Jimmy Fee - The Toughest Job Everybody Wants

Bill Wetzel has guided the Montauk surf for over 25 years. He is one of the most requested anglers that you, the Saltwater Edge Podcast listeners, have ever asked for.

Not surprisingly, his live social posts that he records driving home after a night in the Montauk surf are a masterclass in the thought process of what makes great anglers great—traits like focus, observation, and a deep understanding of seasonal bait migrations and more. 

Bill has hosted the Surf Rats Ball Surf Fishing Tournament for over a decade. He has donated 100% of the proceeds to Kids Need More, a non-profit that is dedicated to enhancing the lives of children and their families who are coping with cancer and other life-threatening diseases. That’s an awesome display of compassion and commitment.

Learn more at Surf Rats Ball

Show Notes:

00:34 Introducing the Guest: A Surf Casting Legend
01:44 The Guest's Arrival and Initial Conversation
02:03 Discussing Fishing Tactics and Strategies
03:06 Understanding Bait Migrations and Fishing Seasons
05:00 The Art of Surf Fishing: Techniques and Tips
07:01 The Importance of Observation in Fishing
07:43 The Role of Bait in Fishing Success
10:05 The Intricacies of Fishing Locations and Conditions
12:41 The Importance of Focus and Observation in Fishing
15:19 Understanding and Navigating Fishing Structures
18:46 The Role of Passion and Preparation in Fishing Success
22:57 The Importance of Keeping a Fishing Log
37:51 Discussing the Magic Minutes Talk
37:58 Understanding the Importance of Wind and Tide in Fishing
38:34 The Art of Spotting and Breaking Down Fishing Locations
39:07 Balancing Fishing with Personal Life
40:21 The Intricacies of Fishing in Different Conditions
42:28 The Importance of Knowledge and Experience in Fishing
46:16 The Changing Landscape of Montauk
53:00 The Role of Equipment in Fishing
01:03:51 The Final Fishing Day Dream Scenario
01:06:57 The Impact of Surf Rats Ball on Kids with Cancer
01:09:01 Closing Remarks and Acknowledgements

Frank Goncalves has been immersed in saltwater fishing since childhood, growing up in the East Coast's largest fishing port of New Bedford, Massachusetts. This proximity to the salt, a lot of commitment, and his abundant creativity have produced a very talented surfcaster. Sure, there is "putting in the work," his effort is legendary, but many of us can stand on a rock. Frank Goncalves separates from the pack with his attention to detail and a creative mind that powers his day job as a graphic designer but is also critical to his surfcasting success. Frank, like all creators, operates with a set of facts, intuition, and a willingness to try things of which some don't work out, but the results in aggregate are quite impressive. 

Most of Ben Whalley’s very non-traditional youth was spent in Brazil. When he wasn’t breaking horses or working on the ranch, he was exploring the wilderness and waterways, searching for natural materials he could spin up to imitate local berries to catch Pacou.

About 20 years ago, he moved to Maine, where his obsession with wild salmonids and chasing stripers on the beautiful, expansive flats in the Gulf of Maine.

His saltwater flies are known for being functional and realistic, heavily influenced by the brilliance of Bob Popovic. 

In 2022, Ben decided to leave his career as an engineer to pursue his tying, teaching, and guiding full time.

Check out benwhalleyfishing.com to learn more.

Capt. Kyle is a fly fishing guide, lodge owner, writer, conservationist, and entrepreneur. Kyle’s passion for fly fishing runs deep, but his true passion is helping people and fighting to protect wild fish and wild places.

He guides for stripers on the flats in Maine and chases bonefish, permit and whatever else is on the flats in the Berry Islands, Bahamas. Like most of us Kyle is happy when there is a bend in the rod; but he gets truely excited by the anticipation of seeing a fish and making the cast that gets the eat in skinny water. 

Kyle’s guiding career includes extensive time in the western US chasing world-class trout, the vast marshlands of Argentina for Golden Dorado, and the diverse coast of New England for Striped Bass. Kyle has been lucky to travel the world exploring new fisheries and has spent extensive time on the Bahamian flats, living in South Andros managing a fly fishing lodge, and most recently launched Soul Fly Lodge, his first lodge operation.

Check out our Soul Fly Lodge Fly Shop if you are headed south.

Captain Connor MacLeod is one of the most in demand charter boat captains I know. From the on the water experience he creates that earns stellar reviews, to his monthly Fishing Forecast in On The Water magazine, to his highly effective line of tog jigs. Every thing is top notch. And to top it off, the RI State Record blackfish of 21.57 lbs caught on his boat in 2021!

He also understands that while operating safely is a charter captain's primary job he recogmizes that creating memories keeps people coming back. Captain Connor Macleod has done plenty of repeat customers.

Learn more about Captain Connor and Tall Tailz Charters here

Today's guest is a passionate man. Whether it's paintball, capturing cool video, or hunting his beloved striped bass. He is all in.

Today's guest has been a steady supporter of catch and release recognizing some time ago that we need to release the breeders to have a sustainable fishery and the opportunity to share our joy with future generations.

He has also followed his passion in to product development and looking for better solutions for surfcasters. Check out Phase Gear

Please welcome from Comanche Surfcasting the Smiling Tan Man Pete Uchtig.

As an educator and an entrepreneur, Luyen Chou has done some remarkable things in his career, and since his teenage years he has always been a fisherman. When the opportunity presented itself to apply his unique skills to make a difference in his passion, he stepped up with his time and talent. Striped bass, false albacore, and redfish, and the people who chase them are just starting to realize the benefits Luyen and his app GotOne can have on our fisheries. The app will serve the angler in ways no other app does, and the anonomized (non-specific) data will be invaluable to fisheries managers. He is indeed the right guy at the right time.

Well done, my friend.

Captain Max Dispoto has already spent what might be a lifetime for most other anglers fishing the tuna grounds of Southern New England. He has a passion for the canyons as well as the "Midshore" fishery that has exploded this year due to the abundance of sand eels. 

Max is a member of the Shimano Saltwater Sportfishing Pro Staff. That's quite a recognition that he earned because he shares the same relentless drive and guy instincts that the very best Cpatains seem to share.

Even as a fairly late bloomer to the sport, Dustin Stevens undying desire to learn all things fishing has led him to become a multi-species and multi-technique angler. This curiosity has created an avid inshore fisherman with a passion for stripers, albies, tog, and sea bass

Dustin also has a unique business model here in the northeast in that he guides kayak fishermen. His focus is on both light tackle and bottom fishing so anglers often fish both styles on one charter. 

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention his charter business is in addition to being a husband, father and a good bit of travel as required by his profession in the airline industry. The dude is tireless.

Captain Diogo Godoi of Gorilla Tactics Sportfishing owns one of Cape Cod’s premier inshore light tackle charter operations; he specializes in bluefin tuna, striped bass, and false albacore, as well as a variety of other species. 

When you fish with Captain Diogo you realize he is experienced in a variety of light tackle techniques and will stick with it until you are tight. The SWE crew has fished with Diogo a number of times for jig and pop bluefin. Every time has been a great experience with plenty of shots and time spent learning something new if Plan A doesn't work out as planned.

This guy is all in!

Back in the day we was a hell of good lacrosse player.