Todd,

I just wanted to send you an email about my experience using your site to book a guided trip on Lake Okeechobee on May 20th.

It started with a phone call to your office and to my surprise someone actually answered the phone. I informed Lori that I was coming to Florida and would like to fish Okeechobee, she stated that would not be a problem and where would I be staying. I told her I would be in Orlando. Lori suggested going to Lake Toho because it would be closer and I informed her that I really wanted to fish Lake Okeechobee and that I had tried to fish it with three other guides (not affiliated with you guys) and they had talked me into other waters to fish and each time it was a disaster. Lori said she would have Todd call me and talk to me about what would be the best place for me to fish within 24 hours, again what a pleasant surprise Todd called me the next afternoon.

Todd asked me several questions about what I wanted from my day of fishing and I answered by stating that I would like to fish Okeechobee and would like to catch a good number of fish with an opportunity to catch a big bass. Todd recommended I fish Okeechobee with Mark Sheppard and sent me an email with Mark’s contact information and told me to contact him to work out where and when to meet on Sunday the 17th. I called Mark and he answered (again to my surprise) and we talked about what I should expect from my day on the lake with Mark. All was great was really looking forward to meeting Mark and fishing on Sunday.

Todd called me back a couple of days before the outing and informed me that there would be 4 tournaments on Okee on Sunday and it would be hard to find unpressured waters and asked if I could reschedule for another day. I couldn’t believe that a guide making a living on fishing would ask if I wanted to switch my day so I could have a better chance of catching great fish. I rescheduled for Wednesday the 20th and we met that morning.

We had a great time with Mark. Mark’s boat was very clean and the equipment we used was top of the line. We started the day catching about 40+ fish average size with the biggest being about 3 1/2 pounds. Mark true to his word, using the information I gave him about what I would like to do, went looking for the BIG one. He informed me that we may not catch the number of fish we had been catching but it would be a spot to produce bigger fish. We moved and fished for about 1 1/2 and caught another 10 – 20 fish and the biggest going about 5 pounds+ but we did not get it in the boat not Mark’s fault my buddy is just learning to fish. We had to leave the water because a storm came in and it was not safe to be on the water.

Todd to summarize my trip it was exactly how I think a guided trip should be done. I called, talked to someone on the first call, I was asked questions about exactly what I wanted out of my trip, was teamed up with a guide that could provide what I asked, and the guided executed exactly what I requested.

You have a great company and are the best of the best if my opinion. Your guide service has completely changed the way I view guiding services and will never use any other service in the state of Florida other than yours.

Thanks for being true professionals and making sure you do all that you can to make your customers happy!!!

Best wishes and good luck,

Terry Stevens
Virginia

Thank you Terry,
We appreciate your business and look forward to fishing with again.

Till next time tight lines and good fishing….
From Bass Online Staff Writer
BassOnline.com / 888-829-BASS

BassOnline.com is Florida Fishing largest Freshwater Guide Service, specializing in Florida bass fishing in the Florida lakes, canals and rivers.

To learn more about Florida bass fishing, visit Bass Fishing Blog, Florida Bass Fishing, Lake Okeechobee Fishing, Florida Peacock Bass

BASS FISHING WITH CAPTAIN MARK SHEPARD

Customer Bass Fishing Video

Chad Warner from Pennsylvania is one of Bass Online long time customer. This is the second video that Chad has made, the first with Capt Chris Shepard and now with his brother Capt Mark Shepard.

We appreciate the great effort and time he puts in two making them and I know all the guys enjoy putting him on bass for his annual Florida fishing trips. The video is awesome and show what great fun he is having on is trips with Captain Mark.

It’s sure to be a big hit with all of our fishing friends and customers.

Till next time tight lines and good fishing….

So, check back often at BassOnline Video Blogs for the best Florida freshwater bass fishing video footage ever seen on the web!

Till next time tight lines and good fishing….
From Bass Online Staff Writer
BassOnline.com / 888-829-BASS

America’s Best Urban Fishing Spots

Article published by Forbes Magazine

Monte Burke, 04.10.09, 04:00 PM EDT

Looking for a good place to wet a line this fishing season? Try a city.

In Depth: America’s Best Urban Fishing Spots

In the middle of Jamaica Bay, I’m standing on the bow of Captain Frank Crescitelli’s 26-foot boat, casting a chartreuse Clouser minnow fly toward JFK International Airport. Hungry bluefish are feasting on helpless bait fish all around us. I can’t figure out which individual fish to target, so I’m frantically trying to cast to them all at once. In my excitement, my backcast hits the antenna on Crescitelli’s boat.

I hear Crescitelli say something, but just as I turn around, an Alitalia 767 begins its descent, and soaks up all noise that’s not its own. Crescitelli’s mouth moves silently for a bit, then he stops, an old hand at dealing with the peculiarities of fishing in and around the biggest city in the U.S.

When the plane finally lands, he looks at me and says, “Dude, you popped your fly off.” We laugh as I tie on a fresh one, then finally make a respectable cast, putting the fly near the nose of a bluefish that, in true New Yorker style, doesn’t hesitate to suck it in. After we release the feisty 10-pounder, Crescitelli gives me a hearty pat on the back and says, “You had a touch of buck fever there, didn’t you?” referring to the overexcitement an abundance of game or gamefish produces in a sportsman.

In Depth: America’s Best Urban Fishing Spots

An abundance of gamefish in New York City? You bet. OK, so you won’t find the solitude and quiet you would in, say, the remote Seychelle Islands in the Indian Ocean. But here’s what you will find: some of the best inshore saltwater fishing in the country. New York City’s water–the East River, the lower Hudson and Jamaica Bay–teem with striped bass, bluefish and weakfish.

And though the harbor is usually crowded with tankers and the airspace buzzes with helicopters and shrieks from airplanes making their descent into area airports, there are remarkably few fishermen working this reborn water within reach of the city’s 8 million souls.

Crescitelli, a raconteur, fishing guide, conservationist and lifelong angler of urban waters, is one of the local masters. He’s witnessed the revival of the New York City fishery firsthand. Fifteen years ago, untreated sewage and 1.3 million pounds of polychlorinated biphenyls dumped by General Electric into the Hudson River had turned the harbor into a cesspool. The Clean Water Act of 1972 started the long recovery process. Concerned anglers like Crescitelli, who founded the Fishermen’s Conservation Association, which focuses on the health of the harbor, moved it along.

Today the fish are even edible–to some extent. The New York State Department of Health says women of childbearing age and children under 15 shouldn’t eat fish containing PCBs. Everybody else can safely eat a half pound a week caught in New York City waters. I’ve eaten both bluefish and striped bass caught near the Statue of Liberty and can report that I am not (yet) glowing in the dark. The taste? Dandy.

This urban fishing revival is not unique to New York. Up I-95 in the Boston Harbor, following years of neglect and abuse, the waters now run clean, and striped bass fishing has taken off. Down I-95 in Washington, D.C., the Potomac boasts excellent shad and smallmouth bass fishing.

In the South, thanks to a cold-water bottom-release from the Buford Dam into the Chatahoochee River, Atlantans can catch rainbow trout within the city limits. Miami offers some excellent peacock bass fishing in its myriad canals.

In the Midwest, the formerly contaminated Detroit River, which once flowed orange and blue from upriver steel mills and chemical plants, now has a thriving fishery for walleye and smallmouth bass. Chicago has excellent bass fishing in Lake Michigan, just off Lakeshore Drive. Out West, you can catch Mako sharks less than a mile off the shore of San Diego, and bass, perch and trout in Seattle’s Lake Washington. And like New York, most of these urban spots, despite their proximity to millions of people, remain underfished. You are more likely to get elbowed off some famous trout stream in the Rockies than you are within sight of skyscrapers. Just be prepared for the incoming airplanes. In Depth: America’s Best Urban Fishing Spots

**Hawghunter.net for Peacock Bass listed in top ten spots BEST URBAN FISHING SPOTS!

Courtesy of Hawghunter Guide Service Miami, Fla. Todd Kersey of Hawghunter guide service pilots his bass boat through the canals of Miami like a gondolier, in search of the hard-fighting South American transplant, the peacock bass, which find shelter under docks.

The Professional Anglers Association (PAA) has just finalized their annual elections for the PAA Board of Directors and elected new officers. John Crews of Salem, Virginia is the President. Sean Hoernke of Magnolia, Texas is the Vice President. Kurt Dove of Del Rio, Texas is the Secretary. Dave Mansue of Robbinsville, New Jersey remains as the Treasurer.

“I am extremely honored to serve the PAA as President,” explains Crews. “This position is very important, which also means quite a lot of work and responsibility. I plan to continue what the previous Presidents and Boards have accomplished. They laid the foundation and started to build the organization. The PAA has tripled in members over the past year. I will see to it that the PAA continues to grow and serve their members as best we can.”

The PAA members voted 3 new members to the Board of Directors and re-elected Kurt Dove and Paul Elias. Paul Elias of Laurel, Mississippi rejoins the PAA Board. Elias was the first President of the PAA at its inception and will serve a three year term on the Board. Kurt Dove of Del Rio, Texas finished his one year term on the Board in 2008 and was re-elected to serve another two year term starting in 2009. Those newly elected to the board serving three year terms are Matt Reed of Madisonville, Texas; Zell Rowland of Montgomery, Texas and Brian Snowden of Reeds Spring, Missouri. Snowden won the first E21 Carrot Stix PAA Tournament Series event of 2009 on Lake Toho in Kissimmee, Florida.

Leaving the Board are Kevin VanDam, Stacey King, Mark Davis, and Tim Horton. Davis, Van Dam, and Horton are all previous Presidents of the PAA. Horton was last year’s President. Their experience will be missed but one previous President seems very happy with the new Board additions and new officers.

Tim Horton stated, “The one thing that is important to the PAA with this election is continuity. There are new and returning members with a mix of veterans and younger pros. Our previous Vice President, Chad Morgenthaler, is remaining on the Board. Dave Mansue handled our FishPAA TV and Kurt Dove ran the web site committee. John Crews, our new President, spearheaded the Payday Program to give General Members a huge benefit to join us. The PAA is in good hands.”

2009 PAA Board of Directors & Officers

• John Crews, President
• Sean Hoernke, Vice President
• Kurt Dove, Secretary
• Dave Mansue, Treasurer

• Paul Elias
• Kelly Jordon
• Chad Morgenthaler
• Matt Reed
• Zell Rowland
• Brian Snowden

Learn more about the PAA Officers and Board members.

The Professional Anglers Association is a non-profit organization that gives professional anglers a unified voice in order to aid in the growth of the sport of professional bass fishing. The PAA also aims to administer educational programs to the average angler, to increase enjoyment of the sport, and to embrace sound conservation practices to further the future of the sport.

Till next time tight lines and good fishing….
From Bass Online Staff Writer
BassOnline.com / 888-829-BASS