Fat Dad Fishing Show

Send us Fan Mail You can’t fish new water like it’s your home beach and Cuddyhunk Island makes that crystal clear. We sit down with Kwa to replay his first trip to Cuddyhunk, Massachusetts, a ferry-only island where golf carts rule, stores are basically nonexistent, and the striped bass game is built around rocks, current, and night bites. If you’ve ever planned a fishing vacation and wondered wha...

Send us Fan Mail The water can be 61 near the beach, 68 a few miles off, then colder again on the next turn and that one detail changes everything. We’re in that messy spring-to-summer window where anglers either adapt fast or spend a lot of time wondering why yesterday’s “pattern” died overnight.  I’m joined by Captain Brian Williams of Badfish Charters (Ocean City, New Jersey) to break down what...

Send us Fan Mail The bite doesn’t “die” when the seasons change. Your old pattern does. Rich Natoli sits down with Captain Benji Bar to talk through the late spring to early summer saltwater fishing transition in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, with practical, on-the-water guidance you can apply right away. We dig into the biggest driver first: water temperature. Not air temp, not the date, not wh...

Send us Fan Mail Sheepshead are one of the most addictive fish we chase in the mid-Atlantic, and they also humble more good anglers than almost anything else. So we keep it simple and useful here: real-world sheepshead fishing tips that help you catch more fish around docks, bridge pilings, bulkheads, and back bay structure without turning it into a graduate course.  Paul, owner of Great Bay Outfi...

Send us Fan Mail Fluke season opens and we do what every obsessed angler does: we go anyway, even when the forecast is wrong, the wind refuses to cooperate, and the back bay bite feels like it shuts off mid-drift. This archived kickoff show from 2022 is a time capsule that still holds up, because the fundamentals of early-season summer flounder don’t change. We’re talking water temperature swings...

Send us Fan Mail For full video of this episode go here: https://youtube.com/live/eV-SsAOmixE?feature=share If you’ve ever stared at a chart, found a “nice looking” deep hole, and still got skunked for backwater fluke, this one is for you. I’m breaking down the exact process I use to find high-percentage fluke water before I ever launch, without handing out someone else’s secret spot. The big idea...

Send us Fan Mail If you’re chasing early season fluke and wondering why your “great spot” feels dead, the problem might be simpler than you think: you’re fishing the right area, but not the right spot. We break down a field-tested backwater fluke fishing approach built for spring conditions when water temperature swings, wind shifts, and tides can turn a bite on or off fast. From kayak fluke fishi...

Send us Fan Mail Striped bass aren’t magic, and they aren’t just “there or not there.” We’re bringing back a favorite throwback conversation with Chris Matuson to lay out a practical, boots-on-the-ground playbook for sod bank fishing and surf fishing that actually translates into more hookups from shore. If you’ve ever stood on a beach or a bank for hours wondering why nothing happens, this is the...

Send us Fan Mail Fluke season is rolling in, and we can feel that annual shift from “waiting it out” to “get me on the water.” I’m Rich Natoli, and Captain John Halkius joins me for a fast, practical talk on early-season fluke fishing that’s built around what anglers actually deal with: cold water, inconsistent bait, and a fishery that can look totally different depending on where you launch. We d...

Send us Fan Mail The fastest way to waste a spring black drum trip is to fish them like fluke: drift around, bounce spots, and hope they find you. I’m going the opposite direction and laying out a patient, repeatable approach for black drum fishing that works from a boat, a kayak, or the surf, especially across the Mid-Atlantic from New Jersey and Delaware up through New York and beyond.  We start...

Send us Fan Mail The internet can argue about anything, so when an AI-generated thumbnail put the wrong “flounder” in a guest’s hands, we got a front-row lesson in how messy AI can be with fishing details. We laugh about it, but we also use it as a springboard into something way more useful: a real, practical approach to winter flounder fishing that actually works in New Jersey backwaters. We brea...

Send us Fan Mail Raw sewage doesn’t stay “local.” When a major sewer line breaks on the Potomac River, the consequences travel downstream into the Chesapeake Bay, into the places we fish, crab, and launch our kayaks. We wanted a plain-spoken, real-world breakdown of what happened, why it took so long to address, and how something as unbelievable as using the C&O Canal as part of the workaround...

Send us Fan Mail The spring perch run is lighting up tidal rivers across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, and we’re diving deep into how to find the school fast, pick the right depth, and stack fish on light gear. White perch aren’t a fallback—they’re a high-action, high-reward target with simple rigs, small baits, and a surprisingly technical bite pattern once you understand current and structure....

Send us Fan Mail A tiny rise in water temperature can flip the striper switch, and we’re putting you right where those micro-warms and ambush lanes collide. Spring season just opened in New Jersey, so we pull together 15 field-tested tactics from our guests and our own time on the flats to help you find fish fast and waste less time guessing. We start with heat: why dark mud warms faster than sand...

Send us Fan Mail Cold water doesn’t mean quiet water. We open the lines for a live, no-frills breakdown of early-season tactics that actually catch in back bays and coastal inlets, from snap-jigging for March stripers to building fluke bucktails that look right where it counts—viewed from below. I share the exact lure sizes, colors, and retrieves that keep bites coming when temps are stubborn, plu...

Send us Fan Mail Most anglers wait for the “right time” to chase a dream trip—and then life moves the goalposts. We decided to flip that script, tracing a real path from a cold New Jersey winter to a seaplane touching down on a tea-colored Amazon tributary where peacock bass punch topwater baits like sledgehammers. This is a step-by-step, no-mystique breakdown of how to plan, book, and fish a buck...

Send us Fan Mail Winter slammed the Mid-Atlantic, but we’re not wasting it. We trade the skunk for strategy with a practical guide to thriving off the water: how to rebuild reels the right way, why baitfeeder spinning reels shine for tog and sheepshead drops, and how to use YouTube without drowning in highlight reels. We chase the channels that actually teach, share a few lesser-known creators wor...

Send us Fan Mail Winter shut down the ramps, so we opened the map. We brought on traveling angler and musician Justin Lerner to chart a course from Florida inlets to Northeast canyons, with a hard left into South America where Golden Dorado blow up topwater like it owes them money. Justin grew up in New Jersey, lives on Florida’s east coast, and treats tactics like a universal language: fish the e...

Send us Fan Mail A bucktail can be the most forgiving lure in your box—or the most finely tuned instrument—depending on how you build and fish it. We sat down with Ed of Captain Hank’s Tackle to break Bucktails 101 into practical choices that catch more fish: the right head for your water, the right hook for your bite, and the right hair for your target. We start with head shapes and what they act...

Send us Fan Mail The mics may be scratchy and the coughs unavoidable, but the mission couldn’t be clearer: turn a growing fishing show into a real-world family. We kick off 2026 with an honest 2025 recap, a salute to the Osprey party boat trip that brought chat names to life, and a peek at the download surge that pushed the pod into the top 25% across 64 countries. Numbers aside, the heartbeat is...

Send us Fan Mail Cold winds, canceled boats, and cabin fever don’t have to end your season. We head upstream to chase winter trout in clear, moving water and break down a simple, reliable playbook: ultralight gear, two confidence lures, and the patience to fish slow and low. With Chris Matusin joining Rich, we dig into what holdover trout actually do when temperatures drop and why the best water i...

Send us Fan Mail The best fishing conversations start with a simple truth: the right presentation beats the biggest hype. We sit down with Stefanos, the mind behind Sport Fishing Outlet, to unpack what actually works—from cold-river walleye to night-striper missions and land-based fluke that rival boat limits. If you’ve ever wondered why your wrist is moving but your lure isn’t, or how a tiny weig...

Send us Fan Mail A sold-out party boat, a weird current, and a deck full of strangers who felt like old friends—this Osprey trip had a little bit of everything. We kick off with a starfish cameo and an early keeper that set the tone, then watch the day shift into a thoughtful grind as wind and swing made structure feel like a moving target. Between moves, we trade stories, compare notes, and soak...

Send us Fan Mail Cold water shrinks the feeding window, but it doesn’t close the door. We break down how to keep catching when the temps drop—reading birds and bait from the sand, shifting targets when the tog bite dies, and picking kayak hulls that actually match your water and body. George shares a cautionary tale about leaving a premium surf setup on the beach and the routine that got it back,...

Send us Fan Mail Boats piled on a blitz, motors roaring, and someone floors it straight through the bunker. We’ve all watched the bite die in seconds. This week, we break down the most common saltwater mistakes and share the simple, high-impact fixes that turn chaos into confident results. Rich is joined by Scotty Sevins to dig into smart stealth around bait, how to plan by tide and wind, and why...