In Studio With The Three Amigos

Meeting the Three Amigos
Every morning, the pink and purple colors of sunrise push away the darkness of night. On this morning, I was not watching the lavender color of sunrise from the water, but instead I was witnessing radio show host BooDreaux walking up to Clear Channel's media center dressed in all purple.

 

This was my first visit to the "Fishing Florida Radio" show broadcast room. A funny thought made me pause: should I turn and run away now while I had the chance? Once the other hosts Steve and Captain Mike let me in the secured building, I might not be able to escape. I had to suppress my "flight or fight" instinct and join the guys on the show.

Seriously, the three Amigos: Steve, Captain Mike, and BooDreaux, hosted a great radio show and made me feel at ease. Fishing Florida Radio (FFR) has been traveling the air waves for over six years.


Steve Chapman (L) and BooDreaux (R)...thinking.

The first hour of the show we discussed experiences on the Bassmater Open Tour, shared stories about my recent charity events on Lake X and with Kids In Support of Soldiers, and worked on the pronunciation of the acronym A.E.R.F. (Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Foundation). 

 

Bill Biship (L) and Captain Mike Ortego (R) in studio

The other guest was Bill Bishop, a Tarpon flyfishing expert who shared stories as effortlessly as waves lap upon a shore.  Our fishing philosophies between tarpon flyfishing and bass fishing held many similarities. Bill and I shared an understanding of paying attention to how individual fish react to each cast.

In between air times, we discussed our regards for fishing, illustrating, and teaching. Again, our philosophies were a like. Bill authored a book, "High Rollers: Fly Fishing for Giant Tarpon," which demonstrated his love for all three.

My blog is a dynamic book that I use to improve my writing. One day I will share a book of my own with the fishing community, mainly to pass on the fishing tips and techniques I have learned over the years.  The more I write the more fun it seems to become and I look forward to getting a book published.  My friend Stephanie has become my mentor as she is now authored five published paperback books under the name Petie McCarty.  Her books are now available on Amazon.com. Check out "Catch of the Day" if you want a good action story with a fishing theme.

During the radio show I found myself relating to Bill's stories of his evolution as an angler. He spoke of measuring success in his younger years by counting the number of fish he caught per trip. Now, as a seasoned angler, he targets a single tarpon or two in a day to acquire an even higher level of success.

After reflecting on what he said, I found I measure my success by determining the habitat, cover, and lure cadence needed take to catch bass in a tournament.  I am proud to say my biggest bass weighed in a tournament was 11 pounds, 13 ounces from a Florida event. In other states I target the more common but elusive six to eight pound bass.

The pace of my pursuit of working for "one big fish at a time" clashes with Bill's, as my pace is very fast and intended to cover water. Because I usually fish lakes over 10,000 acres in size, I must use "moving baits" to efficiently work as much habitat as possible in two and a half days of practice.  Once I get a few bites, then I focus on the productive types of cover and habitat where I might catch the bigger bass, "one at a time."


Floating On The Radio Waves:

Broadcasting on Fishing Florida Radio was more fun than I imagined. The April 26th show was syndicated on the radio stations "740 The Game", "West Palm Beach's 1230 The Talk Station",  and "Fox News Radio 94.5 WFLA."

The Amigo's conversations were engaging, the stories were enlightening, and the information shared by the Captains calling in to the show made me want to leave the studio and get out on the water! It was awesome to be a part of the whole production!

It felt good to contribute to the bass fishing content of the show and it was nice to have a podcast  recording on ITunes to get a measure of my performance on the show.  We made a joke of everything was going well until I looked down and noticed BooDreaux's purple-funk growing on my right arm.

Ok. Never mind. Here was the joke: In my facebook comments, I shared my worry that the purple growth now on my arm from sitting next to BooDreaux was going to infect me with Barney-song turrets and give me the urge to water my hair like BooDreaux's hat-hair. Again, the guys were great and the radio show was a lot of fun! Boudreaux takes the jokes in stride. I hope he survived the parachute jump the following day.

Anytime you are planning a fishing trip in Florida you should listen to FFR and get the latest info on what species of fish are biting. On our episode, we heard from the Captains how the Cobia bite started picking up last week and the Tarpon bite is just starting. Great stuff!

Similarity in the fishing community amongst the freshwater and saltwater groups is really neat. The freshwater side is just a micro-version of the saltwater side. Fish and habitats are smaller and more limited in freshwater, but every technique is comparable. That's why Bass Pro Shop Orlando has two separate sections that keep inventory of similar styled baits.

Fishing is an friendly sport and is unique in giving anglers the ability to meet and talk with icons in the sport such as Shaw Grigsby, Gary Klein, and Bill Bishop. The professionalism and down-to-earth nature of these top anglers is inspiring. 

Fishing Florida Radio! Please take a minute to visit ITunes or IHeart Radio and check them out.

Thanks for following along.

 Jeff

I just finished a video sharing with anglers my method of saltwater wade fishing in Florida's rich and abundant fisheries of the East Coast Intracoastal. Enjoy.   http://youtu.be/kpCFelTtMZ0