Salt Strong Archives

June 4, 2015 by Joseph Simonds

This could be the most overall exciting independent fishing video that we have seen come out of the Florida Keys!

And I’ll be honest, after watching this video (3 times), I still didn’t know what picture I wanted to use for the post cover… there were just so many different things to choose from…

Heck, I didn’t even know what part of the video to focus on for the title!

Why?

Because this video has sick sl0-mo Tarpon footage, these guys go swimming with a huge school of tarpon, they catch a Goliath Grouper, they catch sharks… the video just keeps getting better and better!

But I finally decided to feature the scene where a huge hammerhead is trying to attack their hooked tarpon, and one of the anglers launches a dead Jack out to fool the shark into leaving the Tarpon alone.

After yesterday’s heartbreaking video of a baby Tarpon getting eaten by a Shark (you can see that video here next), this was an uplifter!

And make sure you watch until the end. Even after the scene with the dead Jack decoy and the Hammerhead, the video keeps going. In fact, a family of Hammerhead Sharks gets lured in by another string of dead Jack Crevalle.

NUTS!

Well done Trent Long, Dan Carvin, Ben Kurth, Chris Davis and Tommy Strickland. You guys are officially declared “Salt Strong”.

Enjoy this amazing Florida Keys Tarpon video below.

P.S. – If you watch closely, the Tarpon swims off when they trick the Hammerhead. Well done guys!

P.P.S. – If you think your angler friends would find this Florida Keys video as amazing as I did, please share it with them – I’d really appreciate it

June 4, 2015 by Joseph Simonds

I like BIG FISH and I cannot lie…

No other angler can deny…

That when a fish swims up to bite your itty bitty bait and you see a huge outline near your face…

You get…

BENT!

In all seriousness, this video below is pretty freaking amazing. In fact, I don’t think I have seen so many of nature’s largest fish in one short video.

Everything from Whale Sharks, Goliath Grouper, Huge Eels, Marlin, Barracuda, Mahi, Tuna, Manta Rays, Sharks, Bumphead Parrotfish (the fish with the bump on its head), and many more.

And if you really want to impress your friends: When you share this video post, ask them if they know what a Mola Mola is (the Mola Mola – aka “Sunfish” is the huge fish that made the cover picture).

Also, stay tuned at the 1:25 mark. I was waiting in anticipation for the eel to grab the fish right in front of his face. Talk about a brave little guy!

Hope you enjoy this big fish video as much as I did.

P.S. – If you think your friends would like this amazing BIG FISH video, please share it with them – I’d really appreciate it

June 4, 2015 by Joseph Simonds

Back in March we posted a video of a guy in a boat chasing down a drone that had lost connection with the owner’s remote control. It was the by far the best drone save video we had ever seen… (you can watch that video here)

That is until today.

The guy in the video is Ryan Chatfield, an amazing photographer and videographer. He also happens to be fast as lighting, as you will see in this video.

The HD footage on this is unreal, and I felt like I was running with him rooting him on the entire time.

Find out what happens in “The Ultimate Drone Save” video below.

P.S. – If you think your friends would find this video amazing like I did, please share it with them – I’d really appreciate it

June 3, 2015 by Joseph Simonds

Sometimes nature can be incredibly beautiful, peaceful, and serene…

And sometimes it can be downright cruel…

Unfortunately for most fish (including this baby tarpon), much of life is a daily grind of avoiding being eaten by something bigger than you. It truly is the ultimate “dog eat dog” world.

In this video, an angler hooks a baby tarpon while fly fishing, and out of nowhere comes a shark that chases down the baby tarpon in and around the mangroves, until finally getting what he came for…

Dog gone Sharks! Always coming in to get their piece of the action.

Note: You can tell from the video that the angler was upset, and it is pretty clear that he didn’t “bait” the shark. So PETA disciples, please keep any of your negative comments to yourself.

Everyone else, enjoy the video.

June 3, 2015 by Joseph Simonds

Well our good friend Alex Fogg is at it again… this time wrestling with a Goliath Grouper instead of plucking off Lionfish.

If you aren’t familiar with Alex, he is the diver that has had more Lionfish videos go Viral than anyone else on the planet. And if you haven’t seen his incredible videos, here are some quick links for each one (but make sure to watch the epic Goliath Grouper battle below first).

“The Ultimate Lionfish Killer” click here to watch
“Another Great White on Film. This Time in the Gulf” click here to watch
“The Ultimate Lionfish Massacre” click here to watch
“Triggerfish and Snapper Eat Lionfish on a Pyramid!” click here to watch

So back to the video below…

Here is plot: Alex Fogg is down on an Exxon template wreck in the Gulf of Mexico doing some spearfishing. After he plucks a nice hogfish for dinner, a Goliath Grouper decides he wants it for dinner. Most divers would probably just let the Goliath Grouper have its way, and go on to find another hogfish…

But not Alex Fogg the Lionfish Killer!

He fights this Goliath Grouper through the wreck… well I won’t ruin it for you. Check it out below.

And stick around til the end, as the video doesn’t end at the Goliath Grouper scene… Alex keeps going.

P.S. – If you think your fishing friends and diving friends would like this video, please share it with them – I’d really appreciate it.

June 3, 2015 by Joseph Simonds

What do you do when you have mastered the Rubik’s Cube in classrooms, gyms, friend’s basements, and out in parks?

You take the challenge underwater of course.

But just going underwater with a mask, snorkel, and Rubik’s Cube is kind of boring. Need to spice it up a bit, right?

Well this Rubik’s Cube phenom did just that by setting a new World Record by solving a Rubik’s Cube in a Shark Tank (with some sharks circling around), all in 15 seconds.

And if you blink, you might miss the fact that he solves the Rubik’s Cube twice!

I had to watch this one a couple of times myself. Crazy!

This guy is certainly “Salt Strong”.

P.S. – If you think your friends would find this as amazing as I did, please share it with them – I’d really appreciate it.

June 2, 2015 by Joseph Simonds

Good, you made it…

And I can assure you that you will not be disappointed with this one-of-a-kind fly fishing video.

I’m also glad that I didn’t have to give any more reasons for you to watch it, as 10,000 already seemed a bit too extravagant… So why 10,000?

Well, as you will see in the video, this spectacular footage was all filmed down in the Ten Thousand Islands area of Florida. An area that is uninhabited for the most part, and it a huge labyrinth of water, small islands, and mangroves.

It was home to many native American Indians, and today is one of the best places in Florida to go skinny water fishing. You just have to make sure you don’t get lost or run out of gas or supplies…

Great job goes to Patrick Rhea and Nick Shirghio of Livit Films for this video. It is clear you guys put some serious hours in both the trip, and the editing.

It turned out perfect.

Related: To see Patrick’s popular fishing video called “Skinny Water Obsession” click here next.

P.S. – If you think your angler friends and fly-fishing friends would like this video, please share it with them – I’d really appreciate it. Fish On!

June 2, 2015 by Joseph Simonds

Do you know what “Cow Tipping” is?

“Cow Tipping” became much more well known in America when the hit movie “Tommy Boy” was released. If you never saw “Tommy Boy”, it was the comedy where Chris Farley attempts to show his new “step-brother” (played by Rob Lowe) how to “Tip over” unsuspecting cows while they are sleeping” (you can watch that here).

At any rate, this video below is just the opposite, which is why it is called “Sea Cows go Human Tipping”.

Human Tipping is what happens when Sea Cows (aka Manatees) tip over unsuspecting paddleboarders and knock them in the water. And from the looks of it, there are quite a few ticked off Manatees in the bunch… and they give this guy quite a wake-up!

At the very end, you can see just how shallow the water was where this occurred. Pretty Wild Video!

Big thanks to Nic Turner of Hawaii for sending this video in to us.

P.S. – If you think your angler and paddleboard friends would find this video amazing, please share it with them – I’d really appreciate it.

June 1, 2015 by Joseph Simonds

Now before anyone gets exasperated from this video showing a Lionfish being fed to a shark, it is important that you know why Lionfish need to be eliminated in our waters.

The “Cliff Notes” Story of the Lionfish Infestation

Lionfish are beautiful fish that used to only be located in the warmer waters of the Indian and western Pacific Oceans (not America or the Caribean).

And based on their beauty, they eventually became popular for personal home aquariums in and around the United States. Because of the demand, aquarium supply companies started importing these beautiful lionfish over to America to sell to saltwater aquarium owners that wanted these ornate fish in their tanks.

However, the owners of the saltwater aquariums quickly realized a HUGE problem…

That these Lionfish kill and eat EVERYTHING around them.

And I mean EVERYTHING.

So how did they arrive all over the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, and even up as high as New York on the east coast?

Well it is believed that it was due to a combination of aquarium owners releasing their lionfish out into the water (after they realized that all of their other fish in their tanks were dead), in conjunction with the hurricanes that hit Florida and the Gulf of Mexico which shattered aquariums on waterfront properties, thus releasing many lionfish out into the water as well, were among the main causes of this lionfish infestation.

And oh, by the way, did I mention that Lionfish:

They have no natural predators in and around the Gulf of Mexico or the Caribbean
Lionfish have needle sharp and venomous spines, and they can destroy entire coral reef life and underwater ecosystems because they eat just about everything in site
The female lionfish releases upwards of 10,000 – 15,000 eggs into the water, so these lionfish are replicating at incredible speed

So hopefully now you can understand why we need to eliminate lionfish (and even teach predators like sharks how to eat these pesky lionfish like they do in this video below from Columbia).

And if you never saw the related video of our friend Alex Fogg, aka “The Ultimate Lionfish Killer“, then make sure to watch that video here next.

Please SHARE to help spread the word on why Lionfish are ruining our beautiful reefs.

P.S. – We have nothing against PETA. In fact, we applaud and get behind most of their work helping animals. They just go a bit too far with their fishing propaganda sometimes…

BENT!

The “Cliff Notes” Story of the Lionfish Infestation

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