Capt. Scott Moore is a longtime fishing guide out of Anna Maria, Florida, with decades on the water around Anna Maria Island. In this episode he joins me to talk about living through roughly four feet of water over the island during the hurricane, with several feet flooding his own home, and the recovery that followed. We get into the community response that carried the island, the unique geography of the place, and what a lifetime of guiding Florida's Gulf Coast has taught him.
Scott Moore is a longtime fishing guide and boat captain based in Anna Maria, Florida. He has spent decades on the water around Anna Maria Island, building a career as a guide and becoming a recognized voice for conservation on Florida's Gulf Coast.
Scott describes roughly four feet of water covering the seven-mile island during the hurricane, with several feet of water flooding his own home and forcing a complete renovation. He explains the scale of the damage across the island.
Scott explains that Anna Maria Island is made up of three separate municipalities, Bradenton Beach, Holmes Beach, and the city of Anna Maria, each with its own local government despite sharing the same narrow barrier island on Florida's Gulf Coast.
Scott describes the community response as unbelievable, with a community center in the city of Anna Maria becoming a hub for recovery as neighbors came together to help one another rebuild. He frames it as the true character of the island showing through.
I share my own experience going through Hurricane Wilma in Key West, where my home took on several feet of water. That gave me an immediate understanding of what Scott was facing, and the reality that once water gets that high, you are doing a full renovation regardless of the exact depth.
Talking with Scott brought back my own hurricane recovery after Wilma hit Key West. When he described that water covering Anna Maria Island, I knew exactly what he was dealing with, not just the destruction but the emotional toll of watching your home and community take that kind of hit. Scott has also spent a lifetime on this coast, and I wanted to hear both the hard story and the hard-won wisdom.
Scott did not sugarcoat what the island went through. He described the water, the gutted home, and the long grind of rebuilding. I have lived a version of this myself, and hearing him talk about it reminded me how little the exact number of feet matters once the water is in your house. Hear him describe it in the episode.
When I asked Scott whether the storm brought out the best in people, his answer was simply, unbelievable. He described a community center becoming the heart of the recovery and neighbors showing up for each other. There is something about coastal fishing communities that creates that bond. Listen to that part.
Scott has guided Florida's Gulf Coast for a long time, through cycles of fisheries and fights over water and access. The storm is only one chapter. He brought hard-won perspective on what it means to build your whole life around the water. Press play to hear it in his own words.
The day after we talked, what stuck with me was that resilience is not really about rebuilding structures, it is about the human connections that make recovery possible. Scott's description of that community center becoming the hub of the effort is the kind of thing that makes me proud to be part of this fishing community.
If you live on the coast, or you are thinking about it, listen to the whole conversation. You are not just buying property, you are joining something bigger.
The Tom Rowland Podcast brings you long-form conversations with the most accomplished anglers, hunters, conservationists, and outdoor professionals in the game. Listen to every full-length Tom Rowland Podcast interview.
Capt. Scott Moore is a longtime fishing guide and boat captain based in Anna Maria, Florida, with decades of experience on the water around Anna Maria Island. He has built his career serving anglers on Florida's Gulf Coast and has long been a voice for conservation in the region. He lived through the hurricane that put roughly four feet of water over the island and several feet through his own home, and he speaks from deep roots in the Anna Maria community about recovery and resilience.
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