Photo: Silver Kings
COVID-19 may be temporarily keeping us off the water, but there is plenty we can do at home to hone our angling skills, prepare for future trips, and support flats conservation! We compiled a list of five ways you can remain active and engaged while cooped up at home daydreaming about leaping tarpon and tailing bonefish.
Practice Casting. BTT Honorary Trustee and Ambassador Andy Mill is one of our greatest tarpon anglers. Check out his tips for casting in the wind and convincing fish to take a fly.
Prepare Your Tackle.This extended time at home is the perfect opportunity to organize your tackle boxes, learn to tie a new knot or fly pattern, put new line on your reels, and tie tarpon leaders. Some are even taking this opportunity to build their own rods! Click HERE to learn how to tie an IGFA tarpon leader.
Be a Conservationist! BTT and the Lower Keys Guides Association are advocating for a no-fishing closure at Western Dry Rocks (WDR) during permit spawning season. Take this time to learn more about the threats spawning permit face at WDR and add your name to the growing list of anglers supporting a seasonal closure. And if you’re able, consider making a contribution to help support this and other conservation efforts currently under way.
Support Your Guides. Guides give us our best days on the water and are also on the frontlines of conservation, donating their time and expertise to help BTT scientists locate and tag bonefish, tarpon and permit. But COVID-19 has brought the fishing season to a halt for guides throughout Florida, leaving many to face an uncertain future. Consider giving back to those who have given us so much by making a donation directly to your favorite guide or through one of the organizations that benefit guides, including the Lower Keys Guides Association, Florida Keys Fishing Guides Association and Guides Trust Foundation.
Enter BTT’s Photo Contest. Take a stroll down memory lane by flipping through some of your favorite snapshots from special days on the water. And share them with us! We want to see you best photos of proper fish handling and healthy habitat. Click HERE to learn how to enter.
