Florida Keys Archives

July 13, 2015 by Joseph Simonds

Nothing like the adrenaline rush of fighting a nice shark while on a paddleboard!

And our friend Peter Miller (host of Bass 2 Billfish) shows you exactly how it’s done (without falling over).

You can see a couple of times the shark makes a cut back at Peter and his SUP, forcing Peter to adjust and rebalance so he doesn’t end up wet (and on top of the shark).

The water color is amazing down there in the Florida Keys, and great job of handling the shark on your SUP like a champ!

Peter Miller = Salt Strong

If you never saw our amazing interview with Peter for “March Fishing Madness”, check it out here.

Related Video: “Now This Is How You Catch A Thresher Shark From A Paddleboard!” (watch it here next)

P.S. – If you liked this video, please Tag or Share with a friend. I would really appreciate it! Pow!

June 22, 2015 by Joseph Simonds

It’s a fact that Tarpon are one of the toughest fighting sport fish in the sea.

The raw power combined with the unforgettable aerial show that Tarpon put on while trying to throw a hook make them one of the most sought after fish to land for most saltwater anglers.

But did you also know that these amazing prehistoric looking fish can gauge bait that is flying in the air… and swipe it in mid-air just like a dog does a frisbee or a dog treat?

Pretty cool stuff.

I am betting you have seen countless tarpon (at places like Boca Grande or Robbie’s of Islamorada) jump up and grab bait out of people’s hands, but it is entirely different to jump out of the water and catch a moving bait.

Well done Tarpon!

And thanks to our friends at Mystery Tackle Box for filming this one.

If you liked it, share it with a friend that loves Tarpon. POW!

June 18, 2015 by Joseph Simonds

Darcizzle (from Darcizzle Offshore) is back!

And this time she is taking her fishing skills underwater as she goes spearfishing with the FAU Spearfishing Team down in the Florida Keys.

If you missed the last few Darcizzle videos, here are a few of our favorites:

“Darcizzle Snook-a-Thon” (watch it here)
“Darcizzle Catches Sailfish on 20lb Leader” (watch it here)
“Salt Strong Interviews Darcizzle” (watch it here)

Otherwise, enjoy this latest video fromDarcizzle as she and the FAU crew catch lionfish, snapper, and a big kingfish.

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

June 11, 2015 by Joseph Simonds

Robbie’s of Islamorada (Florida Keys) is THE place to hand-feed tarpon.

And if you never saw the “Slo-mo” tarpon feeding segment from the video “Why Hammerheads Don’t Like Their Picture Taken“, then I highly recommend you check out that video here next. (It was also filmed at Robbie’s of Islamorada).

In this video below, a girl (with wicked chiseled triceps) takes a shot at feeding the tarpon off the dock at Robbie’s… claiming yet another win for Team Tarpon.

BONUS Footage: Make sure to watch this entire video as they added in some “Fish-eye” bonus footage that is pretty cool.

P.S. – If you think your friends would find this video cool, please share it with them – I’d really appreciate it. Pa-PoW!

June 8, 2015 by Joseph Simonds

My first memory of spearfishing was down in the Bahamas where my dad taught my brother and I (I was 14 and Luke was 12) how to spearfish with a Hawaiian Sling.

To say that we had a blast spearing our dinner would be a huge understatement. Not to mention the spearfishing stories we had to tell our friends when we got back to school were pretty unbeatable…

So when I came across this video of a some guys using the Guerrilla Sling down in the Keys (Elliot Key and North Largo, as well as Fort Lauderdale footage in here as well), it brought back some great memories.

Also, if you want to know more about these “Guerrilla Slings”, the brand that “Spear Big” is using in this video is made by HeadHunter Spearfishing. Here is quick pic of the sling.

guerrilla spearfishing

Enjoy the video!

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

June 7, 2015June 7, 2015 by Joseph Simonds

As we learned in the VIRAL fishing video called “Helpless Tarpon Rescued by Dead Jack Decoy in the Florida Keys” (watch it here), you never know what you are going to catch or encounter while fishing in the FL Keys!

In this video below, Jersey Justin heads out fishing in Islamorada (Florida Keys) with Capt. Ron Brack, and the last thing they thought they would catch that day is an endangered Sawfish!

And if you are wondering why you don’t see many sawfish videos, it’s because these sawfish are incredibly rare, they are endangered, and it is illegal to fish for them. Of course, if you accidentally hook a sawfish like these guys did, all you can do it try to get it safely released as quickly as possible.

It was great to see that Capt. Ron put in the extra effort to unwrap the line from its bill and release this endangered sawfish safely… certainly a Salt Strong move!

Related video: “Angler risks losing his hand to save sawfish” (watch it here)

P.S. – If you think your friends would enjoy this rare sawfish video, please share it with them – I’d really appreciate it

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

August 21, 2017May 4, 2015 by Luke Simonds

Normally, landing a tarpon is one of the toughest things about tarpon fishing. Because as any tarpon angler knows that when tarpon

Because as any tarpon angler knows, if the tarpon are biting, it isn’t incredibly difficult to jump a tarpon…

However getting the tarpon to stay on the line long enough to land it can be an entirely different story…

Check out this amazing video where a guy sight fishes a Tarpon with a Fly rod, miraculously keeps him out of the mangroves, and then for a grand finale…

The Tarpon jumps in the boat!

Folks, we have found the “Tarpon Whisperer”.

Lucky for these guys, the Tarpon wasn’t 150lbs…

Enjoy.

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P.S. – If you think your angler friends or fishing networks would enjoy seeing this, please Tag them or Share this with them. You Rock! Pa-POW!

April 29, 2015 by Joseph Simonds

Let’s face it, it’s not every day that you look over your shoulder while fishing on the flats and see a moving spear gun in the water! Talk about the ultimate curiosity factor…

You start thinking to yourself, “What could possibly be on the other end of this spear gun?”

Is it a big Tuna? Wahoo? Mahi? No snapper could possibly be big enough to withstand a shot from a spear and still be running away with it miles away on the flats…

We are willing to bet that they last thing on angler Chris Lewis’s mind was a shark when he pulled the speargun from the water (because sharks are illegal to spear in the state of Florida)…

But low and behold, when Chris finally sees what is on the other end of the spear gun, it is a shark! We can only assume that the diver shot the shark in self-defense and fled the scene like a girly-man loser (it wasn’t that big of a shark), but we would love to hear your thoughts below in the comment section on what you think happened.

Either way, Chris certainly deserved his prize of a new spear gun for going above and beyond to save the shark!

Chris Lewis = Salt Strong

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