Chummin' Around

All over the place again. Hunting, fishing, photo shoots and grand openings . . . it's a crazy, busy world for me but lovin' every minute of it! Just wrapped up a photo shoot for Skeeter this week. Had beautiful weather, caught some fish and hung out with some of the coolest Skeeter Pros out there. In fact, I was fishing with Capt. Chad Manning again. Tomorrow's episode of AF just happens to be "Tampa Chums" from Tampa Bay with Capt. Chad. Had a blast fishing that episode. Caught snook, grouper and redfish in one day. Can't beat that! 

This week though, we were snapping photos and catching kingfish on a "floatilla" of about 6 brand new Skeeter boats. What a good lookin' group! Here's a shot of our early morning sunrise, getting ready to head out. Gorgeous!

This weekend I'm heading to Orlando to kick off the opening of another Dick's Sporting Goods store. Ya know that the holidays are right around the corner, right? What a great way to get ahead of the shopping madness than to come in, see me, get a coupon for $10, save on great "grand opening" deals and check some presents off that long list! Come see me on Saturday, the 25th from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. at the new store:  Fashion Square Mall 724 Herndon Avenue, Orlando, FL 32803

Here's another cool piece of news for y'all . . . AF sponsor, Star brite's CLO2 generator technology, is soon to be helping people, pets and livestock stay healthy near you. President and CEO Peter Dornau stated, "Performacide® is perfectly suited for use in outlying areas to help control viruses as well as to sanitize and disinfect."  I'm impressed and proud to be part of a team like Star brite! Read the entire press release here:  

Ocean Bio-Chem, Inc. To Donate Performacide® to Countries Facing Ebola Virus

Check out "Tampa Chums" tomorrow morning on The Sportsman Channel and then on Sunday tune in for "Keys Chronicle" where I'm fishing with the fine folks at Star brite. It's truly rod bendin' drag screamin' television this weekend! Check the website for times and replays. You can always catch AF on YouTube too! 

Until next week . . . tight lines,

Blair

Simpler Times

Here I am with my Granddaddy, Haywood Wiggins after a great day on the water catching redfish. Back then (I think I was probably 15 or 16 years old here), I brought home almost everything I caught so my mom could cook it up for the family to eat that night. We didn't let a thing go to waste and lived off of the simple things like freshly caught fish, vegetables grown in my Dad's garden, and sweet sun tea. Those were the days!!

Hey - I wanted to give a quick update on how me and my fishing partner Todd Royall did in last weekend's tournament. Remember I was up in Destin for the 9th Annual Old Nick's Redfish Roundup tournament? Well, me and Todd took 1st in the spots division. Pretty darn cool.

Had a great turnout for my seminar on Friday night and then the tournament hit an all time high record for attendance. I hope those numbers increase next year too . . . we'll definitely be back! Thanks to Nick's and to Legendary Marine for the invite.

We've been traveling a lot lately, shooting shows and fishing. Last week I got to do something we've never done on AF . . . fish and film on a Bass lake. That's right, I said it - B A S S fishing. We were in St. Cloud fishing with Skeeter Bass Pro, Chuck Pippin. It was a beautiful lake and we had a great time with Chuck, just a little tough bite though. We'll show a little of it in an episode later this season. I think I'll stick to saltwater, I think I've got a little of it running through my veins. Ha!

Now, I'm off again to the Everglades in pursuit of tarpon! How many of you remember Capt. Gary Thompson from season 6 in "Tarpon Time"? Check out the AF YouTube Channel to see what Gary had me catching back then. We're hoping for a Part two of that same experience. Haven't caught a tarpon yet this season, so fingers crossed, no bananas on the boat . . . here we go!

This week's episode is a little something special for our friends at Star Brite. Last season we went to the Dry Tortugas and Key West on the Star Brite (62' Viking) and caught some amazing fish. This year we were scheduled to go again and do something a little different, but they had to postpone due to a "family member" having surgery and treatment coming up. We decided to do a look back to that Key West trip, put in some footage you haven't seen and dedicate it to the speedy recovery of "Jake." 

We're cheering you on Jake and can't wait to see your tail waggin' again soon! Tune in tomorrow to see "Keys Chronicles" (Friday, May 23rd at 10:30 a.m. ET on Fox SunSports). Check the AF website for replay times on Sunday and Wednesday.  

I'm heading back out on the water for now!  

Until next week . . . tight lines,
Blair

Destined for rough weather . . .

I can't seem to outrun, escape or get away from the weather!! Bah! We have NEVER had such a challenging season as this one. Last you heard, we were in Chokoloskee shooting with Capt. Brian Sanders. Luckily we got a show shot in one day because the weather gave us no choice but to pack up and go home the next day. Then, we head up to Destin because the reports of cobia all over were pouring in, plus we were invited by our good friends and Skeeter Boats dealer, Legendary Marine. We never pass up an invite from those folks. We head out on day one of the shoot and the weather gods do NOT want to cooperate. We were patient that week though and did get an episode. Stay tuned this season and I'll get to show you some Mogan redfish in this episode from Destin.  

Me and the AF crew were even socked in one day on land . . . never stepped a foot on the boat, we found other ways to entertain ourselves at the Harborwalk Village and Emerald Grande. Great place to be stuck inside, I tell ya! I may have gained a few extra pounds from all the great food too. Might have to head back up there soon just for another plate of oysters! 

The other positive was we got to spend time with some very cool anglers and military folks. Legendary Marine and Skeeter Boats put on a killer dinner Friday night to kick off the Royall Rumble - a cobia tournament with the Wounded Warrior program and local captains. Earlier that evening I was introduced to a young man, Chance Roye who was fishing the tournament with his Dad. His Dad said, "My son met his hero!" and I thank you for that, thanks Chance. My heroes were all in the room that night. What an honor to meet these folks and given the opportunity to thank them all for their service and sacrifice. Everyone in the Captain's meeting jumped to their feet for a standing ovation when introduced to our Veterans. Thank you! 

This weekend is a pretty exciting and big weekend for Dick's and for the AF Crew. We'll be in Tampa kicking off the newest store in the Westshore Mall. Can't wait because Dick's is really going all out to welcome Tampa Mogan Maniacs to this new location! I'll be there on Saturday, April 26th and Sunday, April 27th from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. each day. I'll be doing some seminars on inshore and offshore fishing in Tampa Bay. We just aired two of the episodes we shot in Tampa this season, and I'll be talking about those cool lookin' hogfish too! 

Come out and get registered to win a Minn Kota Talon, trolling motor, Costa sunglasses and a couple of guided fishing trips inshore with Capt. Chris Camps and offshore with Capt. Ryan Farner. The sales are on! Come out and get geared up for your next fishing trip too. 

This week's episode we're doing something a little special for our friends at Star Brite. Last season we went to the Dry Tortugas and Key West on the Star Brite (62' Viking) and caught some amazing fish. This year we were scheduled to go again and do something a little different, but they had to postpone due to a "family member" having surgery and treatment coming up. We decided to do a look back to that Key West trip, put in some footage you haven't seen and dedicate it to the speedy recovery of "Jake." We're cheering you on Jake and can't wait to see your tail waggin' again soon! 

Tune in tomorrow to see "Keys Chronicles" (Friday, April 25th at 10:30 a.m. ET on Fox SunSports). Check the AF website for replay times on Sunday and Wednesday.  

Heading outside to make sure the weather doesn't change just because I'm out there. I'm starting to get a complex! Is it me? 

Until next week . . . tight lines,
Blair

New Year, New Season, and Soooo Many Fish to Catch!

Happy New Year Y'all!  Hope your holiday season was a good one. Hope you got to do some fishing, hunting or whatever you love to do in your off time. I got to fish with Mark Nichols of DOA Lures to close out 2013, and hooked into this nice 32" Seatrout, then I got some duck hunting in . . . it had been a while, but man was it fun.  

I know a lot of you are freezin' your butts off up North, but believe it or not, Florida's been cold too. My wife loves when the temperatures go down this time of year, I'm the complete opposite so thankfully it doesn't last very long around here. This photo was sent it to us from long time fans/friends of AF - LT & Brenda Cochran. They recently relocated to Missouri and Mother Nature greeted them with a blizzard.  Welcome home y'all! 

The rest of the country . . . well, you're just going to have to come down to do some saltwater fishing or dream about it while you're on the ice fishing out of a frozen hole. I went ice fishing in Colorado a few years back and sure it was fun, but just a little too cold for me. Can't go barefoot!? 

Me and the AF Crew just had our beginning of the year meeting to go over schedule, plan shoots, and map out our travels for the 2014 season. Lots of exciting stuff going on and it looks like Spring is going to be busy!  Here's a quick rundown of where I'll be over the next 3 months:  Raleigh, Miami, Birmingham, Panama City, Slidell, Ft. Myers, Bradenton, Tampa, Coral Springs, Key West, Tampa, and Destin.  I'll fill you in on details, what we'll be doing and when you can come out to see us. Some of those stops are strictly fishing and I can't wait. I'm hoping to show you some Mogan cobia, snapper, tarpon, redfish, grouper and much, much more in this season's shows. So many fish to catch, gotta get started!! We've also got some new products coming out this year and I'll keep you posted on that too. More choices for the Mogan Maidens out there and I think you'll be real happy!  

In the meantime, check out this week's episode shot from the Dry Tortugas with Capt. Chris Trosset. He's wearing me out on kingfish and snapper while we're fishing off the back of the Star Brite. Amazing time down there and we'll be doing something with that crew again this Spring.  "One Hour Later" airs on Sunday, January 12th at 10 a.m. (ET) on the Sportsman Channel. Then on Monday and Tuesday you can catch another episode "Tortuga Bank" from the Dry Tortugas where I'm hooking into some really nice grouper and snapper. Tune in on Monday at 9:00 a.m. and Tuesday at 2:30 a.m. Man, I can't wait to get back out there in that water!  

Taking down the Christmas lights and tossing the tree . . . hope I can put some shorts back on soon, take the cover off my Skeeter bay boat, kick off my shoes and get my toes wet again with some saltwater. It won't be long I know, but I'm ready to sweat!  

Until next week . . . tight lines,

Blair