A little reminder to the fishermen in our lives….

The festive season is well underway, and soon, all of us will be regretting overdoing it on delicious turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie. Wow, it’s really hard to believe, but it’s already time to start thinking about gifts for that special someone in our lives. That’s right, every man's favorite time of the year - holiday shopping!

Love those lines.
There is no question about it; when the snook bite is on, inshore light-tackle fishing is as good as it gets! September 1 marks the highly anticipated re-opening of snook season, and anglers throughout South Florida have been anxiously waiting for this day to come for quite some time. Snook are Florida’s most sought after shallow water game fish, and are a perfect target for female anglers of all ages and all skill levels. Personally, they are one of my all-time favorite fish to target. Watching a snook engulf live bait or crash a surface plug for the first time leaves you with vivid memories that stick with you for the rest of your life. These fish are also notorious for their stealthy ambush tactics. At times, they seem to appear out of nowhere, and disappear just as fast.

Women who are interested in taking up saltwater fishing should know that when it comes to the ultimate challenge, sight-fishing to South Florida’s most sought-after game fish is as good as the sport gets. During anytime of the year, fishermen prowling the beaches from Sarasota down to Marco Island, will find the crystal clear water along the Gulf’s pristine shoreline provides an angling paradise like few others, but it’s during May through July, when sight-fishing to giant silver kings is in the spotlight, that excitement and adrenaline levels soar!

Anyone who has ever spent any length of time fishing anywhere in Florida’s vast backcountry will tell you shallow water angling provides a special kind of tranquility which words can barely describe. It’s an exciting world hidden deep in the mangrove forests where GPS machines and fancy fish finders will not come into play. Backcountry fishing is truly a “get away from it all” experience, leaving you completely mesmerized by the surrounding natural beauty. What’s even better, because you’re generally fishing protected waterways only a few feet deep, you’re not affected nearly as much by the elements as compared to being out in the open ocean, so it almost always calm and quiet.

Looking back, I guess I never really put a great deal of thought into what my life would become once I took on the title of Mrs. Fishing Guide. Sure, considering I love fishing and the outdoors myself, I thought about how wonderful it would be to have a personal captain and how exciting it would be to have a fishing boat at my fingertips. What I failed to think about was that it would cost me dearly to live in my own paradise.

When it comes to tournament fishing, the ‘Beastie Girls’ from Miami, are proof positive that women can be formidable adversaries in the predominately male world of competitive offshore fishing. These three women, whose team name came from the fact that they fish on The Beast, a 27’ tournament equipped World Class Cat, have had to fight more than just fish to prove that they have what it takes to be winners. The male teams that these ladies compete against learned the hard way that the ‘Beastie Girls’ can outplay, outlast and out fish their opposition more times than they care to admit.