Skunked!

Y'all ever have one of those dry spells on the water where the fish just aren't biting every time you go out? Maybe the wind's kicked up, the tide's too low, too much rain has made the saltwater too fresh, not enough rain has made the salinity level go sky high, moon phase was wrong time . . . you name it, it went wrong? Well, it feels like we've been proving ourselves to Mother Nature all season long and working extra hard for our dinner every shoot. We went out to shoot episodes more than a couple time this season and came home without a show. Here's one for ya, I had Bass Legend, Bill Dance on my boat again this year and the conditions and wind were so rough that we just couldn't put Bill through the abuse and called it an early shoot. We caught a shark and then went in for lunch and interviewed Bill about getting "Skunked". We didn't get enough footage for an entire episode, but still had fun. 

Also went out to fish one of the most incredible lakes in Florida, Lake X with Skeeter Pro, Chuck Pippin and it was supposed to be like fishing in a barrel. Nope! The bass had shut down because we were fishing on the wrong moon phase and not many of them wanted to "smile for the camera." Another trip that had the hopes of making an epic episode that never came to be. 

Went up to Destin for a week-long shoot, thinking we would come home with at least 2 episodes. Nope! The rain moved in just as we arrived and never stopped. Too much fresh water in the places we were fishing and our targeted species moved out. The complete opposite happened in Corpus Christi earlier in the year when we traveled out there to shoot an episode . . . not enough rain for weeks had caused too much evaporation and the salinity level was sky high. Our fish moved out to cleaner water. 

This week's episode is a look at all of those shoots. We had at least one fish from each shoot that Mr. Producerman could piece together into one episode. I explain to you at the beginning of each segment what challenge we were up against and what we did to try to make it happen. 

Yes, even on television we get "Skunked!" Tune in tomorrow, Friday, August 1st at 10:30 a.m. ET on Fox SunSports. Check the AF website for replay times on Sunday and Wednesday. 

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