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Fisherman’s Coast

Learn to Think Like a Fish

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Presentations and Guiding

I give three different types of PowerPoint slide shows:

Numerous Fishing Presentations based on my books
A presentation on fishing in the Caribbean
Research Presentations based on my ongoing fish research.

I also do a limited amount of guiding in my local waters of Charlotte Harbor, Florida. NOTE: GUIDING HAS BEEN SUSPENDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. My schedule is just too full for the foreseeable future. But contact me (info(at)fishermanscoast.com) for references for other local guides.

See the summaries below.

Fisherman's Coast Presentations Over the past eight years, I’ve given slide show presentations on fish habitat ecology to fishing clubs. These presentations focus on how gamefish and their prey use coastal habitats – the more fishermen understand gamefish from the gamefish’s perspective, the better chance they’ll have of finding and catching fish. Figuring out which 10% of the water holds fish on any given day, and avoiding the 90% that doesn’t, is the key to catching more fish. These PowerPoint presentations are based on my book Fisherman’s Coast, and cover seasonality and life cycle information that helps explain some of the patterns gamefish follow. I give six different presentations based on Fisherman’s Coast, each one focusing on one of the habitat chapters in the book. Each presentation is about 45 minutes, with time after the presentation for questions and discussion. See below for fees.

Seagrass	Mangroves	Oyster Bars	Salt Marshes


Beaches	Rubble and Sand Flats of the Tropics

Fly Fisherman's Guide to Saltwater Prey

		These presentations are a mixture of a PowerPoint slide show and fly tying demonstration. The slide show has photos of gamefish prey and flies to imitate them, and information on the habitats where the prey occur and their behavior. I also talk about strategies for fishing the flies and fly presentation. After the slide presentation, I tie a few of the flies from the presentation. This presentation and fly tying runs about 60 minutes, but can run longer if arrangements are made. See below for fees.

Fly Fishing the Tropics

	I also give a presentation on techniques for fishing in the tropics, with a focus on how to read habitats to find gamefish of all sorts. This presentation is geared toward the do-it-yourself traveling angler. The angler headed to a Caribbean island with the family or on business also benefits from this presentation – although most Caribbean islands are not considered ‘destinations’ for fly anglers, many do provide a grab bag of opportunities for those willing to walk some shorelines with a fly rod. This presentation lasts about 45 minutes. See below for fees.

Rates

For presentations within 50 miles of my home, the rate is $250. Up to 100 miles I charge $350 plus travel (mileage, and lodging if necessary). Presentations at locations farther than 100 miles are $400 to $600, depending on travel required, plus travel expenses. Events are $400 for half day, $600 for a full day.
If you are interested in scheduling one of these presentations, please contact me for more details. To the area fishing clubs I've given presentations to before - I'm sorry to do this, but it takes a lot of effort, time, and expense to prepare and give the presentations, and I just can't justify doing it for free any more.

Exceptions:
1) Local clubs to which I've given presentations before - you must guarantee that I sell at least 20 books (if they aren't purchased by individuals, then the club buys them) at retail, and pay for my mileage.
2) For local fishing shops or book stores that are doing a book signing.

Contact me for more details.

Research Presentations

These presentations can last anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes, depending on the needs of the group, with time afterward for questions. I gear the talk to non-scientist audiences when appropriate. Coastal habitat ecology and fish ecology are the topics of these presentations. For these presentations I ask for no compensation unless travel is more than 50 miles, then I ask for travel expenses to be covered. Please contact me for further details.

Guiding

Charlotte Harbor, Pine Island Sound: I do a limited amout of guiding, 12 or fewer trips per year. The small number of trips per year is for two reasons. First, guiding is not my ‘real’ job, and my real job typically consists of 10-12 hour days. Second, my guided trips are very specific in nature – I guide sight-fishing trips only. In other words, I guide anglers in the manner I prefer to fish = sight fishing (and busting fish like jacks, mackerel, and false albacore). This means anglers must be accomplished casters in the salt. All guided trips are also full of coastal habitat and fish ecology information, so are more than a typical guided trip. For anglers that request it, I do give some advice on casting, but I do not do casting instruction. I generally take only a single angler (my boat is small (15' Mitzi Skiff)), but occasionally take 2 anglers. My fees are on par with local guide fees:

MY GUIDING HAS BEEN SUSPENDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
But contact me (info(at)fishermanscoast.com) for references
for other local guides.

I do a couple tarpon trips each season, which is additional $. Contact me for details.