Fall Fishing Guide With Captain Adam Valle
By: Mike Camunas
Charter: Reel Therapy Guide Services
Inshore Boats: 3 Actioncraft Coastal Bay 2310, 24’ foot (4-6 capacity)
Offshore Boat: Yellow Fin 40’ long, three engines for 1,000 HP
Experience: 13 years
Location: Gandy boat ramp, Fort DeSoto boat ramp
Inshore fishing tips
Best fish to catch: Snook, trout and red fish
Where to catch:
Snook: mangroves shorelines, especially between 2 and 3 a.m.
Trout: grass flats across Tampa Bay
Red fish: cruise the flats, bigger ones off the beaches and passes and canals, come easier from fly-fishing
Time to catch:
Snook: summer time and into early fall
Trout: late summer through January (can keep all year long)
Red fish: during the very hot days, usually more than 100 days or so in Florida from June to August/September (can keep year-round)
Offshore fishing
Best fish to catch: grouper, kingfish or smoker kings, tuna
Where to catch:
Grouper: all of Tampa Bay
Kingfish: off Bay-area shore lines and artificial reefs systems off Clearwater/St. Pete area
Tuna: far offshore, usually closer to 60 miles out for big tuna
Time to catch:
Grouper: year-round (Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission opens and closes the season during different times of year)
Kingfish: once water hits 72 degrees (can keep all year long)
Tuna: year-round, except during cold months, typically January/February (can keep year-round)
Background: Valle is not your average fisherman. If you’re thinking of Quinn from “Jaws,” think again. Valle wants the experience to be enjoyable, even if a client doesn’t catch a single fish (“Like that would happen anyway,” Valle adds). But if you expect a captain to drive the boat to the middle of the Gulf or Bay without saying a word, then you’re expecting too little from Valle.
Philosophy: “When I go out, I’m really trying to put them on that Gulf Coast Grand Slam. I tell them what I’m seeing, what I’m looking for and what I’m going to do. The hardest part of [fish] guiding is telling them all the things you’ve been doing instinctively your whole life in four hours. You want to go out there and show them a good time, show them what’s amazing about our fishery and then, hopefully, go home with a lot of fish and go home happy.”
Advice to local avid fisherman: “Hire a guide. I know it sounds silly, but the time an Average Joe will take to get a boat, insure it, get the equipment and get the boat out, you’re lucky if you go out two Saturdays a month—probably less if he’s got a wife or family. Even if you do get out, you beat yourself up and sometimes go home frustrated and without fish. It can do away with the fun. Just hire a good guide, and they will teach you so much. They have the time and equipment that can eliminate the frustration—the guide will have you enjoy fishing. Still, you have to put in the time, though. It takes a lot of time, a lot of patience out on the water. It can be successful, [but] it’s all about putting in the time.”
Rates: Trips start at $350
Contact:
22504 Crows Nest Court, Lutz, FL 33549
813.389.0242
