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00:00On this week's World of Saltwater Fishing, we're taking a shallow watermark deep in the Florida Bay, behind Isla Morata
00:06in the fabulous Florida Keys.
00:08I'll be with the backcountry ace, Charles Hertel. Don't miss this episode.
00:25George Bovarumo's World of Saltwater Fishing. Big fish don't stand a chance.
00:39Oh yes, the Papa Joe's experience. Papa Joe's is a historic landmark that was pretty much brought back from the
00:47dead in the grave recently by Charles Hertel.
00:52The place is absolutely a fantastic new landmark, but more on that later. Let's get into the fishing.
00:58I have my shallow watermark down here to fish with proprietor Charles Hertel.
01:03Now Charles has a lot of roots in fishing in backcountry waters around Isla Morata.
01:08He served as a guide for quite some time.
01:10And in July of 2021, I had went full into my focus at Papa Joe's to rebuild it because it
01:16was a dirt lot at the time.
01:17So we rebuilt this entire property from 28 feet down into the bedrock to 48 feet above the ground to
01:25rebuild this whole place.
01:25So my backcountry experience stems from, you know, growing up down here.
01:30I was born and raised down here on the water.
01:32My grandfather was a huge influence with my backcountry experience.
01:36He was a big backcountry fly person.
01:38And he only believed in fly fishing, believed, you know, using bait was cheating.
01:43And he lived right down the street.
01:44And he really got me into it at a young age.
01:52So George and I started the morning out at Papa Joe's Waterfront.
01:55Biggest thing, making sure we had some bait already ready to go.
01:58First thing that's always in my head, I wanted to give George the old backcountry charter experience of what I
02:02used to do
02:03and what got me into being as successful as I was as a fishing guide and what got me to
02:07Papa Joe's.
02:08And I was just bending the rod a lot, having a lot of fun and catching a lot of fish.
02:12Our first stop along the way, it was December.
02:15Florida Bay sees a large migration to Spanish mackerel coming through those waters,
02:21pretty much forging on the shrimp that's back there.
02:24It was a gorgeous, pretty much flat, calm day, which meant where we stopped to try for Spanish mackerel,
02:31the water was absolutely gin clear.
02:34You could see the bottom, which is not the greatest at all for Spanish mackerel.
02:38Nonetheless, we put over a frozen block of chum in the bag, let that chum start dissipating,
02:43trying to bring some fish back up.
02:45We had tons and tons of pinfish back there and small mangrove snapper.
02:51So we started to pitch our shrimp, which are tipped on little jigs, back there
02:57and see if we could find a Spanish mackerel.
02:59It wasn't fast fishing for the mackerel by any stretch of the imagination,
03:02but he finally did connect on a beautiful, what we call an axe handle, sized Spanish mackerel.
03:09Now we got ourselves a mackerel.
03:10You want to go around me or how are you going to put it?
03:12Yep, on the wire later.
03:14I knew you had that magic touch.
03:17That's a nice one too.
03:21What, you got 30 on here, 20?
03:2420 braid and it's either, it's a smaller reel, it's 30 floral and it's 40 on a bigger reel.
03:32That was hook well, look at it, nice.
03:34There he is.
03:36The elusive Spanish mackerel for today.
03:39That's a nice one.
03:41Yeah, we're not going to kill him, so we'll treat him.
03:43We'll treat him with respect.
03:50There he is.
03:51I'll get a quick...
03:52That's a nice one.
03:52I've got a picture of you here real quick, hang on.
04:03Alright, we're going to throw him back head first, you good?
04:10You good?
04:12Good one.
04:13Did his own self-release.
04:14That's how I like it.
04:15He was ready to go.
04:15I dare you to do it again.
04:16Let's do it.
04:17The goal was to try to get Mangrove Snapper because back at Papa Joe's waterfront, they
04:22wanted to prepare a Mangrove Snapper dinner for us.
04:24So that was the goal.
04:26So that was one lucky Spanish mackerel.
04:28Got it alongside the boat.
04:29We really didn't want to take it in.
04:31We released it.
04:31Spanish mackerel swam off.
04:33We gave that spot, I don't know, maybe another half hour.
04:36They held a bunch of Mangrove Snappers on it.
04:39And at that point, we just picked up and took off and went to another spot.
04:44George Fovaromo's World of Saltwater Fishing is proudly brought to you by Penn.
04:49Let the battle begin.
04:50Mako.
04:51You'll find them where the fish are.
04:53Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's.
04:55Your adventure starts here.
04:57Mercury.
04:58George, we'll be right back.
05:01There's nothing like a classic Isla Marotta backcountry guide that shifts with the tide
05:05and keeps us into the fish.
05:07I'm with Captain Charles Hertel in the backcountry behind Isla Marotta in the Florida Keys.
05:12So now we are working in conjunction with the tide and we were pitching our live baits
05:18up underneath the mangroves in pursuit of snook.
05:22And I'm watching Charles.
05:24And not only is he getting that pilchard way under the mangroves like you're supposed to do,
05:30but he's landing on top of the mat of grass, much like maybe a bass angler would do when
05:36he's pitching a worm in heavy cover.
05:38The mangroves, for whatever reason, were on fire in this particular day.
05:43And again, I'm not talking about the tiny ones you see most of the time in the backcountry.
05:47I'm talking mangrove snapper, the size that you would see out on the reefs.
05:51Here we were catching big mangrove snapper that were intercepting our baits, which were
05:56intended primarily for snook.
05:58Oh, big snapper.
06:00You can't get away from him, George.
06:03Reeling up the snappers.
06:04Wherever I go.
06:07How's our, is he keepers?
06:09Oh yeah, he's nice.
06:10We'll throw him in the box.
06:11All right.
06:12Big snapper.
06:12What's it going to be?
06:13Probably a snapper.
06:14Nope, big snapper.
06:15All right, we're out of here.
06:16Good size snapper though.
06:17Good size snapper.
06:20I love him, but I'm over him.
06:23Time to find a different species.
06:24It's a nice snapper though.
06:25Beautiful.
06:26Oh, for sure.
06:28Gorgeous.
06:29There he goes with a snap.
06:34I felt him though.
06:36That time he hit it.
06:39They're kite fishing.
06:41You got him out of mangroves.
06:43You got to beat the shark now, right?
06:43Oh yeah.
06:44He took him right out of the trees for me.
06:47There he is.
06:48Nice snook.
06:50All right, let's get him out of the water
06:51before something shows up.
06:52I'll go ahead and flip him in the boat.
06:53We'll get some pictures.
06:55Look at that.
06:55Nice Everglades snook.
06:57Come around.
06:58New species for today.
07:01That's beautiful.
07:10Can't complain on that size though.
07:12I don't think we're catching a bunch of six inches.
07:15I'll take them.
07:18A big snapper.
07:23You know when they try to run you back into mangroves,
07:25you can have me some heavyweight Florida base snapper.
07:31I'll take them.
07:32I like it.
07:33So we took this run.
07:35The tide was pretty much down at this point in time,
07:39a low tide.
07:39With a shallow stretch of water to get across,
07:41we raised the Merc 400 higher on its jack plate
07:44and increased our speed.
07:46This enabled my Mako Apex 24
07:48to rise up and ride higher along the water's surface.
07:52A big part of dialing in my new boat's performance
07:54is the Sea Keeper Ride,
07:56which replaced its standard trim tabs.
07:58The Sea Keeper Ride is a vessel attitude control system,
08:01which counteracts pitch, roll, and yaw of a boat underway
08:05to keep it running arrow straight regardless of crew movement.
08:09In short, the rotary blades within the transom-mounted
08:12Sea Keeper Ride controllers make 100 adjustments every second
08:16to combat wave motions while underway.
08:19Gone are the constant adjustments associated with standard trim tabs.
08:23So the other spot we go to,
08:27again, very tide sensitive.
08:29And he said, we're going to get about maybe,
08:31if we're lucky, 40, 45 minutes or so here.
08:34So he goes, make everything count.
08:36As for Snook, Captain Charles Hertel
08:38dialed in the spot perfectly well.
08:41I didn't even feel that one bite, actually, George.
08:43Out of all finicky, they've been all day.
08:46That was a subtle one.
08:48Will he spit the hook?
08:49Okay.
08:52And we're going to ski him right in.
08:55Oh, and he's off.
08:57Shook the hook.
08:58That's a caught fish, though.
08:59We're just messing with the net at this point.
09:01I could have heaved him right over.
09:03There he comes.
09:04Very nice.
09:11Hey, on the small side, but you know what?
09:13Smoked nonetheless.
09:17Let's cradle you a little bit.
09:19Get a quick release going.
09:23I'm not going to put my hands down there
09:24with the sharks, but you get a little quick glimpse
09:28here for the cameras, a snook, and go in there
09:32and get back for the sharks.
09:34With over 50 shallow basins separated
09:37by mangrove islands and mud banks,
09:39Florida Bay is a critical estuary for the likes
09:41of sea trout, snook, redfish, tarpon,
09:43permit, and even bonefish.
09:45The endangered American crocodile also thrives here.
09:48Florida Bay also serves as a major nesting environment
09:51for wading and shore birds.
09:53The headliners here include herons,
09:55roseate spoonbills, pelicans, flamingos,
09:58ospreys, and bald eagles.
09:59Best bet, bring a pair of binoculars
10:01and enjoy the sights within this wild environment.
10:04And artbypasta.com from catch-to-canvas rendering.
10:08Catch-to-canvas, baby.
10:10George Fovaromo's World of Saltwater Fishing
10:13is proudly brought to you by
10:14Simrad.
10:17Rapala holds the world record for world records.
10:21Suffix, always use the best line.
10:24Starbright Boat Care Products,
10:25blending technology with performance since 1973.
10:29George, we'll be right back.
10:31With a solid first day of fishing behind us,
10:34we set forth on our second morning
10:35with a boatload of enthusiasm.
10:37I'm heading into the island rod of Florida Keys backcountry
10:40with Captain Charles Hertel.
10:41Day two was, let's do something different.
10:44So at that point, I knew it was going to be low, low,
10:47and at that point now,
10:48we're going to go island fishing in the deep channels.
10:50And so we just bounced around from island to island
10:51and the deeper channels that no matter what the tide is,
10:54we could get into.
10:56So I knew it was going to be a real negative low,
10:58and it sure was a very negative low.
11:01It was, there were some times that me and George were running
11:03and it was dry ground on both sides
11:05and the apex is just right in the middle,
11:08just coasting, you know,
11:09very small margin of error to be able to fish that.
11:12And the beauty of being back there,
11:14we had the new Simrad 72-inch saltwater recon trolling motor.
11:18And having the right equipment on the boat
11:20is what leads to your success.
11:22That Simrad trolling motor was one of the best pieces of equipment
11:25that I've used in the last 10 years.
11:27And I've used a lot of different trolling motors
11:28and I fell in love with that Simrad trolling motor.
11:30The unit itself was sleek, sexy, low profile,
11:34super quiet, super light,
11:36and to the controller in my hand,
11:38that was one of the biggest tools
11:40that led to our success in the backcountry
11:42was that a trolling motor,
11:43but in particular that Simrad trolling motor.
11:45A Simrad trolling motor was top-notch.
11:48One of my favorite trolling motors I've used to this day.
11:51And if you thought the mangrove snappers were big on day one,
11:54the true heavyweights came out to play on day two.
11:57That's more of the right species.
11:58There he is. That's a snook.
11:59Okay.
12:00That's a snook.
12:01I'll come here with the net for you.
12:02How about that?
12:04Oh, it's a big snapper.
12:05Whoa.
12:06Jeez.
12:07Holy.
12:07He even broke the surface.
12:08I just saw the surface break.
12:09I'm like, oh, snook.
12:10He'd been hanging out in the mangroves too long.
12:12He thought he was a snook.
12:13He came up with a little head shake.
12:15Now, that's a textbook snapper right there.
12:18This is an offshore reef snapper.
12:20What are you talking about?
12:21Look at the size of that thing.
12:22Oh, let me get it right out of the way.
12:23Look at the size of that thing.
12:26That's freaking awesome.
12:27I've got to get my camera for you.
12:29They're going on national television.
12:30Make sure you smile nice and put those poorly whites out.
12:34All right.
12:35They're looking at 6'3 with a size 13 shoe.
12:38Size 13 shoe.
12:40Gee.
12:42He's probably about 4 pounds when I was chartering.
12:45I used to literally mark him.
12:46Well, you know, 3 pounds.
12:47This is two fish sandwiches.
12:49And you're going to have some fish fall on the plate to nibble up afterwards.
12:52That's a snapper.
12:53It's a good one.
12:54It felt like a snapper bite.
12:55Yep.
12:55It's a snapper.
12:57And another Herculean snapper.
13:00Come on, buddy.
13:01Let's get your head up out of water.
13:03I'd say so.
13:06Size of a snapper is impressive.
13:08I know we have all these other species here.
13:11But to sit and catch snapper like that, I'd just be tunnel vision on him.
13:16Isn't that wild?
13:17Look how big that guy is.
13:20That's a nice size snapper right there.
13:22That's two fish sandwiches.
13:23I know what you're saying.
13:24With a little appetizer on the side.
13:27Nice snug, George.
13:33Get him up on top.
13:35Okay.
13:38Don't pull him out.
13:39Don't pull him out.
13:41Not pulling him out.
13:43There we go.
13:44Nice fish, baby.
13:45Nice fish.
13:46There we go.
13:48Right in the button.
13:49Right in the button.
13:50Didn't expect no less from me.
13:52Oh, that's nice.
13:53Because I did.
13:54That's slot fish.
13:56That's slot fish.
14:30George Poveromo's World of Saltwater Fishing is proudly brought to you by
14:34The Florida Keys and Key West.
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14:55When I was charter fishing, a lot of people wanted to catch fish to eat.
14:58You know, take home.
14:59And the one great thing about Alamrod and Everglades National Park is the abundance of
15:03mangrove snapper and how delicious they are on a plate.
15:06And if there's any species I wouldn't want to be, I wouldn't want to be a snapper.
15:10I mean, every single snapper there is is delicious and mangrove is one of the best.
15:14And it seems like these mangrove snapper were getting bigger and bigger.
15:17Where I'm getting totally impressed, look at the size of those.
15:20In my mind now, the snook and everything else has started to take a back seat.
15:23I said, look what we're doing and how good the snapper bite is for these sizable mangroves.
15:29And we kept at it.
15:30And then all of a sudden, I hook up.
15:32It was a Goliath grouper.
15:34All right.
15:34So we got that and let it go.
15:37Boom.
15:37Charles hooks up to one.
15:39And then I hook up to one.
15:41And now this spot became the Goliath grouper spot.
15:45You know, based off the two bites that, or three bites I got in that hole, and it wasn't a
15:50Goliath, I have high hopes.
15:53But he's fighting like one.
15:55He's coming.
15:56He's coming.
15:59He's coming.
16:00There he is right there.
16:02Goliath.
16:03All right.
16:04Nice Everglades.
16:05Goliath grouper.
16:06Gave me a workout.
16:09Very nice.
16:12It's amazing.
16:13When you make it through that grass, they bite immediately.
16:26Yeah, we did.
16:27We got him out of there.
16:28Almost every cast resulted in hooking a Goliath grouper.
16:32We might have released, I lost count, 10, 11, 12 of them.
16:36It was an action-packed spot.
16:37Slap-Tide gave us the break we needed to relax and enjoy lunch.
16:42Speaking of lunch, Engel's Drybox coolers are ideal for keeping items dry, hot, or cold.
16:48Available in 7.5, 13, 19, and 30-quart models, and in several vibrant colors that are standard on my
16:54boats.
16:55There's even a live-baked cooler version, complete with rechargeable aerator and removable lift net.
17:00It's perfect for keeping live shrimp or crabs easily accessible.
17:04In between bites of my sandwich, I managed to pull out a few sea trout.
17:08How about this?
17:09Another species coming in.
17:12Got our trout.
17:16And he's incoming.
17:21Here we go.
17:24All right, lunch is over.
17:26The sea trout bite ceased.
17:28Time to turn around and head back.
17:31And we got back into Papa Joe's waterfront, washed down, star-brighted the boat.
17:37Charles went to work and cleaning the fish, and we had a little team in place to make sure everything
17:41was all taken care of.
17:42One of the things George and I wanted to do was catch dinner to stand at Papa Joe's waterfront.
17:47They're staying upstairs in the penthouse suites.
17:48And after all, the episode is called the Papa Joe's Experience, right?
17:52I guess, for lack of a better word, secret that they like to keep, although they do let the cat
17:56out of the bag every now and then,
17:57is that even though it's an eating establishment, Papa Joe's has two VIP suites above the restaurant.
18:06The rooms here are totally amazing.
18:11Large, spacious.
18:13They have a balcony.
18:14You could walk out and see the most amazing sunsets and just see everything that's going on around here.
18:21We caught some massive mangrove snappers out there, and we brought them back to Papa Joe's, filleted them up,
18:26and gave them to our head chef, Alan Wilkinson, who did an amazing preparation on them.
18:32So George and I were able to experience a very nice dinner at Papa Joe's with the fish that we
18:37were able to catch on our days of fishing
18:39and sit out at Papa Joe's on the balcony, watch an amazing sunset, drink an ice cold pina colada,
18:44and be served some of the freshest seafood in Island Rada, and that's what we're known for.
18:48We're known for our fresh, fresh seafood, which Papa Joe's has some of the freshest.
18:52We'll be able to catch it with George, you know, those days and bring it back and have Chef Alan
18:56do it up.
18:56It's just truly a, it's a blessing.
18:58We're very blessed.
18:59You know, I mean, what an amazing couple of days to be able to do that.
19:02In addition to Papa Joe's waterfront and just a short drive away is the Isle Armada Art Gallery by Pasta.
19:09Here, the works of renowned marine artist Roberto Pasta Pantaleo are on display,
19:14and you're even likely to find him here, putting his experiences onto Canvas.
19:19Yeah, the bio is on request that pertains to the actual episode.
19:24So when I get the phone call from the boss, George,
19:28hey, Pasta, we need one of these for our new show on this episode of Yellow Eyes.
19:31So when I get those phone calls, it's, they put me to work and I have to go do the
19:35little research.
19:37And if I'm too far behind, man, I got to work late.
19:41The Papa Joe's waterfront experience was exactly that,
19:45an experience in a most sensational way fishing-wise.
19:47I just want to thank everybody for everyone that's, you know, been a part, you know,
19:51being able to meet George and have George come down and fish for me.
19:54And the people that believed in me from the beginning, from my business partners and my family
19:58to people like George coming in and believing in me and then taking me fishing,
20:02spending a couple of days on the boat with them.
20:03I really can't thank everybody enough for the people I've met along the way.
20:08And we had incredible action, a lot of fun in the most scenic backcountry.
20:13So without a doubt, another fantastic episode from Isla Ramada in the fabulous Florida Keys.
20:19If you're a fan of our show, keep up with our adventures by following us on social media.
20:23I'm on Instagram at George Poveromo.
20:26And on Facebook, go to facebook.com forward slash George dot Poveromo.
20:31You can also watch your episodes at any time on YouTube at George Poveromo TV.
20:36We'll see you on the water.
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