From the Crow’s Nest – by Captain Charlie Phillips –The crow’s nest is the highest point on a vessel and used as a lookout point. As the president of Florida Guides Association (FGA) I plan to be on the lookout for hazards as well as opportunities that affect our organization. This column will be used to communicate my observations to you.
Please feel free to share our newsletter with any of your friends that may also believe in our mission to protect Florida’s fishery resource to the benefit of recreational angling.
For this months From the Crow’s Nest piece, I first want to say, THANK YOU!!!!!
I have been honored to hold the helm of the FGA ship over the past year, and am honored to again carry the title of President of the Florida Guides Association for the next 12 months. I thank you for your vote of confidence, for your trust and support. We have come a long ways in a short amount of time, but we still have a lot of room to grow and improve.
This is your association, it’s something I never forget, and never overlook. The FGA is your collective voice and for many of you (myself included), that’s why we are here. As an individual guide, I have a voice of one person, my membership with the Florida Guides Association, multiplies that voice by every other member involved. That’s a very powerful tool in today’s complicated and political world we often find ourselves in. As we continue to grow the FGA in membership size, it increases our voice many times over. The FGA is made up professional working captains and guides and your reputations carry weight in and of themselves, put it all together in an association such as the FGA, and you have a very powerful presence for the future of our profession.
In 2016 we doubled our membership rolls, we went from around 85 guide members to 200. That’s a powerful accomplishment. It’s motivating to me, as it tells me that we are on the right track, we are doing the things that you, the guide members see as beneficial to your business and to our industry. As we move into the coming year, one of the the big challenge we face is keeping that momentum of growth going. Membership growth provides the opportunity for many different parts of this puzzle. Of course the increased voice and presence in the industry is one key point, but it also provides more opportunity for the FGA to bring on new and better corporate members that can offer our members discounts or programs on the items they are already using. This is the key to the circle, attracting new guide members equals attracting more business partners, which brings more guides and it goes on and on and on. Read More
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Scenic Beauty and Fishy Waters
Crappie anglers like coming to Lake Greenwood because they catch fish in great numbers and they also catch quality size fish. Greenwood is a beautiful clear water lake and a pretty deep lake, especially up around the dam. It is a long narrow lake with a plenty of crappie holding creeks coming into it.
The lake has some flooded timber in spots that make for excellent crappie fishing. Most of the creeks have 20 feet of water with some going as deep as 30 feet. The water is deep enough that you don’t have to worry about hitting the stumps and tearing up your boat. The lake is also known for its man-made cover. Anglers have put out a lot of their own crappie attractors to improve fishing success.
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Billy Williams with two nice Lake Greenwood crappie.
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There are residential docks where anglers can dock shoot, brush piles where they can one pole, and open water where they can spider rig or long line. Yet, with all those various methods available, Lake Greenwood is known as a long lining lake. That reputation probably comes from the fact that most crappie tournaments on Greenwood have been won by teams that long line troll.