Mill House Podcast

Similar to many of our guests, Capt. Brandon Cyr is not only engaging and kind, he’s a giant of canny fisherman. And what does that exactly mean? Well, it means you know a fish's next move before it does. You know where you have to be 10 miles away with the perfect tide building in an hour. You can only understand these moves after you’ve dedicated your entire life to catching these particular fis...

Richard Black is that man that came a long as a young kid and changed what fishing greatness looked like. At 17, while still in school studying for his degree in marine biology, he had his captains license and was already out-fishing most of the seasoned professionals. His wow factor was real. Richard refined his craft at a blistering speed. His fishing dexterity became legendary; he could fish th...

The greatest permit fisherman could possibly be a man you’ve never heard of. He’s a man that has caught over 260 permit by himself either out of his kayak or wading. Jay Grant never had the funds to hire guides or mentors. He dissected the tides and popular permit flats from Key Largo to the distant flats west of Key West all on his own. He has struggled much of his life with alcohol and drugs and...

Ian Slater is one of the most likable people you’ll ever meet. He grew up with a massive desire to win at whatever he pursued. His busy life eventually filtered down to hockey and fishing. It was an equal balance until his college years when he gave hockey everything, and a few years later a professional career became a reality. While playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs farm team he sustained a ba...

In 1959 when Castro was on the eve of taking over Batista and the future of Cuba was unknown, Florida’s fishing intelligence would soon hit pay dirt. Over the next six decades many of our premier guides, anglers and commercial fishermen were descendants of the mass exodus from that small Island only ninety miles from Key West, including our guest today, Albert Ponzoa. Albert was born later in Miam...

In 1953, Carl Hiaasen was born in Ft Lauderdale, Florida. A period of time when kids could hang out in wooded areas chasing things that kids chase. Many days were spent on bikes with fishing rods, well before the boom of growth. Their fun house would soon be transformed into parking lots and buildings, a solid reason for his irreverent thoughts. He and his best friend, Bob Branham, soon learned ho...

Captain Steve Kilpatrick grew up with a cane pole and a .22… Hunting and fishing has always been his life. I first meet this likable man in the late 80’s when I was fishing the fabled flats of Homosassa. He has always been impressively kind, and when I called to talk to him about the day he and his angler Jim Holland jr. caught the 202.8 pound world record behemoth, he was really excited about hos...

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I am always intrigued by the big blue water world and pelagic species that swim there and perhaps it’s because I am not an avid offshore guy. Sure, I know about the standard tactics, rigging, and the general vicinity on where to fish, but when you speak to someone as in tune as Ray is - the typical fish talk quickly escalates to something much more fascinating. On today’s podcast, Ray conducts a m...

Dr. Lloyd Wruble is a successful, retired oral and facial surgeon by trade, and one of the kindest people you’ll ever meet. He’s a soft spoken man with a passion for fishing, not just fishing, but backcountry, Everglades fishing in South Florida. He has fished the nooks and crannies of the Everglades for decades. It’s a labyrinthine waterway of creeks, black mangroves, bays, cypress trees, pines a...

Bill Bishop grew up the way we wished we all could, in the woods surrounded by nature, with a supporting, loving family. Over the course of his life, Turkeys and Tarpon would became paramount for his adventurous heart. His father had a lease where family and friends hunted deer and gobblers. At a young age it was soon obvious, Bill was born a hunter & gatherer at heart. He learned how to speak to...

Huey Anthony Cregg hit it big in the early 80’s with his band named "Huey Lewis and The News." Many of their songs went large on the Billboard hits, but you can’t get any bigger than the bands #1, Grammy winning song, "The Heart of Rock and Roll!” In 1984, his “Sports” album was a number one seller, a year when Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson and Prince were all over the airwaves and MTV was in...

Few have seen the evolution of tarpon fishing in the famous Boca Grande Pass as Frank Davis. In the early 1960’s, his family moved there and as far back as he can remember his Dad used to take him tarpon fishing. Pass fishing for tarpon began in the late 1880’s and by 1910 Boca Grande was booming. Over the next hundred and thirteen years Presidents, athletes, and movie stars were there to capture...

Benny Blanco is one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet, but under his skin, his blood runs hot. In 2015, his life pivoted becoming a devout conservationists after Florida Bay lost over fifty thousand acres of his favorite fishing grounds. These grass flats were decimated by a large algae bloom cause by poor water quality and lack of fresh water. Joined at the hip with Captains for Clean Water,...

At 74 years young, George Copeland still has the fire in his belly to chase the snook tide late into the night. As a young man of 8, he found a passion that would drive him deep into the fishing abyss. On his bike, similar to Steve Huff, he'd race around Ft. Lauderdale looking for snook and tarpon that would regularly be found in Tarpon Bend, New River, and all the canals in the center of a rapidl...

As a fifteen year old tenderfoot building boats, Ansil Saunders would’ve never believed he’d one day become a national hero. Stemmed from Scotland, his extended family of boat builders would eventually build the most sought after bonefish skiffs on an Island in the Bahamas. Five generations later, Bimini’s Saunders was not only working with local wood to build skiffs, but he too started to guide a...

At 49 years of age, Russell Kleppinger has found himself as one of the all time greats in the tarpon fishing world. He was consistently catching around a thousand tarpon a year before he stopped counting. Last year in 2022, he caught three fish over 200 pounds. (based on measurements) Fishing was all he can remember thinking about. When he was five days old, his Dad ran the family to the Bahamas....

Rick Ruoff's infectious personality could calm the roar of a lion. The first time I met this gregarious man, I knew instantly he was my kind of people. I'd see him every morning at the Lorelei restaurant similar to a seawall egret greeting everyone who passes. He's tall and lanky - always sporting a grin under a herculean mustache. Ego and vanity are foreigners to this man's easy going demeanor. H...

Tom McGuane is a giant among legends across all continents and countries. His boundless heart and endless determination tackled dreams only he could’ve accomplished. Tom’s extraordinary writing is in the record books and for the rest of time he’ll be remember as one of the greats. His literary spectrum includes ten novels, five screen plays, and countless short stories. His work has received a pag...

Tom McGuane is a giant among legends across all continents and countries. His boundless heart and endless determination tackled dreams only he could’ve accomplished. Tom’s extraordinary writing is in the record books and for the rest of time he’ll be remember as one of the greats. His literary spectrum includes ten novels, five screen plays, and countless short stories. His work has received a pag...

Ted Juracsik, the creator of Tibor Reels, has one of the most interesting and inspiring stories I know. As a young Hungarian in Budapest, he was the smartest of his friends. At age 17, he was the youngest Hungarian ever to be awarded Master Papers and went to work in a bicycle factory. Not long after the Hungarian revolution began and was in full swing against the Russians and Soviet Union, Ted es...

Roger Seiders was always building and tinkering with things he thought he could make better. It soon became his motto, “If we can’t find what we want, we make it!” And so he and his two kids did. The father started to build fishing rods but found that the clear coat used to glue the thread cracked when casted. He soon produced his own called “Flex Coat." It worked like a charm and became an instan...

I first met Bob Clouser during a trade show in Somerset, New Jersey close to 15 years ago when I first traveled there with Hardy. The industry is small, everyone knows each other in about 10 minutes. But it's people like Bob that give you that special bonus of going to a show. Many of these guys have been in attendance for decades, they’re the foundation of our sport, and Bob was one of my guys. C...

Jose "Pepe" Lopez is a legendary big bonefish catching giant. He learned his craft from many of the old school, iconic guides such as Harry Snow Jr., Billy Knowles and Timmy Carlile. His family, like many other well know angling families (such as Chico Fernandez’s,) left Cuba in 1959 when Castro became the infamous nightmare he evolved to. Pepe was one year old at the time and ten years later his...

Mike Holliday’s spectrum in the fishing realm has been expansive and varied. He graduated with a degree in Marine Science but his adventurous mind pursued many facets, including time as an ocean lifeguard EMT, an extensive writer authoring six books, editor of two magazines and had bylines for ESPN, and The Miami Herald. He also worked as a marketing visionary for two major companies during their...