I will just, you know, however much they wanna learn. That's, that's what I'm gonna do. And if there's lots of kids, then we will, you know, we'll have fun throwing cast nets and finding sand fleas and especially the real little ones, they, they love those sand fleas, .
Speaker 1 (00:54:35):
Yeah. Never, never bad when you got the bait finders like, come, you're doing great. Keep that going. . Yeah,
Speaker 2 (00:54:42):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (00:54:43):
How do people, uh, book a trip with you or look you up to go on a charter?
Speaker 2 (00:54:48):
So I am, I'm listed. My, I prefer people to go right from my website, so, and you've got that link there and, um, or to call me, they can call my, my phone number is right on my website too, or text or whatever. Um, I'm also on Phishing Booker and Phish anywhere and some other apps and places where people can find me. But, um, but yeah, I like people to come straight to me and that way we can work our schedule out better. Um, and uh, yeah. So that's, that's the main way.
Speaker 1 (00:55:20):
Perfect. What has been some valuable lessons learned after starting and running this charter business?
Speaker 2 (00:55:28):
So I would say the, the biggest thing for me would be to not assume that someone knows everything. Uh, even if, even if they say, oh yeah, I've been doing this a long time. I already know what I'm doing. It's probably seven times outta 10. They're doing it wrong. And so then you just let them do it and then watch them fail . So even if someone says they know what they're doing, like, like casting for instance, um, and it's no offense, but usually guys will say they know what they're doing and then I'll watch them do it wrong and they'll be crossing all my lines or they'll be, you know, just doing something that, that I know is going to either cause the line to break or, you know, in time. So I'll, I try not to assume anymore. I'll just take a minute and say, here, let me show you this, and I know you've been doing this a while, but let me, let me show you how I usually cast or whatever.
Speaker 2 (00:56:27):
And then kind of take them step by step through. And then if that's the same way they've been doing it, great and maybe they'll learn something if they haven't been doing it that way. So that, that's probably the, the biggest thing. 'cause at first I used to, like, if someone said, yeah, I've, I've been sufficient, I would assume that okay, they know what they're doing and then let's move on to something else. But then I go, they go to like cast or whatever it was, I was gonna teach 'em. I'm like, they really know what they're doing. . So that
Speaker 1 (00:56:58):
I understand. Yeah, I picked up a lot. So when I did the Tommy Farmer episode, uh, it really, it, it gave me new tricks to try with my casting because I mean, anything you can get for five extra yards on certain days is five extra yards. And I've said this in numerous episodes and people say it again, don't ignore the close for the love of God. Don't ignore the short. It's, there is a lot of things within the first 30 feet just staring at you waiting to be caught. Oh yeah. Yeah. So it's, I mean, you got that 12 foot rod and all you're thinking is, Hmm. Go. Yeah, it's, yeah, don't ignore the short stuff, but, uh, yeah, listening to that old episode that helped me, so I know what you're talking about when you see another person out there and it's like, Hey man, you sure you know, because how you bass cast versus how you surf cast are two different things, you know? Oh yeah. Difference between this and this, you know, significant changes make a huge difference. And also on your bait, you know, you don't wanna sling out an entire piece of shrimp
Speaker 1 (00:58:01):
Fish. Not, not a lot of things are gonna eat an entire piece of shrimp, but, uh, the crabs will be very thankful for you though very, very quickly.
Speaker 2 (00:58:13):
Just be feeding them all day long.
Speaker 1 (00:58:15):
I'm actually gonna move. Yeah. I, I'm, let's talk about this real quick and then I'll move into this next section because this, uh, this part, I don't know if a lot of people do, and I, I've tar talked with a lot of friends here, so we know it. If you bring your rig in and you notice your float has a bunch of punctures, that's not a fish. Now that, that's a crab chewing on your float. And you said it, you know, you sung with the camera mm-hmm. , you've seen it. Where do you notice that the crabs are going after? Are they going after your float? Are they going after your bait? What are they going after?
Speaker 2 (00:58:47):
Um, I think they're going after everything. Like I, I watched one, I was scanning, excuse me, I was scanning, uh, underwater footage just from, from yesterday actually. And, uh, last night. And there's this crab and he is, he is got the bait in both of his hands and he is just, and I, I watched him just like tear the, the whole fish bite off and shove it in his face. . I'm like, what? It was gone. Completely gone. I was like, man, you know, you think a fish is getting after it, but no, it's probably a crab that ripped that whole thing off Your off your line.
Speaker 1 (00:59:24):
Yeah. When the mesh is missing, I always, for, especially with fish bites, I'm like, how? 'cause it takes, it takes some, I need, I always use scissors. It sure does. It's not an easy thing to pull off. So
Speaker 2 (00:59:35):
No, I usually have to cut it off the scissors. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:59:37):
So that's what it is. The crabs are cutting it for us jerks. Exactly. , . I mean if you're gonna get, if you're gonna steal my bait, be a bro. Put the hook in your mouth and let me bring you in so I can cook you. My wife will be very appreciative.
Speaker 2 (00:59:49):
. Yeah. Except these were all stone crabs. And I guess that's closed season right now for stone crabs, so. Oh,
Speaker 1 (00:59:55):
Okay. I would've
Speaker 2 (00:59:56):
Had to throw 'em back anyway.
Speaker 1 (00:59:58):
Ah, uh, rude.
Speaker 2 (01:00:00):
I know .
Speaker 1 (01:00:01):
It's all right when they're in season game on. Totally, totally game on. Oh yeah. Um, there's a section I didn't send you in the last email, so we're gonna go into that. It's actually social media, so it's really not invasive, I promise. It's not to set you up. Okay. But before we do that, let's get the final paycheck knocked out from this episode.
Speaker 1 (01:00:24):
It is your third and final paycheck of the episode. Hopefully this thing has been helping you out and you've done well and you caught a bunch of fish and you're already on your way home. Listen to this in the car after one hour. 'cause that's the goal. Get in, get out and go home. Right? Yeah. Come on. You know, you wanted to hang out at the beach. There's no judgment here. This is a safe place. This paycheck is being brought to you by dss Custom Tackle dss Custom tackle, my goodness, my words, that Delaware spearfishing, that's who they are. And they work everywhere. It's not just a group right there in that whole zone up in Delaware. No, it works all throughout the world. They got a bunch of rigs you can get your hands on that are prettied, berry's rig bss. They're surf fishing, which I always mess up when I say it, but Berry's rigs in there, that little extra glowy special sand, uh, sand flea, awesome stuff.
Speaker 1 (01:01:09):
They've got a lot of floats and they've got some special ones coming out very soon. So make sure you're taking a look at the website. I have a feeling a lot of people are gonna wanna jump on that. Or if you need other types of jigs, they've got squid, jigs, uh, other different, I mean, there's a whole bunch I can name, but I'm not going to. They get you set up. So up and down the East coast they got you covered. Lots of great rigs in there, floats, teasers, all of it. But pay attention to the website because there's some other stuff coming that I can't talk about on the podcast, but I know it's coming after having a good conversation with, uh, rich. It's gonna be fun. But dss custom tackle.com. Great. Great stuff. Get your order. You won't be, uh, you won't be sad, I promise. So let's jump into the social media in the second to last category here before we get you going. What, what did you want to start posting and become a content creator?
Speaker 2 (01:01:57):
Um, I, I just liked, uh, I, I had so much fun on my fishing trips and it was so, like, there was always something new happening and different that it was like I wanted to capture that and I also wanted to just share it with other people. And, uh, there's ways that you can like teach and help people through content creation that I think you, you can't get just from posting on Facebook. Um, when you're watching someone's video and you see them, like you're watching them bait, you're watching them cast and things like that, you're watching them real, you, you're learning things sometimes without even realizing it, just by watching how other people are doing things. So it was kinda like another way that I can help people and also get to share, um, all the fun that I was having with, uh, with other people who, uh, either can live vicariously through my videos if they're up north and away from a beach and they don't get to experience that. Or, you know, other people here who just, they're trying to learn and maybe it's helpful for them. So.
Speaker 1 (01:02:59):
Very cool. Well done for that. What is, uh, what is the goal of your channel in social medias?
Speaker 2 (01:03:06):
Um, uh, I don't have like a super big long-term goal. We just hit our a thousand mark on, on YouTube, so that's pretty cool. So, uh, just need more watch time before I can get monetized to help me stop doing book design . So we've been, we've been working on that too, but, uh, um, I don't know, just keep growing it. Um, the, the underwater footage is super cool, so I'm gonna keep pumping that out too. 'cause I think, um, there's a lot of people doing underwater footage like in the Gulf and in other places. I don't see a whole lot of it over here. So for me it's like, I can't wait to go to all these places and maybe drop it down next to a pier, you know, get it up to Jacksonville all the way down to, you know, new Smyrna, uh, different place you just up and down the coast to see what's in our waters.
Speaker 2 (01:03:57):
'cause I, I don't see a lot of underwater footage here and it's just fascinating to me to see what is , what is actually lurking. It was like, for instance, we were out, um, I think it was like a week ago on a charter. Yeah. Last Sunday. And um, all we caught was whiting and maybe like one baby Pompano and I look at the underwater footage, there's Pompano everywhere. I'm like, what ? Why weren't they getting on our hooks? It was like, so it's just, it's so cool to see and, and it teaches you stuff about the fish's behavior and stuff. And then you can adapt what you're doing to help hopefully catch more fish. So, I dunno if that answered the question .
Speaker 1 (01:04:37):
It did. No, you absolutely did. Okay, cool. You, you nailed that with the goal, but also the cool pieces that you've been finding. 'cause Yeah, there's, for me, this is the reason I haven't got go fish cam yet, is if I saw a bunch of Pompano and stuff swimming by my line and not eating it, I'd get mad at myself. 'cause I'm like, whoa, what did I do wrong? . You know, it would just be that one little piece. So, but I think it, like you said, you're like, okay, you are more analytical than I am. I'm just, I'm just an angry elf. I'm like, all right, I gotta figure out something else. But yeah, that would be, that would suck. So I think it's cool. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:05:11):
I'll tell you something really cool. Uh, yeah, I actually had it at New Smyrna Beach yesterday and um, I was scanning the footage late last night 'cause I was like, I gotta see what was there. I was hoping a shark, you know, go by. But there was a whole school of mullet and I'm like, this is, this is like the first day of August. There shouldn't be this many mullet in the earth. There's hundreds of mullet. Went right past my camera. I was like, what ? So I was like, that was kind of cool to see. 'cause I wasn't expecting that at all. You know, right now, I mean, it's usually the end of August, beginning of September that you start seeing mullet in the surf. And there was a lot of mullet. I mean, literally hundreds going by. It's like, what?
Speaker 1 (01:05:53):
So, oh, I think this year's gonna be a weird year. Personally. I, I just, yeah, the fishing has been strange this summer as it is actually. Even the spring was a strange fishery. So I, uh, I have a feeling we're gonna see some really odd changes happening.
Speaker 2 (01:06:07):
Know Yeah. We still have people catching their limited pompano over here and the water's 85 degrees. Yeah. Like, I don't, I don't get that, but it's cool. I like it.
Speaker 1 (01:06:16):
Yep. Yeah. Very much so. uh, has becoming a content creator made you a better angler?
Speaker 2 (01:06:23):
Uh, actually yeah. It has, um, because it's, it's forced me to, um, adapt in situations where maybe I would've, if I wasn't filming, I would probably not take it as seriously because, you know, you're trying to get that content to put it out a video that's not just like the same old thing that you're usually doing. So times where you would normally just kind of sit back and go, oh yeah, not catching, no, we're changing things up, we're moving, we're doing things. 'cause you know, we don't wanna just put another video out of catching like one whiting and a spot fish, , you know, , you're trying really hard to like, but it forces you to become better into hone your skills and, and to adapt to situations. And so, yeah, I think overall it's helped me become better.
Speaker 1 (01:07:13):
That's awesome. Uh, what has been one of the biggest lessons learned after running social media for this time?
Speaker 2 (01:07:21):
Um, biggest lessons learned. Um, it probably just how time consuming it is. And it's something that you have to create, um, and carve time into your life for on a consistent basis. You know, I think a lot of people look at YouTubers and people who are, have a, have a good social media presence and you don't realize the hours that go into, um, not only just the filming, but the, the editing and then, um, getting that up on YouTube and creating, making sure you got all the stuff in your descriptions and just everything that goes into it. It's, you know, it does take a chunk of time from your life every week, especially if, you know, if you're gonna be doing it, you really need to be doing it consistently. So I've fought really hard to make sure I put out at least one video a week. And, um, that's the consistency has helped it grow and build. And, um, but that also means that I have to not do other things that maybe I used to do. You know? So it's, it's, um, yeah, it's just, just that, that it's, it's a big time. Uh, I'm trying, I'm stumbling over my words a little bit. , but you know what I mean? It's, it, it takes a lot of time.
Speaker 1 (01:08:41):
It's a time suck. I mean, I'll be, I'll be the first one to it. It is a giant time suck. Yes. Uh, even just doing this podcast, I don't do the stuff you guys do. I don't do all the video editing. Well, I will be starting now, uh, 'cause I'm doing video podcasts a little bit more. But yeah, I mean, for me, I've always, uh, in the last two months and this'll come outta my podcast when I do my interview is my Sunday is gone. Sunday is my day where I sit in front of the computer for whatever time I need to finish the social media plan for the week, when the following week if possible. It's just, I know it's gone. So yeah, bringing it up and talking about it, that's great that you did that because in reality, this game is not just, Hey, we don't catch every time and we don't do this every, every for every hour you're out is probably three to four hours of editing.
Speaker 2 (01:09:30):
Yeah. Yeah. So, but I love doing it, honestly, if Oh yeah. I, that's like, I, I, I like get my other work done so I can work on videos. 'cause that's like so much more fun to me to do mm-hmm. . So, um, but yeah, it, it is time consuming. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:09:47):
Alright, let's get these last questions here and get you outta here for the day. And I've, it's been great so far and I know these will be easy for you in and out in the door. Uh, what knowledge would you give to a brand new angler?
Speaker 2 (01:09:59):
Um, I would definitely say, um, reading the beach is probably one of the most important things to know for, for someone who's coming right into it. Brand new. Because you know, as everyone says, 90% of the fish are in 10% of the water. So you can be doing everything right. And if you're not in the right place, then you're not gonna catch fish 'cause they're not there. It's just kind of science. If the fish aren't there, you're not gonna catch 'em. So, um, teaching people how to read the beach and where to where to set up, that's probably the most crucial thing. 'cause they could be doing other things wrong, but because the fish are there, they, they could be catching 'em. So that's, that's my thought. That's
Speaker 1 (01:10:42):
A good one. Very, very good point. Uh, along the same lines here, what recommendation, what recommendation would you give to a, uh, angler coming to your area to fish that's never been there before?
Speaker 2 (01:10:56):
I would say talk to the tackle shops and get into some Facebook groups that are in this area and just kind of watch the reports and see what people are catching. Uh, ask a lot of questions. Don't be afraid to ask questions because, uh, there's plenty of people who are more than willing to give information and be helpful and, and they may not give you like their secret spots, but they'll, they'll tell you where to go and they'll, they'll give you some insight and, and things. So, um, in a new area it may be different than your area. So, um, now surf fishing, I would say tackle shops aren't always as knowledgeable with surf fishing tips and things like that in areas as they are for like, inshore stuff. 'cause I think they, they are probably a lot more knowledgeable, at least in our area. The guys that are a lot more knowledgeable with inshore stuff than surf fishing. So, um, definitely those Facebook groups and, um, things like that are gonna be super helpful.
Speaker 1 (01:12:00):
Great points. Good ones there. All right. Last question and then you're free. You, you're almost done. What's next for you?
Speaker 2 (01:12:09):
So, um, pretty much growing fishing girl. Um, with fishing Girl, we, we do three different things. So we, I, I not only am a surf guide running charters, but we, um, I've got a women's fishing club online and so we do meetups and we've been doing seminars, lady seminars on the beach. We got another one coming up August 19th that we're getting ready to do, um, right down Orman by the Sea. So I love doing that. I love teaching ladies. We did a seminar down in Melbourne and, uh, not a seminar. We actually did a fishing meetup. And uh, so we just had people coming out to the beach and like, ladies get together and fish. And what I quickly realized is that these ladies need knowledge before they need, uh, before they can go fishing. Because we had some of 'em who just do inshore fishing.
Speaker 2 (01:12:57):
So they were bringing their inshore rods and just throwing lures. Um, we had, and which is okay, but they, the style of throwing and stuff is way different in the surf than it is in shore. And then we had ladies who only do freshwater fishing and they were fishing with worms and I had no idea. And I was like, these, we need to teach first before we fish. So that's something we're doing. And then also we've got the branded fishing tackle and clothing that we're selling. So we're continually developing products and trying to get things that ladies and, you know, anyone who's doing surf fishing would be able to use and enjoy. We've got our pompano earrings, I dunno if you can see 'em there, but we've got earrings and things like that that we are selling. So, um, just building all those three things and, uh, that's pretty much where we're headed in the future.
Speaker 1 (01:13:50):
Very cool. Kathy, congratulations.
Speaker 2 (01:13:52):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:13:53):
That's the, it's a couple of new changes since the last time I talked to you about it.
Speaker 2 (01:13:57):
Yeah, yeah. We're keep, keep moving forward. ,
Speaker 1 (01:14:00):
That's all you can forward is a lot better than backward . Oh
Speaker 2 (01:14:04):
Yeah. .
Speaker 1 (01:14:05):
Well thank you so much for coming on the show. I appreciate all the time you've given us some tips and tricks and knowledge. It's been phenomenal. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Oh,
Speaker 2 (01:14:13):
You're, you're welcome. It has been an honor. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:14:16):
No problem. Well, we'll we will talk to you again soon.
Speaker 2 (01:14:19):
Alright.
Speaker 1 (01:14:20):
Alright. Alright ladies and gentlemen, that's been the episode. Hopefully it helped you out. There's some good stuff in there, Kathy dropped and, uh, I definitely think you should check it out. Uh, again, you can find, uh, Kathy's website back on the finding demo surf phishing page, but it is Fishin girl, I believe it is.com. But I will double check. Uh, lots of cool things in there. Lots more information. If you wanna reach out to her, she's got the information, she'll happily respond. They're a very good team on response. They really are. So just reach out and contact lots of good things. You've been listening to Finding d most surf fishing. It's been a pleasure. Good seeing your faces. I'm outta here.