About the Captain…
It all began with an eight-foot-deep hole in the ground…
“I consider myself to be one of the few jackpot winners, as not only are Naples and Southwest Florida some of the most beautiful areas in the United States, but this area is also host to some of the most diverse, and unique ecosystems in the entire world of angling.”
The eight-foot-deep hole in the ground is about forty feet wide by eighty feet long and it was dug in my backyard with a backhoe to provide more fill for my childhood home’s foundation. The hole quickly filled with water from Florida summer rains, and with the help of natural well water it stayed topped off in the dry of winter. A strong tropical storm brought walking catfish and other small aquatic species overflowing ditches into the lake that summer following, proving it was a healthy pond. A few months of pond hopping around collier county with a cooler and bubbler brought an array of largemouth bass, bluegill, and bream to complete the ensemble. The fish in the pond became quite literally my own pet fish to hone skills with, observing fish behavior. The addiction became more severe as time passed.
My first trip to Key West at eight years old proved irresistible, saltwater was at the top of the the totem pole from here on out, and I was determined to find a way to make it a lasting part of my life. On my eighteenth birthday I obtained my professional captains license and began guiding trips part-time, by nineteen I earned my 100 Ton Master license and literally the ocean became my office traveling to the Bahamas and other tropical waters in the region with a recently obtained 200 Ton Master license. My favorite places to fish and guide still continue to be my backyard which is now the wild backcountry, and near costal waters of southwest Florida, ultimately leading to my founding of Old Florida Angling.
