Tom Rowland Podcast Episode 832 is my conversation with Capt. John Landry, a fishing guide and clean-water advocate I have known since he was ten years old. We trace his path from a few trips on his dad's boat to guiding in Alaska with zero freshwater experience and then building his own business back in Florida. We also dig into the clean-water fight on both ends of the country — the Pebble Mine battle in Bristol Bay and the 2023 EPA ruling that protected it, the parallel war in Florida where the sugar industry is the biggest obstacle, and how Hurricane Ian's aftermath reshaped the fishery.
▶ Watch on YouTube · 🎧 Listen now
Capt. John Landry is a fishing guide and clean-water advocate who guides in both Florida and Alaska. I have known him since he was ten years old, handing him hooked-up rods off the back of my boat. He went from a handful of trips on his dad's boat to guiding in Alaska with no freshwater experience, then came back to Florida and built his own guiding business. He is also active in the fight to protect waterways on both coasts.
The Pebble Mine's mining permit was denied, and in 2023 the EPA used the Clean Water Act to effectively rule that mining will never happen in Bristol Bay because of the mining waste and environmental damage it would cause. John points to it as proof that public awareness and pressure work — getting people behind the movement and letting them apply pressure is one of the biggest tools in the fight.
He went from a couple of trips a year on his dad's boat to putting bread on the table as a guide — a huge leap. He was given time that first year to learn the river, which he is grateful for, and he leaned on humility, asking questions and being a sponge. He also describes guiding and hunting on Saint Paul Island, including boat and beach launches for sea ducks, and a first day there where he says he has rarely felt more alive or focused.
According to John, the biggest proponent working against Florida's water fight is the sugar industry. He contrasts the effectiveness of the Alaska win with the slower Florida battle, and notes the frustrating pattern that whenever a drought clears the water up, the bulk of public pressure disappears — which makes sustained momentum hard.
Captains for Clean Water is central to the Florida fight, and Tom explains that what drew him in was learning the solutions around Lake Okeechobee have already been voted on — the problem is execution and undoing decades of damage. John and Tom compare the Alaska and Florida efforts and what actually moves policy.
John describes being on the water days after the storm and seeing trash at the waterline on every mangrove island and shoreline — damage he expects to be fishing around for ten to fifteen years. He is candid about the pros and cons: the destruction was real, but the lack of people and pressure on the water afterward also produced some of the best fishing scenarios he had seen since he was a kid.
Tom Rowland Podcast Episode 832 with Capt. John Landry is available on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and iHeartRadio. The video version is embedded at the top of this page — press play to watch.
I have known John since he was a ten-year-old kid I would hand a hooked fish to off the back of the boat. Watching him become a full-time guide on two coasts and a serious clean-water advocate is one of the more rewarding things I have gotten to witness. He has lived the conservation fight in both Bristol Bay and Florida, which gives him a perspective almost nobody has. Press play in the YouTube player above to hear his story.
John is honest about the leap from a few trips on his dad's boat to relying on guiding to put bread on the table. He credits being given time to learn the river his first year, and an attitude of humility — asking questions, listening, being a sponge. He also got to guide and hunt on Saint Paul Island, and he describes that first day there as one of the most alive and focused he has ever felt. Listen to that part in the episode.
This is the conservation win worth understanding. John walks through how the Pebble Mine permit was denied and how the EPA used the Clean Water Act in 2023 to effectively close the door on mining in Bristol Bay. His takeaway is about tactics: awareness plus public pressure is what carried it. Watch that section in the YouTube player above.
▶ Watch the full conversation on YouTube · 🎧 Listen now
John does not pull punches: the sugar industry is the biggest obstacle to Florida's water battle, and momentum collapses every time a drought clears the water and the public stops paying attention. We compare it to the Alaska win and talk about why the Okeechobee solutions — already voted on — still are not fixing the problem. Hear that comparison in the episode.
Days after the storm, John saw trash at the waterline on every mangrove and shoreline, damage he expects to fish around for a decade or more. He is also honest about the strange upside — fewer people on the water afterward created fishing scenarios he had not seen since childhood. Listen to him describe both sides of it.
The day after this one, what stuck with me was the contrast between the two coasts — a clear, hard-won victory in Bristol Bay and a grinding, two-steps-forward fight in Florida where public attention evaporates the moment the water looks clean.
The other thread is John himself. Watching a kid I have known his whole life turn into a thoughtful guide and advocate is the kind of thing that makes this podcast worth doing.
Watch the whole thing in the player above.
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. John Landry is a professional fishing guide and clean-water advocate who works in both Florida and Alaska. He learned to guide from the ground up — moving from limited time on his father's boat to running rivers in Alaska and then building his own guiding business in Florida. He is an active voice in the fight to protect waterways on both coasts, from the successful effort to block the Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay to the ongoing battle for clean water in Florida through organizations like Captains for Clean Water.
Subscribe to get the latest episodes, show notes, and exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox.