2006 Season – Episode Dates & Descriptions

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   Yamaha Contender Miami Billfish Tournament
2. Space Coast Reds
3. Key Largo
4. Tamiami Snook
5. Pat Ford Trout
6. Gulf Fishing with Capt Bill
7. Islamorada Bones
8. Everglades Tarpon
9. Miami Dolphins
10. Sun Sports Sharks
11. Stu Apte Look Back
12. Wintertime Wading
13. 2006 Highlights

Yamaha Contender Miami Billfish Tournament

Today’s Sportsmans Adventures takes us to Miami… a sophisticated tropical city on Florida’s southeastern coast. This international city is famous for it’s glitz and glamour. The city of Miami sits on beautiful Biscayne Bay where tall buildings shine in the morning sun. Miami is also famous for world class sport fishing and on today’s adventure we’ll fish in the 23rd annual Yamaha Contender Miami Billfish Tournament.

Held at the Miami Beach Marina on famous South Beach, 469 anglers aboard 105 boats will participate in this 3 day event where all of the billfish caught will be released unharmed and thousands of dollars will be raised and donated to marine conservation groups. Miami’s Government Cut is filled with high powered, high tech fishing boats captained and crewed by the best in the business. Passing by Checkpoint Charlie and then… the official start to the tournament with Miami’s skyline providing a perfect backdrop.

To cover some of the fishing action, we’ve placed 2 cameras on 2 of the top tournament boats. We’ll follow the anglers aboard the 36 ft Contender 1 and the 36 ft sportfisher, the Miss Britt. These 2 boats, year after year, consistently are among the top finishers.

Aboard the Contender 1, anglers Joe and Matthew Neber, Bill Cordis and Wayne Savage make up a tournament team with years of experience fishing together. This team is intense and when the bite is on… they are ready. By noon, they had 3 fish caught and released...

Space Coast Reds

Today’s Sportsmans Adventures begins at sunrise in the beautiful backcountry of Florida’s famous Mosquito Lagoon. Capt Rick Murphy and our special guest Capt. Scott Guthrie will share the boat today with one of Florida’s top fishing guides, Capt. Troy Perez. We will spend this picture perfect August day sightcasting for the big redfish that have made this area famous. This is one of the last unspoiled areas on the State’s east coast lying just within the boundaries of the Cape Canaveral Seashore and the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge.
On calm mornings like this, it’s easy to spot the schools of fish, their fins skimming the surface as they forage for food over acres and acres of lush manatee grass. When these 3 professional redfish tournament anglers get together, of course the morning has to begin with a friendly little wager on the first fish caught.

Key Largo

Today’s Sportsmans Adventures takes us to the northernmost fishing destination in the Florida Keys chain of islands. Key Largo, with it’s many fishing and diving locations, lays claim to the only underwater park in the continental United States. Key Largo calls itself the “Diving Capitol of the World” and each year thousands of visitors travel to Key Largo to enjoy the clear blue waters, the spectacular reef formations and the incredible variety of fish. The waters off Key Largo are also known for world class fishing so Capt. Rick Murphy has traveled here to meet with his long time friend and top notch offshore Captain… George Mitchell and together they will spend a fine winter day aboard the 36 ft Contender, the “Snake Dancer”. This awesome boat makes for a short and dry ride to the deep blue ocean reefs just offshore.

Tamiami Snook

Nighttime fishing on the Tamiami Trail is something that anyone can do. No boats and no exotic travel to faraway places. Just pack up a fishing partner and plenty of mosquito repellant and you are ready to go. When the Tamiami Trail opened in 1928, the road was an engineering marvel. More than half of it was built through a trackless swamp long before the era of modern earth movers. The road from Tampa to Miami took 12 long years to build and the men who worked it called themselves “Trailblazers”. On this episode, Capt Rick Murphy and his special guest, Capt. Ron Hueston will be spending the evening casting top water lures. Snook fishing at night is a whole different deal. Alligators, snakes and oh those mosquitoes!!! Fortunately the fish don’t mind one bit.

Pat Ford Trout

On today's Sportsman's Adventures we'll spend the day fishing with two of South Florida's top anglers. When these two aren't out chasing records or trophies and just want to get away and have a fun day on the water…where do they go ?? Since Florida is the fishing capitol of the world…the options are unlimited. But for Capt. Rick Murphy and Pat Ford the answer is easy…It's the Everglades Ntl Park and Flamingo of course! There is no fishing hole quite like Flamingo. This remote outpost is located on the southern most tip of the Florida peninsula where the mangrove marshlands meet the great estuary of Florida Bay. You can catch fish here on just about any given day. Snook, redfish and tarpon are the main attractions but don't forget about the seatrout….one of Florida's most reliable and delectable fish. For many years the trout has been Florida's # 1 most sought after inshore gamefish and thanks to the States' strong conservation effort, the trout population remains strong. There are numerous pot holes and small channels that lie within a few miles from the Flamingo dock that hold huge numbers of trout year round. These trout do not run as large as those caught on Florida's central coast but on a cool winter day like today… the action should be hot..!

Gulf Fishing with Capt Bill

On today’s Sportsman’s Adventures we’ll spend a cool winter day fishing shallow water wrecks in the Gulf of Mexico. Capt. Rick Murphy and our special guest Capt Bill Harbaugh are greeted by a beautiful sunrise breaking over the calm waters of Florida Bay. This will be the only time we see the sun today. It’s January, its overcast and it’s cold… but thanks to Capt. Bills Contender, it’s a dry ride to the fishing grounds nearly 70 miles offshore. In the wintertime, these wrecks are slammed with a wide variety of fish… so you have to be prepared. Having the right tackle as well as a live well full of the right bait is a must. Small live blue crabs and shrimp are the norm but with a good throw of the cast net on a big school of threadfins and we’re ready to go.

Islamorada Bones

Today’s Sportsmans Adventures takes us to the very heart and soul of the fabulous Florida Keys… Islamorada… the sportfishing capitol of the world! This tropical island paradise is located half way down the 100 mile chain of islands that stretches to the sea. This is where the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico meet the clear blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean and provides some of the best light tackle angling found anywhere in the world. On today’s adventure, Capt. Rick Murphy and our special guest Tim Mahaffey, will spend a cool and breezy December day poling miles and miles of Florida Bay flats in search of one of Islamorada most famous residents. The bonefish is the closest thing there is to perfect when it comes to flyfishing. They will gladly eat your fly, then run harder and faster than any other fish fought on light tackle. These bonefish in particular are extremely wary because here, there is a lot of fishing pressure. They call this fishing Islamorada’s downtown and these downtown bonefish are not only some of the biggest in the world they are definitely the spookiest.

Everglades Tarpon

On today’s Sportsmans Adventure we’ll travel to the southern tip of the Florida Peninsula for some late summer tarpon fishing. It’s here in the small channels and along the mangrove shorelines where the salty waters of the Gulf meets the sweet water that flows down from the glades, that you’ll find Mr. Tarpon. Capt Rick Murphy will spend the day chasing his favorite fish, the silver king and provide us with some valuable tips and important information on how to catch this incredible gamefish.

Miami Dolphins

Today’s Sportsmans Adventures begins on a calm summer day off of Florida’s southeast coast. Fishing for Dolphin will be the game and on today’s episode, Cort Vernon and Bill Cordis will be the names. Cort and Bill are Miami natives. They grew up in fishing families and have a special love for the deep ocean reefs and blue waters of the Gulfstream. Capt Rick Murphy is off fishing on the popular Redfish Tour so we invited these 2 long time friends to join us. Dolphin, the fish that is, is also called mahi-mahi or dorado and is found in tropical and sub-tropical waters throughout the world. Summertime off of Florida’s coastline is prime dolphin-fishing time. If you follow a few basic rules, you should have no trouble catching your limit of 10 fish per person and remember, they must measure 20 inches from the nose to the fork of the tail. Always watch for the birds, they often follow the fish. Watch for floating debris and weeds, small baitfish hide beneath and in turn are preyed upon by the dolphin. Keep your bait fresh and always leave the first dolphin caught in the water to keep the other fish around. Cort and Bill are offshore experts and are gonna show us a little how-to…

Sun Sports Sharks

Today’s Sportsmans Adventures takes us to the southernmost tip of the Florida peninsula. It’s here that the mangrove marshland gives way to the great estuary of Florida Bay and the thousands of watery acres that is the Everglades National Park. Located only 40 miles from the hustle and bustle of Miami, this remote outpost called Flamingo is like returning to the way some south Floridians lived, over 100 years ago. Capt. Rick Murphy was born in nearby Homestead but certainly, he was raised here on these fertile fishing grounds. Flamingo is an oasis for all fishermen targeting such great gamefish as snook, redfish, tarpon and trout. Today Rick will be fishing with his co-host on the Sun network’s Chevy Florida Fishing Report, Whit Watson. Whit spends most of his days commenting on sports highlights yet, he relishes the time he gets to spends outdoors and there are few places that we had better be, than here at Flamingo. Wintertime in Flamingo means great shark fishing….. large sharks of all kinds patrol these fish filled waters. Blacktips, lemons and bulls are the targets today and it doesn’t take long to get this day started right.

Stu Apte Look Back

On today’s Sportsman’s Adventures, we pay tribute to one of our greatest friends. He is a legend - in the truest sense of the word. Over the past 30 years Stu Apte has been a mentor and inspiration to fishermen, guides and sportsmen from around the world. He not only holds numerous world records, Stu has also written books on fishing and he has filmed and produced documentaries. Stu is a well traveled Sportsman, in fact he has caught fish on every continent. In many ways he has been Florida’s fishing ambassador to the rest of the world. On this adventure, Stu has offered us a rare opportunity… to look back at his early days… when he helped put Florida sportfishing on the map!

Wintertime Wading

Southwest Florida is a mix between old and new… tall modern buildings reflecting in the afternoon sun remind us of the Florida that is our future. The quaint old marinas and fish houses whose ships have long since come in, remind us of the Florida that once was. There are several lighthouses that line Southwest Florida’s coast. These historic landmarks stand sentinel over some of Florida’s most pristine beaches and shorelines and their lights continue to be a beacon for the ships that pass in the night. Capt. Geoffrey Page calls these waters home. He grew up in nearby Venice and has spent a lifetime fishing the back bays of Charlotte Harbor and famous Boca Grande. Geoffrey and Rick are longtime friends and regularly meet to fish against each other in the Professional Redfish Tournament circuit but today they share not only a fine boat but also a fine day wading the wintertime flats of Charlotte Harbor.

2006 Highlights

On today’s Sportsmans Adventures we mark the end of our eleventh year on the air! And they said we would never make it… Well… on this adventure we’ll take a look back at some of our favorite episodes from this season. We had a terrific year on the water sharing special adventures with special friends. We traveled and fished all across the Florida Peninsula in boats both big and small and were treated to some the finest fishing this great state has to offer.