Fishing Experts in Apopka This Weekend

This weekend’s Old Florida Outdoor Festival is a great catch for fishing fans.

The 5th annual event will feature some of the area’s best fishing guides, a boat display and kids fishing activities as part of three big days of outdoor recreation, country music concerts, barbecue and chili cook-offs and much more.

Fishing seminars scheduled for Saturday and Sunday will provide tips and techniques from several fishing experts.

Titusville’s Capt. Mark Wright has worked in commercial fishing and 20 years as guide around the Indian River Lagoon and connecting waters. He specializes in sight-fishing redfish.

Captain Pat Murphy

Capt. Pat Murphy is well known for his ability to target and track exceptional species of fish in both in-shore and coastal waters of East Central Florida including the Mosquito Lagoon. He is a requested guide for the Oldest City Red Trout - Redbone Celebrity Classic, Casting for Recovery and “Project Healing Waters.”

Capt. Mark A. Benson grew up fishing in Orlando. His love for fishing has taken him around the world – from the Bahamas and the Virgin Islands in the warm Caribbean to the icy snowmelt waters of British Columbia and New Zealand. He has fly-fished remote, high mountain streams in Asia for gobies, and the deep blue waters of Central America for marlin. His passion remains in stalking of tailing redfish and bonefish in Florida’s shallow coastal waters and largemouth bass, deep in freshwater swamps.

Capt. Kyle Kosiba of Merritt Island spent his younger years fishing the Atlantic Ocean. After high school, he earned his captains license and built a career built around the ocean, from working on rocket booster retrieval ships for NASA to marine operations on the oil rigs in the gulf. He runs his own commercial fishing boat and competes in local fishing tournaments.

Sam Heaton (photo left) – a nationally recognized outdoorsman - has guided hunters and fishing enthusiasts for much of his adult life. He specializes in crappie fishing, which he started decades ago on Alabama’s famed Weiss Lake. He now works from south Florida around Lake Okeechobee. He’s been a guide, tournament fisherman, tackle inventor and fishing innovator.

Chris Cameron, from Orlando, is owner and captain of Fired Up Charters in Port Canaveral, which specializes in nearshore, offshore and deep-sea fishing. Tyler Vollmer is captain of Hook ‘Em flats fishing charters, which fishes the Indian River Lagoon, Banana River and Mosquito Lagoon targeting redfish, speckled sea trout, black drum, snook, tarpon and other saltwater fish.

The Anglers for Conservation also will present Hook Kids on Fishing – an educational area where young people learn to fish and receive a free fishing rod and tackle box. Demonstrations will be at noon Saturday and Sunday.

For more information use this link: 2016 Old Florida Outdoor Festival