Tom Rowland Podcast

Jamie Howard is the filmmaker behind Chasing Silver, Running the Coast, Location X, Black Salmon, and Bass The Movie — and yesterday he sat down with me to talk about his new podcast Cameras Off, the Tarpon Diaries series he's launching inside it, and where the show is going next as it expands beyond fishing

Jamie and I have been crossing paths for more than twenty years. He pulled me into Location X back when I was figuring out the film world, and he's still the kind of person who looks at the water like he's seeing it for the first time. That's part of why his films land.

The reason I want you to listen to this one is simple. The article gives you the topics. The audio gives you Jamie — his timing, his hedge, the way he laughed when I told him I thought there was a foot in the frame of his most famous shot. None of that translates to text. Hear it from him.

Follow Cameras Off on Spotify — Season 1 is out, the Tarpon Diaries series drops on Thursdays, and the channel is widening out to include adventure photographers, Red Bull wingsuit flyers, and outdoor stories beyond fishing. Animation is rolling out on Jamie's Instagram as well. Everything is also at howardfilms.com.

Listen to Episode 1011 Now

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Andy Mill · Andy Smith · Paul Dixon · Greg Meyerson · Mark Crocka · Arnaud Matei · Amy Vitale · Kyle Long · Monte Burke

Filmmaker and founder of Howard Films. His fishing documentary catalog includes Rising Tide, Chasing Silver, Location X (and its sequel), Bass The Movie, Running the Coast, and Black Salmon. Former advertising creative director with work for British Airways, Adidas, and others across his New York and Los Angeles years. He now hosts the Cameras Off podcast on Spotify and Apple — an outdoor stories channel that includes the Tarpon Diaries series and is widening beyond fishing into adventure photography, wingsuit flying, and other unexpected outdoor lives.

Follow Cameras Off: on Spotify

Website: howardfilms.com

Find the Tom Rowland Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and iHeartRadio.

Why You Should ListenWhy Running the Coast Took Four YearsThe Aerial Tarpon Shot — What the HD Remaster RevealedWhat Jamie Saw Happen to the Striped Bass FisheryHow Jamie Picks the People He Puts On CameraCameras Off — Jamie's New Podcast and the Tarpon Diaries Series Inside ItThe Yellowstone CoincidenceFrequently Asked QuestionsWho is Jamie Howard?What is the Chasing Silver film?What is Running the Coast?What is the Cameras Off podcast?What is the Tarpon Diaries series?Why is the striped bass fishery declining?Where can I watch this episode?How long is this episode?Key TakeawaysFinal Thoughts From MeSponsorsFree Resource: The Tom Rowland Podcast Knot GuidePeople Mentioned in This EpisodeAbout Jamie Howard

Calder Allen caught a 13-and-a-half-pound bass on fly at night in Lake Austin, dropped out of college to pursue music, and routes his tours around fishing destinations across the country. In this conversation, he shares stories from playing Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and Austin City Limits, why he almost became a fly fishing guide under JT Van Zandt, and the philosophical question that haunts him: what is wild anymore?

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 - Intro: Star brite title sponsor

2:15 - Weather and bass spawn timing in Austin

4:30 - The 13.5-pound bass Calder caught on fly at night

8:45 - Six-pound bass in downtown Austin

12:20 - Fly fishing techniques for big Austin bass

18:30 - Ranch pond fishing in Texas

22:15 - Jerry Jeff Walker private party story

26:40 - Music career since Bonnaroo

32:10 - Touring with Cody Jinks and Red Clay Strays

38:20 - Co-writing with Jack Ingram

45:30 - Almost guiding under JT Van Zandt

52:15 - Nashville vs Austin music scenes

58:40 - Playing Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits

64:20 - Planning tours around fishing destinations

70:15 - 18-show acoustic tour through Spain and Italy

76:30 - American public lands perspective

82:45 - What is wild anymore? Philosophy and conservation

90:20 - Stocked trout vs native fish

96:15 - California steelhead and damming

102:30 - Conservation in Florida Keys

108:45 - Natural cycles vs man-made problems

115:20 - Cold fronts and fish kills

122:30 - Texas coast conservation

128:15 - Captains for Clean Water

134:40 - The wildness question in songwriting

140:20 - Running Steel song lyrics

145:30 - Social media and catch and release culture

150:15 - Upcoming tour dates and new album

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🎸 GUEST:

Calder Allen - Austin-based singer-songwriter

📲 TOM ROWLAND:

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Instagram: @tomrowland

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#CalderAlden #FlyFishing #AustinTexas #TomRowlandPodcast #Conservation #BassFishing #Songwriting

Bouncer Smith is one of the true legends of South Florida fishing — a charter captain, author, conservationist, and storyteller with over six decades on the water. He's written five books, guided thousands of anglers, and pioneered techniques that changed the way we rig lures and release fish. And now, in retirement, he's catching some of the best fish of his life.

In this conversation, we get into Bouncer's recent adventures — from bass fishing in the headwaters to landing two 100-pound tarpon in one afternoon on 80-pound braid in Biscayne Bay. We talk about the five biggest changes in fishing over the last 60 years, from depth finders to forward-facing sonar, from monofilament to braid, from J hooks to circle hooks. We get into his genius circle-hook-in-front-of-the-lure rigging method, solunar tables and how to use them, and Project CSafe — the massive conservation and fishing event happening April 17–26 in Grant, Florida, presented by Star Brite.

Some of the moments I found most meaningful in this conversation were:

Bouncer landing two tarpon over 100 pounds in retirement — and admitting he thought those days were behind him

His breakdown of the five biggest changes in fishing: electronics, GPS, bottom mapping, braid, and modern drags

The circle hook rigging trick that took his tarpon catch rate from 10% to over 90%

His commitment to solunar tables and how he's used moon rise timing to predict bite windows for decades

The power of listening to every angler — because a bass technique might solve a tarpon problem

00:00 Introduction & Project CSafe Overview
03:15 Bouncer's Retirement Fishing Life
06:30 Striped Bass at Lake Lanier & Trophy Trout in Helen, Georgia
11:00 Fishing the Indian River Lagoon — Redfish, Snook & Bass
16:45 Catching Two 100lb Tarpon in Biscayne Bay
21:00 The Five Biggest Changes in Fishing History
28:30 Chemically Sharpened Hooks & Circle Hook Revolution
32:00 Bouncer's Circle Hook Rigging Method — Lures & Live Bait
38:45 Solunar Tables — Predicting When Fish Bite
44:00 Social Media, Conservation & Catch-and-Release Photography
48:30 Project CSafe Details — Tournaments, Clam Restoration, Fish Fry
53:00 Supporting Conservation Organizations
55:30 Final Reflections

🔗 Learn More About Project CSafe – projectcsafe.com

🔗 Connect With Bouncer Smith:
Books available on Amazon — search "Bouncer Smith fishing"

📘 Free Resources:
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🎙️ Tom Rowland Podcast → https://bit.ly/3O4lgn0

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#BouncerSmith #ProjectCSafe #StarBrite #TarponFishing #SaltwaterFishing #FishingLegend #CircleHooks #CatchAndRelease #SolunarTables #IndianRiverLagoon #FishingHistory #TomRowlandPodcast #SaltwaterExperience #ConservationFishing #FloridaFishing #SnookFishing #BiscayneBay #FishingTips #BraidVsMono #ForwardFacingSonar

Nick Cheskey is the host of Saltwater Underground, now in its

sixth season on ESPN2, Discovery Channel, Sportsman's Channel,

and Waypoint TV. He's one of the most versatile anglers in the

country — a guy who grew up fishing, surfing, and ice skating

on frozen Jersey swamps, and who pioneered surf shark fishing

on the Northeast coast before anyone else was even trying.

In this conversation, Nick and I catch up after three years and

cover a lot of ground — from saltwater rivers freezing over in

central Jersey to thresher sharks hunting with their tails to

prehistoric megalodon teeth in freshwater streams. This one goes

everywhere, and I loved every minute of it.

Some of the moments I found most meaningful in this conversation:

- Nick describing the first night he ever tried surf shark fishing

in 1998 — paddling bunker bait out on a surfboard in the dark,

alone, and having a thresher tail come whipping out of the water

right next to him

- How thresher sharks actually hunt — corralling bait with that

massive tail and using it like a weapon, which is unlike anything

else in the ocean

- The species showing up in Jersey waters that have no business

being there — tarpon off Cape Cod, cobia inshore, pompano in

the surf, and Spanish mackerel everywhere

- Nick's obsession with fossil hunting in New Jersey freshwater

streams and finding a Hell Pig tooth that nobody had ever

pulled out of Jersey before — 15 to 30 million years old

- A real conversation about the future of fishing media, social

media's effect on spot burning and content quality, and why

both of us think the pendulum is starting to swing back toward

expertise

00:00 Introduction

01:30 Three Years Since the Last Episode — What Nick's Been Up To

04:00 Ice Fishing Saltwater Rivers in Central Jersey

08:30 Growing Up Ice Fishing and Hockey in Frozen Jersey Swamps

13:00 Saltwater Underground Season 6 — ESPN2, Discovery, Waypoint TV

17:00 Filming Five Episodes in the Florida Keys

21:30 Sheepshead, Redfish, and Species Recolonizing the Northeast

27:00 Tarpon in New Jersey — Cape Cod Catches and the State Record

31:00 Surf Shark Fishing: How Nick Pioneered It in 1998

38:00 Thresher Sharks — How They Hunt and Why That Tail Is Deadly

44:00 The Great White Situation Up and Down the Coast

50:00 Fossil Hunting in Jersey Freshwater Streams

58:00 Finding a Hell Pig Tooth — 15 to 30 Million Years Old

1:04:00 Blood Worms, Sand Worms, and $35 a Dozen

1:09:00 The Saltwater Sportsman Seminar Series with George Poveromo

1:13:00 Social Media, In-Person Events, and the Future of Fishing Media

🔗 Watch Saltwater Underground:

YouTube → Saltwater Underground with Nick Cheskey

🔗 Connect With Nick Cheskey:

Instagram → @NickCheskey

YouTube → Saltwater Underground with Nick Cheskey

📘 Free Resources:

🎁 Saltwater Knot Guide → https://bit.ly/3UnAeIP

🎙️ Tom Rowland Podcast → https://bit.ly/3O4lgn0

📺 Subscribe for More Unfiltered Conversations

→ https://www.youtube.com/saltwaterexperience?sub_confirmation=1

📱 Follow the Show:

Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/saltwater_experience/

TikTok → https://www.tiktok.com/@saltwaterexperience

Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/tvswe

#NickCheskey #SaltwaterUnderground #SurfSharking #TomRowlandPodcast

#SaltwaterExperience #ThresherShark #JerseyFishing #FossilHunting

#SaltwaterFishing #NortheastFishing

Texas outdoorsman Kyle Gemas shares raw lessons from his Alaska mountain hunts—from crawling through claustrophobic alders in the Wrangells to covering 85 miles over 10 days in the Brooks Range for Dall sheep. Kyle breaks down his Leukotape foot care system, how 15+ tarpon tournaments prepared him for backcountry suffering, and why he's pursuing the North American Grand Slam of wild sheep.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Intro: From Arapaima to Mountain Hunting
01:24 - Getting Hardcore Into Mountain Hunting
04:01 - Why Start With Mountain Goats vs Sheep
06:32 - The Seven Day Wrangell Mountains Meat Grinder
08:51 - Flying Into McCarthy, Alaska via Piper Super Cub
11:02 - Water and Food Strategy for Backcountry Hunts
14:52 - Crawling Through Claustrophobic Alders
19:38 - Mental Limitations vs Physical Limitations
22:43 - Guide Ben and Packer Spencer
25:45 - The Goat Float: Glassing From a Raft
27:30 - Northern Lights and a Day Six Ram
32:36 - Mountain Goats: Easy to Find, Hard to Kill
41:18 - 15+ Tarpon Tournaments and Competition Lessons
46:46 - Tripling Training Time for the Dall Sheep Hunt
48:57 - 85 Miles Over 10 Days in the Brooks Range
51:53 - Leukotape Foot Care Strategy
56:59 - Learning From Guide Blake: Barefoot Glassing and Constant Snacking
01:00:26 - The First Few Days Reset My Suck-O-Meter
01:04:34 - Pursuing the North American Grand Slam of Sheep
01:06:05 - Mental Clarity and Leading by Example
01:09:44 - From Mountain Alders to Islamorada Tarpon

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🎧 LISTEN ON
▶️ YouTube: https://bit.ly/44OXmoz
▶️ Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/4bqZip9
▶️ iHeartRadio: https://ihr.fm/3N9j4O9
▶️ Spotify: https://bit.ly/4drkga6

🎯 CONNECT WITH KYLE GEMAS
Kyle Gemas is a Texas-based outdoorsman, fly fisherman, and mountain hunter pursuing the North American Grand Slam of wild sheep.

🎯 CONNECT WITH TOM ROWLAND
🌐 Website: https://www.tomrowlandpodcast.com
📷 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tomrowland
👍 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saltstrong
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/tom_rowland

📩 SUBSCRIBE for weekly episodes on fishing, hunting, and the mindset that connects extreme outdoor pursuits.

#MountainHunting #DallSheep #BackcountryHunting #TarponFishing #AlaskaHunting #BrooksRange #WildSheepFoundation #MountainGoat #FlyFishing #TomRowlandPodcast