Tom Rowland Podcast Episode 845 is my conversation with Captain Jason Stock, a professional fishing guide and conservationist out of Bradenton, Florida, who specializes in nearshore and offshore reef and wreck fishing around Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key. Jason explains how the structures he calls springs are actually ancient sinkholes from a time when Florida extended 40 to 50 miles further into the Gulf, the almost overwhelming concentrations of fish they hold, the science he learned from Mote Marine Laboratory, and the reef-rebuilding conservation work he is invested in.
Captain Jason Stock is a professional fishing guide and conservationist based in Bradenton, Florida, specializing in nearshore and offshore reef and wreck fishing around Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key. He runs a Yellowfin 31 and targets kingfish, amberjack, cobia, goliath grouper, and a wide mix of reef species. He is also actively involved in marine conservation, working with Mote Marine Laboratory and on reef-rebuilding and habitat-restoration efforts.
The springs Jason targets are actually ancient sinkholes from when Florida's coastline extended 40 to 50 miles further into the Gulf, 10,000 to 20,000 years ago. They are not active freshwater springs but underwater caves — geological remnants from a time when that area was dry land. Jason learned this framing from Mote Marine Laboratory, and it changed how he understood these spots.
An almost overwhelming concentration. Jason describes pulling up to a single structure and finding thousands of amberjack alongside barracuda, cobia, African pompano, yellowtail, mangrove, and mutton snapper, sharks, and goliath grouper all stacked together. The density and diversity, he says, is something that has to be seen to be believed.
Jason runs a Yellowfin 31. He previously ran a Yellowfin 26 — the same model I have run for Keys fishing — and upgraded to the 31 to fish further offshore in more comfort, handle bigger loads, and give clients the experience they expect when chasing reef species. His friend Cody Chavez, who guides the Clearwater area, was among those around for the transition.
Jason's relationship with Mote Marine Laboratory gives him the scientific context behind the structures he fishes — including the geological history of the sinkholes — and informs his approach to both fishing and conservation. He pairs traditional on-the-water knowledge with marine research, which is part of what makes him as much a conservationist as a guide.
Jason is actively involved in rebuilding artificial reefs and restoring fish habitat in Florida waters. He is invested in the science and long-term health of these fisheries, not just in knowing where to drop a line, and his reef-rebuilding work is aimed at maintaining productive structure for the future.
Tom Rowland Podcast Episode 845 with Captain Jason Stock is available on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and iHeartRadio. The video version is embedded at the top of this page — press play to watch.
Jason is not just a guide who knows where the fish are — he understands the entire ecosystem and its history. When he started explaining that the spots he fishes are geological formations from when Florida was a completely different landscape, I knew this was going to be a different kind of fishing conversation. Pair that with his reef-rebuilding work and his relationship with Mote Marine Laboratory, and you have someone worth listening to closely. Press play in the YouTube player above to hear it.
Most anglers call them springs, but Jason explains they are ancient sinkholes — underwater caves from 10,000 to 20,000 years ago when sea levels were far lower and this was dry land 40 to 50 miles further out. He learned the framing from Mote Marine Laboratory, and it reframed how he reads the whole area. Watch him describe what you see when you arrive at one in the YouTube player above.
Jason describes a concentration that is hard to believe — thousands of amberjack plus barracuda, cobia, African pompano, multiple snapper species, sharks, and goliath grouper all stacked on one piece of structure. The diversity and density is the kind of thing that has to be seen. Listen to him break down what shows up and why.
I ran a Yellowfin 26 for Keys fishing, so I was interested in Jason's jump to the 31. He explains why his operation outgrew the smaller boat — fishing further offshore, handling bigger loads, giving clients the experience reef fishing demands — and how his friend Cody Chavez out of Clearwater fits into that world. Watch that section in the player above.
This is the part that matters most to me. Jason is invested in the science and the future of these fisheries, working on rebuilding artificial reefs and restoring habitat, and leaning on Mote Marine Laboratory for the research behind it. Too many people just want to know where to drop a line; Jason wants the structure to still be there in fifty years. Listen to him talk through it.
The day after this one, what stuck with me was the depth of what Jason knows — not just spots and species, but the geological and ecological history underneath them. That context is what turns a good guide into a real conservationist.
His reef-rebuilding work is the kind of thing that quietly makes a difference, and I came away more interested in the science under the Gulf than I expected to.
Watch the whole thing in the player above. If you fish the Gulf Coast, you will learn something.
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Captain Jason Stock is a professional fishing guide operating out of Bradenton, Florida, specializing in nearshore and offshore reef and wreck fishing around Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key. He runs a Yellowfin 31 and targets kingfish, amberjack, cobia, goliath grouper, and a diverse mix of reef species on natural and artificial structure. He is actively involved in marine conservation, working with Mote Marine Laboratory on reef-rebuilding and habitat-restoration efforts, and is known for pairing hard-won fishing knowledge with a deep understanding of the geology and ecology of the Gulf Coast fishing grounds.
Full transcript of the Tom Rowland Podcast, Episode 845: Rebuilding Reefs with Captain Jason Stock, with Captain Jason Stock.
Jason Stock: Hey, hey, how's it going? I'm Captain Jason Stock, and I'm on the Tom Rowland Podcast.
Tom Rowland: Jason, what's going on?
Jason Stock: Not much, man. Just kind of windy today. I was actually down at the boat doing a little housekeeping, a little magic eraser tidy-up, and now I'm back at the house chilling for a second, so we'll have some conversation about fish.
Tom Rowland: Yeah, man. So tell me about your fishing, what you go after, and where you are.
Jason Stock: The cool thing is I'm in the Bradenton, Florida area. Anna Maria Island is the pass I generally go out of, or Longboat, but I'm primarily focusing on nearshore and offshore reefs, wrecks, and natural bottom springs. This area has a really diverse variety of species depending on the time of year. Lately we've been having nice kingfish, a lot of bonito, amberjack, cobia, goliath grouper, good big fish to get the clients excited and stoked about the day, plus some meat to take home.
Tom Rowland: Tell me about the springs. What are you doing with those, and how do you use them?
Jason Stock: I'll be fishing them a lot over the next couple of months. I went to a talk at Mote Marine where they explained it, back in the day, something like ten or twenty thousand years ago, Florida was bigger, and it shrunk. What are now springs used to be land, and they're actually sinkholes, basically underwater caves. The amount of fish on these springs is incredible. You pull up and there are thousands of amberjack, barracuda, cobia, African pompano, yellowtail, mangrove snapper, mutton snapper, sharks, goliath grouper. You never really know what you're going to get at those spots.
Tom Rowland: We have some places like that in the Keys that we target too, we call them the Blue Hole and places like that, way out in the Gulf. We don't go out there much because we're mostly inshore guys, but on a nice day we'll take the boat out there.
Jason Stock: Right, that's an old sinkhole, same deal. A scientist at Mote explained that at the very bottom of these things there's not much oxygen. They've sent deep divers down and found dead sawfish on the bottom because it's so far down and so oxygen-poor. It's kind of trippy.
Tom Rowland: It really is. The first time we ever went out there, we had numbers, but you'd look and think there's nothing here, and then you drift over and the depth finder just drops out. On a calm day you can see all the fish on the surface, but the first day we went out, conditions didn't let us see the cobias and everything else floating around.
Jason Stock: I prep my clients before we pull up to those spots, the barracuda are brutal, the big yellowtail and mutton snapper get on them. Last year the African pompano fishing was insane, days where we had doubles, triples, and quads on pompano in the 40-pound class, so good we had to leave fish behind because you're only allowed to keep two. In late May and early June, whale sharks were on the Swan Spring, about 35 miles out. The first day I found eight of them, then two the next day, then two more the day after, they were chilling and feeding aggressively, with cobia riding on them. I had my mate with me, who's an awesome captain back in Hawaii now, and even he was stoked, because in Hawaii the whale sharks just hang out, but these were gorging. I watched something on Nat Geo that said when they feed like that they're eating eggs, and you could see the sheen on the surface, I'd guess they were eating mangrove snapper eggs, since the mangrove snapper spawn in that area in late May and June. There were sailfish, wahoo, cobia, giant mangrove snapper, and red snapper all mixed in with the whale sharks, everybody keyed into the same spawn.
Tom Rowland: That's awesome. I love the mangrove snapper myself.
Jason Stock: They're fun, especially the big ones, you have to downsize your leader and do the free-line chum trick off the back of the boat. That's kind of my specialty; I teach people how to do it. It's a patience game, and guys get impatient, wiggling the rod. I'm always telling them: keep the rod still, keep feeding out line, and when it takes off, flip the bail and set the hook.
Tom Rowland: That's the exact same instruction I give my kids fishing mangrove snapper out of the canal behind the house, you downsize everything, and they won't eat normal bait, so you use a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, push the hook through it good, feed them the crust, drop it in, and wait for the line to take off before closing the bail. Same exact deal. Those canal mangrove snapper are some of the hardest fish to catch, they've got incredible eyesight.
Jason Stock: Giant eyes. When you look at a big mangrove up close you're like, jeez, your eyeball is enormous.
Tom Rowland: They're smart fish. You were talking about the whale sharks eating eggs on the surface, that's the whole reason fish produce millions of eggs. You're hoping a hundred of them actually turn into fish, and in the meantime the sardines and whale sharks are gorging on the rest. That's when you really get into the fishery and realize different species spawn at different times of year, some offshore. It seems like most fish spawn offshore, mullet and snook spawn on the beaches and passes, but tarpon go way offshore, like ninety miles out, and you'll see a giant school of tarpon just cruising, thick as can be, thousands of them.
Jason Stock: It's epic to witness. I've seen a guy on Instagram who threw a bait into a school like that ninety miles offshore and caught a red snapper limit, a sailfish, and hooked a tarpon all in the same trip.
Tom Rowland: That's a pretty good day. Those whale sharks on the surface are a crowd pleaser, if you could do that every time you wouldn't even need fishing rods.
Jason Stock: I've had probably eight or ten whale shark encounters out in the Gulf now, and it's special every time. That relationship with the client matters as much as the fish, one couple I had, both veterinarians, saw eight whale sharks with us in one day, and when we got back to the dock the husband hugged me like I was the best man at his wedding. Those become the epic trips clients remember, not just the fishing, but the memory and the relationship.
Tom Rowland: Right, and it's funny, the thing that sticks with a client isn't always the biggest fish to us. Maybe to them the whale shark or the cobia they caught is the story of a lifetime, even if to us as guides it's just another fish. It's about the experience of that day, not necessarily the trophy.
Tom Rowland: Do you have ways you communicate with clients before a trip to set expectations?
Jason Stock: I always check in with the customer the night before, because everybody's fired up asking what to bring and what we're going to catch. I tell them, let's just look at the weather and make the call, sometimes I'll leave later in the day if it's windy in the morning and calm in the afternoon. Once the routine starts, say a 6:30 or 7 a.m. departure, I've usually got bait as a starter pack, plus my mate throws a big cast net for thread herring or sabiki-caught greenies, and then we figure out what everybody wants to do that day. Sometimes people get fired up wanting a tuna, a wahoo, a sailfish, and a cobia all in one trip, and I'll joke that they're asking Santa Claus for everything. You've got to make it fun without being a jerk about it. Usually the people with no real expectations, who just want a nice day of fishing, end up having the best trips, that's when you get the whale sharks and the hundred cobia around them.
Tom Rowland: It removes the pressure. Some people put so much pressure on a trip that they can't call what's going to happen, but if you just go with it you often end up somewhere better than if you'd fixated on one species.
Jason Stock: Exactly, I think the best thing a client can do is communicate with the captain and let the captain make the call, kind of like captain's choice. I try to be hands-off and let people fish their way; I've noticed some visiting captains try to take over, but I respect how people want to fish.
Jason Stock: I did bluefin tuna fishing up in Prince Edward Island, Canada. Brian Sears was one of the mates up there, he's flying in tomorrow, actually, and he's become an amazing friend. He runs charters out of Boston now, but back then he was a second mate in PEI. My wife and I flew into Portland, Maine, drove up to PEI, and stayed at a little bed and breakfast. I remember waking up around four in the morning to a full moon and thirty-knot wind, thinking this is going to be rough. We got down to the marina and the captain was sizing me up, business mode. I got lucky, landed a 700-pounder on the kite, then a 1,200-pounder, in eight-to-ten-foot seas only three miles out. That was eight or nine years ago, and the fishery up there has changed since. It was one of the coolest experiences of my life, and I've never been more physically exhausted, two back-to-back giants in the chair.
Tom Rowland: What was the biggest thing you'd seen before that trip?
Jason Stock: Big sharks here at home, we've landed hammerheads around fifteen feet, and hooked one that looked like twenty-one feet. But seeing a giant bluefin in person the first time is amazing. My wife was seasick and a little embarrassed, and then she looked over the side at the 1,200-pounder and started crying, it's such a majestic animal. Seeing it in a photo and seeing it in real life are two completely different things; the eyeball, the tail, it looks like a fake creature because it's so giant.
Tom Rowland: I've seen videos where giant tuna come up on chum and don't even ripple the surface. I had a trip planned to that same area once that fell through, and I've never made it back, but those fish are incredible.
Jason Stock: Brian and his brother and dad up there are dialed in, they run a center console and a lobster-style downeast boat. He's a funny guy, used to be heavy OCD and meticulous with his gear, and then he'd come fish with me chasing ten or twelve different species off the same wreck, gear flying everywhere, and I'm just telling him to get it, get it, get it, then regroup and figure out what we're targeting. We might be fishing permit, tuna, cobia, and snapper all on the same reef or wreck at the same time, he was tripping out on how many species we mix together down here, though he'll still complain about amberjack, which is funny coming from a guy who fights giant bluefin.
Tom Rowland: That's a testament to the amberjack, the reef donkey, they're just hard to fight. You catch a couple and you're like, okay, that's enough.
Jason Stock: In the wintertime I'll focus on the really big ones that come in shallow, we've caught them in the 90-to-100-pound range, one I swear was around 130 pounds, with four anglers in only 60 feet of water, and it wore out all four of them. I've got a whole little trick for finding the big dogs shallow this time of year. I'll establish a safe word with clients, I had a group from Green Bay in full Packers gear, and their safe word was “Keys,” and when they finally screamed it out that's when you know it's time to tap out and pass the rod to somebody else, but you make them feel a little bad about giving up first. A few weeks ago I had a lady land a close-to-20-pound black grouper on a flat line while we were fighting amberjack, a random, uncommon catch. There's actually been more mutton snapper and black grouper showing up in this area since Hurricane Ian pushed a lot of fish migration north.
Tom Rowland: That always seems to happen with hurricanes, bad for anything manmade, but it often seems to help things naturally. Everything okay on your end?
Jason Stock: Yeah, sorry, I had a client texting me, but did you hear about the flamingos that migrated up this way?
Tom Rowland: We've seen a lot of flamingos in the Keys this year, more than ever, I posted one on Instagram and people started saying they'd seen them in all kinds of places, even way north.
Jason Stock: I haven't seen any myself, but friends have gotten pictures on the beach. Let me just text back real quick, that's what happens when your charter captain is in high demand.
Tom Rowland: There's no break.
Jason Stock: None. The frustrating thing is some clients feel like they're the only person you're dealing with, and you have to gently pump the brakes and get through the next guy first, day by day. Around the holidays especially, people want an exact time locked in, and I have to tell them we'll figure out the game plan the night before based on weather, just like everybody else. Some people can't handle that uncertainty.
Tom Rowland: Today everybody's used to booking an Uber or Airbnb with a button push and an exact time, but fishing doesn't work that way. How many of your clients are first-timers at this point in your career versus repeat customers?
Jason Stock: Mostly repeat, I've got guys who've fished with me for twenty years. One of my regulars is 92 years old. I used to take him out in a tandem kayak, then a skiff, a Hell's Bay, and now a Hewes. At 92 he just wants to catch a permit, nothing else. He'll be sitting there, the rod goes off, he pops up, fights the fish, and goes right back to telling stories.
Tom Rowland: That's what I want to do, pop out of a beanbag at ninety-two. My dad is 85, and I just took him duck and goose hunting in Saskatchewan; getting into the layout blind was fine, but getting out was a little slower. Still, that's the goal, go hunting, go fishing, catch a permit at 92.
Tom Rowland: You mentioned starting out in a tandem kayak and working up through different boats, how did you get started? Did you begin guiding out of kayaks?
Jason Stock: Yeah, I had my own kayak business called JM Snooky Kayak Charters, my cousin used to call me “JM Snooky” because I'd go fishing before and after work. I grew up in St. Petersburg and worked at my uncle's kayak shop, which he later sold to my cousin; my older brother worked there too, so it was a family business. I'd work the shop from three or four to seven, sell kayaks on commission, then go guide. I left the shop and went full-time as a captain at 21, after getting on a 43 Cabo working out of Key West for a couple of months. But I was guiding out of a kayak right out of high school at eighteen. Back then I also had a wintertime snook spot in St. Pete where you could catch 40-inch snook regularly. Now that I'm a little older, I'm focusing more on what we touched on earlier, the reef project.
Tom Rowland: Tell me about that.
Jason Stock: I've got a nonprofit underway, all legit with 501(c)(3) status, and I'm planning an event on Anna Maria Island on April 21st, food, drinks, a few bands, getting the whole community engaged. The first project we're doing is an artificial reef in memory of a local island guy, kind of a beach-bum character, who had a heart attack and passed away. His partner gave me his ashes and told me she knew I'd know what to do with them, so I started a GoFundMe that's raised a good amount so far, and I'm working with Manatee County on the permitting.
Tom Rowland: So the plan is to place an artificial reef in this guy's honor?
Jason Stock: Correct, it'll be about 22 miles off Anna Maria. We've had it surveyed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. It's a slower process than I'd like, but it's moving. The permitted zone is a quarter-mile by a quarter-mile, about 56 acres, and the certified materials for artificial reef are concrete and steel. There's actually a good documentary, I think on Hulu, about artificial reefs around the world, including some in the Florida Keys, that shows how placing structure where there wasn't any creates habitat and filtration, and gives dive boats a wreck to visit instead of pressuring the natural ledges nearby.
Tom Rowland: Some people push back on adding more structure, though.
Jason Stock: That's an argument I've had before, people say you're just trying to make it easier to catch fish, and I tell them I've already got a million spots; I'd just like a public one where we're not all fighting over the same wreck. Commercial fishermen have a phrase for it, these fish are “tails with no homes,” constantly traveling. If you give them a hub, sometimes they'll even spawn there. I'd guess I fish artificial reefs and wrecks for about 80 percent of my trips now, though I still fish natural bottom for grouper and snapper, especially with bottom fish seasons closed right now, you have to get creative. The benefits outweigh the drawbacks: habitat, economic benefit for charter captains and recreational anglers who can fish a known public spot instead of somebody's secret numbers. People get territorial about spots they've fished for twenty years, but at the end of the day you either share the wreck or you're a jerk about it.
Tom Rowland: Right, and the people who know how to fish a spot together don't make a big deal of it, you read the current, you read what the other boat is doing, and maybe you drift in behind them instead of crowding them.
Jason Stock: Best way to do it is just communicate, ask which side they want you to slide in on. I'm coming in either way, so it's better to ask.
Jason Stock: Nowadays I run a trolling motor anchor, do you guys use those too?
Tom Rowland: For sure.
Jason Stock: I've got the newer Power Pole model and it's been awesome, plenty of torque, I had a heavy bracket a buddy built for it and it actually sheared the bolts off last Sunday. Even my buddy joked they need to make a “Jason Stock” reinforced version because I'll break anything that's not built tough enough.
Tom Rowland: That motor is incredible, quiet, powerful, especially paired with lithium batteries.
Jason Stock: It's a total game changer, especially for time management, you can hit as many spots as you want in a day and keep moving if you're not catching. Trolling motors have been used inshore for a long time, but offshore it's different, in the old days, dropping 200 feet of anchor line meant committing to a spot for at least an hour, running the anchor ball out and back in, a whole operation, especially solo with older clients aboard. Now with a trolling motor, if you're not liking a spot after fifteen minutes, you just move on. For landing big fish on structure, I'll shut the trolling motor off and back off the wreck entirely, almost marlin-style, and fight them out in open sand.
Tom Rowland: Same for us with permit, though we fish shallower wrecks where we can actually see the fish sitting on top. You come up-tide so the permit are facing into the current, ease up from behind, pitch a crab, hook one, kill the trolling motor, and ease away without ever spooking the rest of the school, you can pick them off one at a time all day.
Jason Stock: That's the fun part of the strategy, creeping in on them without them knowing what's up. In springtime we get giant schools on the surface, a hundred or a couple thousand fish tight together, flashing and finning. If a couple of boats come in too hot and spook them, you have to hang back and wait for them to settle and come back up.
Jason Stock: Most of the guys down here run trolling motors now, and it's really changed the tarpon fishery too. Ten years ago fishing Bean Point we'd hook thirty or forty tarpon a day; now a good day is five or six. I think the fish have gotten smarter.
Tom Rowland: Do you attribute that to the trolling motors specifically?
Jason Stock: Partly, in the old days at a spot like Boca Grande Pass you might have forty or fifty boats staggered and anchored. When everybody gets aggressive chasing the same school, the fish keep shifting, and it turns into a game of cat and mouse. A typical morning at the pass in prime time, May, June, the fish come in on the bar or in the pass at sunrise; you get the crab bite first, maybe a double or triple, which takes some pressure off. As the sun comes up and the tide floods, everybody switches to dead bait, chumming with threadfins, and the tarpon get used to it, almost like feeding raccoons. I've heard guys in Key West Harbor were doing something similar for a long time, and it's changed there too. I don't know if the fish feel the trolling motor vibration or what, but even beach-fishing migrating tarpon takes real strategy, watching the corks, staying quiet, staying ready.
Tom Rowland: It's fun, though.
Jason Stock: It is, the strategy is what keeps it interesting and keeps you trying to do it better. I'll check in with a couple of other captains I trust, guys who are dialed in and respectful, not trying to mess anybody up, one might tell me there's a good flow of fish moving north or south, or that they got a bite an hour ago on a certain bait, and that intel helps everybody.
Tom Rowland: That kind of network goes a long way. Even after the trip, comparing notes with another captain about water color or where the bite was, that information is gold. If you're a great fisherman who runs sixty miles into an area with bad water quality, it doesn't matter how good you are; the fish just aren't there, and a little shared information could have saved that run.
Jason Stock: It's also funny messing with each other, a couple of buddies and I will call each other up, hype a spot as incredible just to get the other guy frazzled, then claim bad reception and hang up. You know it's actually good by how hard your friend tries to talk you out of going there.
Tom Rowland: That's exactly it, and if they've watched you leave the marina and head the same direction three days in a row, they're not fooled for long.
Jason Stock: Right, I'll usually come clean with my close friends. But one thing I've learned with social media is that when people ask where I'm catching something, I can't tell them, because I'll want to go back the next day, if thirty people find out, they tell thirty more people. I just tell them to book a trip and figure it out themselves.
Tom Rowland: How do you navigate running a charter business today with social media and websites, when a lot of guides don't bother anymore putting brochures in hotels and restaurants?
Jason Stock: I still do both, brochures and social media. I don't run seminars as much as I used to; those used to be good, but now social media, especially Instagram, is huge. I post pictures and fishing videos constantly and try to have fun with it. When I've got my kids with me I'll include them too, so people see the personal side, not just fishing every single day. I stay in touch with people all over the world, I've got a former mate living in Aruba now who I talk to almost daily; he tells me about wahoo and blue marlin he's lost, sells fish to local restaurants, and dives on the side. He came and stayed with me for about a month during peak tarpon season once, and when I tried to get him to come back the following year, he got held up trying to get a work visa to return to Florida, everything's always more complicated than it needs to be.
Tom Rowland: What's actually involved in creating an artificial reef? A lot of listeners probably don't know.
Jason Stock: The main thing is they won't let you place a reef where there's already natural bottom, you have to get the area surveyed first to prove it's sand with a little rock, not live ledge or coral. This time of year I'm ramping up for the season, putting brochures in restaurants and tackle shops, and spreading merch around, hats and shirts my brother's apparel business makes for me. People feel good when you give them merch, hand somebody a hat, a shirt, and a stack of brochures, and they'll tell everybody.
Jason Stock: I've got two daughters who just turned four and seven. I got them involved selling shirts at a Stone Crab Fest booth recently, helping bag merchandise and raising a little money for the reef project GoFundMe, they were fired up about it. They've got straight blonde hair; my buddy jokes they look like little Targaryen princesses. I'll sometimes get my oldest out of school for lunch, and she feels like a celebrity walking out with the visitor badge.
Tom Rowland: That's the best. I've got a little girl too, plus two boys, and it's funny how different they are. My boys just wanted to kick you and wrestle at that age, and then you have a daughter and she's the sweetest thing in the world, enjoy it, because it goes by fast.
Jason Stock: Funny how you can be hardcore and rough around the edges, and then your little girl says “Daddy, I love you” or asks for something, and you just say, of course. My number one goal now is making sure they're spoiled and happy, showing them my lifestyle and having fun with it.
Tom Rowland: With my boys, once they're on a good bite they won't stop until the sun goes down. My daughter is the opposite, we'll pull up, she'll catch a permit, ask if I brought food, and ask how long we're staying out. We're usually back at the dock by 10:45 and she's had the greatest day ever, and then we go to lunch. It's wonderful.
Tom Rowland: If people want to learn more about the fundraiser and the reef project, how do they get in touch with you?
Jason Stock: Instagram is always the best way to reach me, it's Captain Jason Stock, spelled out, “at Captain Jason Stock.” I've also got my personal phone number and a website for both my charter business and the reef project that I can share.
Tom Rowland: We'll put all of that in the show notes.
Jason Stock: Before we wrap up, one of my favorite recent memories. A husband and wife who fish with me a lot, and have become good friends, brought some friends along, and we got lucky landing an 87.9-pound black grouper. We ran to a spot loaded with big fish, told everybody to be ready, and every drop was producing nice 15-pound red snapper. Then my buddy, who's about six-foot-five, hooked something heavy on a Speedmaster 16 reel spooled on my dad's old graphite Conolon rod. He battled it up, my mate finished it on the leader, and we netted it with a big turtle net I keep aboard, people asked why I'd net a grouper that big, but that's exactly why I carry one. It was emotional for me landing that fish on my dad's old rod, on 60-pound leader and a live threadfin, pure luck of the draw. We already had our snapper limit and more amberjack meat than we needed, so after that we ran in, went to a friend's house, cooked up the catch, and had a little barbecue. I do that for some of my best clients, or bring them to a restaurant to cook their catch and talk about the day. People love tying a meal to the memory of the trip.
Tom Rowland: Ten years from now that guy is going to tell the story about the fish and the barbecue afterward, and all the other fish from that day will be an afterthought, that's what people remember.
Tom Rowland: We're running short on time, so let's do the lightning round, usually I do this at the start with a guest, but we'll try it at the end today. Quick answers.
Tom Rowland: One of your favorite bands?
Jason Stock: Too many, but I'll say Milky Chance.
Tom Rowland: Would you rather have a million dollars now or ten million later?
Jason Stock: Ten million later.
Tom Rowland: Instagram or Twitter?
Jason Stock: Instagram.
Tom Rowland: One thing you're afraid of?
Jason Stock: Being alone.
Tom Rowland: If you could snap your fingers and master one skill right now, what would it be?
Jason Stock: Time.
Tom Rowland: Gamakatsu, Owner, or Mustad?
Jason Stock: Mustad.
Tom Rowland: The Office, Friends, or Parks and Rec?
Jason Stock: Parks and Rec.
Tom Rowland: One piece of technology you rely on heavily besides your phone?
Jason Stock: My GPS.
Tom Rowland: Favorite fish?
Jason Stock: Wahoo.
Tom Rowland: Would you have a reptile as a pet?
Jason Stock: I did, growing up, a snake and some iguanas.
Tom Rowland: Would you rather put a hook through your hand or cut yourself with a fillet knife?
Jason Stock: Cut myself with a fillet knife.
Tom Rowland: Coffee, tea, or energy drink?
Jason Stock: Coffee.
Tom Rowland: Mountains or beaches for vacation?
Jason Stock: Beaches, for sure.
Tom Rowland: Cake or pie?
Jason Stock: Cake.
Tom Rowland: Would you rather have an encounter with a grizzly bear or free dive with sharks?
Jason Stock: Grizzly bear.
Tom Rowland: Spinning rod, conventional, or fly?
Jason Stock: Spinning rod.
Tom Rowland: Winter Olympics or Summer Olympics?
Jason Stock: Winter Olympics.
Tom Rowland: Favorite pro wrestler of all time?
Jason Stock: Hulk Hogan.
Tom Rowland: If you could have a fishing-themed superpower, what would it be?
Jason Stock: Fly like a bird.
Tom Rowland: Sunrise or sunset?
Jason Stock: Sunset.
Tom Rowland: Inshore or offshore?
Jason Stock: Offshore.
Tom Rowland: Pancakes or waffles?
Jason Stock: Waffles.
Tom Rowland: Early bird or night owl?
Jason Stock: Both.
Tom Rowland: Best catch of your career?
Jason Stock: That 93-pound tuna up in PEI.
Tom Rowland: Text or call?
Jason Stock: Text.
Tom Rowland: A movie that makes you laugh?
Jason Stock: The American Pie movies, that old-school stuff.
Tom Rowland: A place you'd like to visit?
Jason Stock: I'm going back to Costa Rica again.
Tom Rowland: Chocolate or vanilla?
Jason Stock: Vanilla.
Tom Rowland: Last question, one piece of advice that's served you well?
Jason Stock: Listen to your customers' feedback.
Tom Rowland: Good advice, that's served you well. You've built a great business and a great reputation, and I've heard a lot about you over the years. It's been great to catch up. We've got to get out on the water and go fishing sometime.
Jason Stock: Anytime, we've got a cool fishery down here, and I could show you a bunch of crazy stuff. We'll have a good time, maybe bring a couple of the boys and a pretty girl along for a fun day.
Tom Rowland: Sounds awesome, between our daughters, we've got at least three pretty girls to choose from. I'd love to bring one along to fish.
Jason Stock: For sure, man.
Tom Rowland: Alright, man, well, thanks for doing this, I appreciate it, and good luck with your event.
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