Ryan Nitz is a hunting, fishing, and outdoor film guide known for his giant snook catches and his Instagram and YouTube outdoor content under the handle HuntFishPhoto. After four and a half years working in pest control, Ryan was offered a job with Florida Outdoor Experience as a turkey guide, and because turkey season only runs about six weeks, he later enrolled in Sea School to earn his U.S. Coast Guard Captain's License so he could guide the rest of the year.
Ryan worked in pest control for four and a half years before Florida Outdoor Experience offered him a job as a turkey guide. Because turkey season only runs about six weeks a year, he later enrolled in Sea School to earn his U.S. Coast Guard Captain's License so he could guide on the water for the rest of the year.
Tom was introduced to Ryan through their mutual friend David McLeaf about two years before this episode. Soon after, the entire Saltwater Experience crew traveled to film with Ryan for the oversized snook he catches, and the resulting episode became one of the most popular Saltwater Experience episodes ever made.
Ryan's main hobby is making outdoor videos for Instagram and YouTube, and he spends time learning video editing and Photoshop to improve his content under the channel name HuntFishPhoto.
Ryan was planning a trip to the Guadalupe River in Texas and a November trip to Alaska to film blacktail deer hunting footage.
Ryan is on Instagram at @ryannitz and YouTube as HuntFishPhoto. Jake Latendresse, who films with Ryan, is on Instagram as outdoor_cameraman, jake_latendresse, and latendressemediacollective, with a YouTube channel under Latendresse Media Collective. David McLeaf, who introduced Ryan and Tom, is on Instagram as davidmcleafphoto.
David McLeaf introduced me to Ryan about two years before this conversation, and not long after that our whole Saltwater Experience crew was on a plane to film with him for the giant snook he was catching. That episode turned into one of the most popular things we have ever put out, and the emails about Ryan Nitz never really stopped coming in. Fans loved the story of a young guy chasing his passion, so I wanted to catch up with him directly on the podcast and let him tell more of it in his own words.
Ryan spent four and a half years in pest control before Florida Outdoor Experience offered him a shot at guiding turkey hunters. Turkey season is short, only about six weeks, so rather than sit idle the rest of the year he enrolled in Sea School to earn his U.S. Coast Guard Captain's License. That is the kind of practical, keep-moving decision-making I wanted to hear more about, and Ryan walks through the whole path in the episode.
Ryan's real hobby outside of guiding is learning to edit video and work in Photoshop so his Instagram and YouTube content keeps improving. He had a Texas trip on the Guadalupe River and an Alaska blacktail hunt on the calendar when we talked. Hearing how a guide thinks about building an audience around his own hunts and catches, instead of just booking trips, was worth the conversation on its own.
Ryan Nitz is exactly the kind of guy people ask me about after they see him for the first time, whether it is the giant snook or the outdoor video work. This conversation covers hunting, fishing, and outdoor filmmaking, and I think it is worth hearing him tell it himself.
Ryan Nitz is a hunting and fishing guide and outdoor content creator known online as HuntFishPhoto, with a background as a turkey guide for Florida Outdoor Experience and a U.S. Coast Guard Captain's License earned through Sea School. He is known for landing oversized snook and for building an outdoor film and photography following on Instagram and YouTube.
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