Shyanne Orvis: From Foster Homes to Fly Fishing Guide
Shyanne Orvis is a professional fly fishing guide based in Carbondale, Colorado, who grew up in foster care in North Carolina, moving through five homes from age four until she aged out at eighteen. This conversation traces her path from that instability to guiding the Roaring Fork, Frying Pan, and Colorado Rivers, including the boarding school that changed everything and the nonprofit that introduced her to fly fishing.
Capt. Brandon Simmons: Deep Drop Fishing Like a Pro
Captain Brandon Simmons runs the Into The Blue at Hawks Cay Resort in the Florida Keys and specializes in deep drop fishing for snowy grouper, tilefish, queen snapper, and barrelfish. In this conversation he reveals the rig setup he uses for multi-species deep dropping, how to read bottom composition through your rod tip, and how scrolling back through your sounder history can unlock new spots.
Capt. Justin Napior: Guiding the 10,000 Islands
Captain Justin Napior is a fishing guide based in the Naples, Marco Island, and 10,000 Islands area of Southwest Florida, specializing in snook and tarpon on artificial lures. After moving from North Carolina's Outer Banks at 19, he spent a decade learning the backcountry under legendary guide Charlie Chestnut. This conversation covers his path to guiding, why he favors artificial lures, and how the fishery has changed.
Capt. Brandon Simmons: 76 Sailfish in One Day, Keys Record Breakdown
Captain Brandon Simmons runs the Into The Blue boat at Hawks Cay Resort and set the unofficial Florida Keys record with 76 sailfish releases in a single day during a February migration. In this conversation he breaks down the conditions, the side-angle casting approach, the simple 30-pound fluorocarbon circle-hook rig, and the belly-hook bait trick that made the difference.
Tom Anderson: Columbia River Gorge Fishing, Windsurfing & Building Burnewiin
Tom Anderson is the owner of Burnewiin, an outdoor apparel company based in the Columbia River Gorge. A lifelong outdoor enthusiast who moved to the Gorge in the mid-1990s for the windsurfing and stayed for the fishing, mountain biking, and skiing, Anderson founded Burnewiin in 2015. This conversation covers what makes the Gorge a natural wind tunnel, the year-round salmon and steelhead fishery, and how a gear problem became a brand.
Capt. Scott Brown: How to Pick the Right Guide for Kids Fishing
Captain Scott Brown is a Florida Keys fishing guide who specializes in family-friendly charters and runs Hooked on Family, a platform helping parents create fishing experiences with their kids. In this conversation he covers how to vet a guide for a kids' trip, the tackle setups that actually work for young anglers, and why a kid will go berserk over a puffer fish but ignore a bonefish.
Capt. Greg Dini: From Minor League Baseball to Full-Time Fishing Guide
Captain Greg Dini is the founder of Flywater Expeditions, a New Orleans-based guide service. A former minor league baseball player who attended the University of Miami and Tulane, Greg now guides full-time for redfish in Louisiana and tarpon in the Florida Keys and Apalachicola. This conversation covers his transition from pro sports to professional guiding and what it really takes to build a guide business.
Brian Butts: Marking Fly Lines Without Stickers
Brian Butts runs 239 Flies, a Southwest Florida fly shop that keeps multiple demo reels rigged with different lines. In this short, practical conversation he shares the permanent-marker system he uses to identify fly line weights without stickers or glue, using thick marks for five and thin marks for one to create a visual code that survives season after season.
Brady Trautman: 10 Years Sailing 83,000 Nautical Miles
Brady Trautman is the co-creator of SV Delos, one of the most popular sailing channels in the world. He and his brother Brian turned a Craigslist project boat into a decade-long, 83,000-nautical-mile journey across six continents, funded by a YouTube channel that grew past 600,000 subscribers. This conversation covers how it started, rounding Cape Horn, and how the videos became the engine that kept them sailing.
Capt. Brandon Simmons: Dolphin Fishing 101 for Beginners
Captain Brandon Simmons runs the End of the Blue charter out of Hawks Cay Resort in the Florida Keys. In this beginner-friendly conversation he breaks dolphin fishing down to the basics: the three visual cues that lead to fish, the simple 7/0 ballyhoo setup, and the happy-fish technique that keeps a school around the boat.
Chriss Smith: Navy SEAL Mental Toughness and the Trident Mindset
Chriss Smith is a Navy SEAL who teaches mental toughness through what he calls the Trident Mindset. He joins Tom Rowland to talk about the discipline and resilience built in the SEAL teams, how to develop genuine mental toughness, and how those principles carry over into everyday life.
Nick Davis: Fly Fishing, Tying Flies, and Building a Community on the Water
Nick Davis is a fly angler and community builder passionate about fly fishing, tying flies, and getting more people on the water. He joins Tom Rowland to talk about his love of fly fishing, the craft of tying, and the work he does to make the sport more welcoming and accessible.
Sergeant Major Jamey Caldwell
Michael Medrano is the author of Stilt Houses of Texas and an architect by trade who has documented hundreds of fishing camps scattered across the Texas bays from Galveston down to Port Isabel.
Brad McLeod (Former Navy SEAL): Improve 1% Daily, Gratitude, and Warrior Culture
Brad McLeod is a former Navy SEAL, Kokoro instructor, and founder of SealGrinderPT, a training resource for everyone from first-time five-kilometer runners to people preparing for GoRuck selection or SEALFIT Kokoro. In this episode he joins me to talk about building warrior culture into everyday life, the power of improving just one percent a day, how gratitude works as a real performance tool, and the mindset that separates those who finish elite training from those who quit. I first connected with Brad around 2012 or 2013 while preparing for Kokoro myself.
Bethany Bradsher: Inside the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament's Million-Dollar Drama
Bethany Bradsher is an author and ghostwriter who wrote a book about the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament in Morehead City, North Carolina. She joins Tom Rowland to break down the tournament's million-dollar drama, the strategy behind choosing lay days, the Fabulous Fisherman prize, and why this one fish on the dock captivates a whole town.
Chris "Tatted Strength" Luera: From Prison to a Three-Time World Champion
Chris "Tatted Strength" Luera went down a dark road as a kid — gangs, drugs, and three adult prison terms between the ages of 12 and 24 — then completely turned his life around and became a three-time world champion in calisthenics at the Battle of the Bars. In this episode he tells me his full story: the biological mother who adopted him at 56 and never stopped telling him he could change, the prison riot that became a turning point, the humbling first steps back into normal life, and how the bars gave him a new identity and a platform to inspire others.
Jimmy Houston: 43 Years of Television and a Life in Fishing
Jimmy Houston is a bass fishing legend and television icon who has hosted his own fishing show for more than 43 years. He joins Tom Rowland to look back on a remarkable career, what it took to build and sustain a fishing show for over four decades, and the lessons of a lifetime spent on the water.
Ross Enamait: Simplicity in Training With Infinite Intensity
Ross Enamait is a professional boxing coach and the author of Never Gymless and Infinite Intensity — in my opinion two of the best books on physical training ever written. In this episode he joins me to talk about his old-school, simple, brutally effective approach to conditioning, how growing up in bare-bones gyms shaped his philosophy, why most people overcomplicate training, his transition from fighter to world-class coach after repeated hand injuries, and how to build serious work capacity anywhere with little or no equipment.
Capt. Mike Puller & Dr. Patrick Rice | Shark Repellent Technology & More | Tom Rowland Podcast Ep. 302
Dr. Patrick Rice is a shark researcher who has spent years studying sharks and shark repellent technology, and Capt. Mike Puller is a second-generation Miami charter captain who runs the Wire to Water kids fishing camp. In this conversation they join Tom to talk shark repellent science, its surprising WWII origins, kids fishing, and infectious disease.
Cameron Kirkconnell - 18x Spearfishing World Records & 90 Countries
Cameron Kirkconnell, an 18-time spearfishing world record holder who has visited 90 countries, joins me for a live Q&A about a life spent entirely on the water, from the Merchant Marine Academy to guiding clients to 30 world records around the globe.
Tony Young: Managing the Lionfish Invasion in the Florida Keys
Captain Tony Young of Forever Young Charters in Islamorada specializes in spearfishing and lionfish removal. He joins Tom Rowland to explain how lionfish went from aquarium pets to a reef-wrecking invasive species, why they have no natural predators in Florida, how many he removes on a single dive, and why consistent removal is making a measurable difference.
Gena Laielli: 5,332 Burpees for Omphalocele and a Guinness World Record
Gena Laielli set a Guinness World Record by completing 5,332 burpees in 12 hours to raise awareness for omphalocele, a rare birth defect. She joins Tom Rowland to talk about the cause behind the record, the grueling effort it took, and the mindset that carried her through thousands of burpees.
Lou and Mike from Hooked In New England: The Future of Striped Bass
Lou and Mike, hosts of the Hooked In New England podcast, are leading voices in striped bass conservation and fishing strategy in Southern Maine. They join Tom Rowland to discuss the reality facing striped bass populations along the Eastern seaboard, why bluefish runs have changed in New England, and the steps recreational anglers can take right now to help preserve the fishery.
Burton Young | Barracuda Tackle & Everything About Cast Nets | Tom Rowland Podcast Ep. 288
Burton Young is the founder of Barracuda Tackle, a company known for its high-quality cast nets. In this Instagram Live conversation with audience questions, Burton breaks down how to throw a cast net the easy way using the triple load, tells the origin story of Barracuda Tackle, and explains how the company stepped up to help fishing guides during the COVID lockdown.