Flats Class S20:E8 "Out of Office"

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:11]This week I had the opportunity to spend a little bit of time down in Everglades City with one of our heroes here in the state of Florida, none other than Captain Chris Whitman.

[00:00:25]Well, I haven't launched here, Chris, in so long. I mean, it's probably been 10, 15 years.

[00:00:35]>> Yeah, it hasn't changed much.

[00:00:36]>> No, it sure hasn't. Even the guy inside that takes your money, he's the same guy.

[00:00:40]>> Same guy, >> Kenny. Yeah, nothing's changed.

[00:00:46]>> This is a good place to get lost in. And always good things happen here.

[00:00:50]>> It's the Everglades.

[00:00:51]>> It's the Everglades. I mean, and it's it's what you're out to protect. So, let's go uh let's talk about that story, too, today.

[00:00:58]>> Let's go enjoy it.

[00:00:59]>> Yeah.

[00:01:12]>> Well, this place is huge. Where do you want to start?

[00:01:17]>> That's the never ending question in the Everglades.

[00:01:20]>> Where do you want to start? Endless possibilities.

[00:01:22]>> I know.

[00:01:24]>> Well, let's uh let's run somewhere fairly close while we got low light and see if we can get on some rollers and uh I don't know, see where the day takes us after that.

[00:01:34]>> That's what this place is about.

[00:01:35]Adventure.

[00:01:36]>> That's right.

[00:01:36]>> Let's make it happen.

[00:01:44]The real attraction to going down to Everglades City is just the vastness of Everglades National Park. And we were running around checking out certain zones. Gris had just been down there like less than 2 weeks before. Water temperature was closer to 80°.

[00:02:04]Tarpon were everywhere. And then lo and behold, a late season April front comes in, drops the water temperature down to 75°, and the tarpon fishing all of a sudden becomes very challenging. Now, keep in mind, Chris is hardcore tarpon.

[00:02:20]So, if you only get a handful of chances, he's going to want to do that if there's any sun at all. But I talked him into let's let's just check out some of the backcountry places behind Lostman's and see if we can't catch a couple of snook, maybe some red fish.

[00:02:38]There's always something to catch in Everglades National Park.

[00:02:42]>> See, this might be a fish under this stick. Go right at 9:00.

[00:02:48]>> Yep. Perfect.

[00:02:50]>> Problem with this place is everything looks pretty juicy and it all looks good.

[00:02:57]Yeah, it's one of those thing about the Everglades. Everywhere looks good and everywhere probably is good at some point.

[00:03:07]It's just uh it's like they all have little windows.

[00:03:13]Take you multiple lifetimes to figure it all out.

[00:03:20]That's part of what makes it so cool.

[00:03:25]There we go.

[00:03:29]Nice >> under the tree.

[00:03:31]>> Red fish.

[00:03:32]>> Yeah.

[00:03:34]>> Nice, bro.

[00:03:38]>> He was up in there, huh?

[00:03:39]>> He was in there. It was like it skipped back in there and I was like I reeled it one turn and I was like, "Damn, I hung it up."

[00:03:46]>> Yeah.

[00:03:46]>> And then it started to move.

[00:03:50]>> It's a good little red.

[00:03:51]>> Yeah. You're not bad. Mm-m. Not bad. A good little >> fish came out and ate it. I thought it was a snook.

[00:03:56]>> Mangrove red >> as opposed to the red mangrove that's here in the park.

[00:04:07]>> All right.

[00:04:08]>> You thought there was a little mullet nugget in there.

[00:04:13]>> Yeah, he was got in trouble if you didn't open your mouth. I was thinking with that bar that it may be sitting off off the point, but he was he was way up in there. Nice.

[00:04:23]>> Not a bad representative of the bush line. You know, this is the size that was smacking the top water around.

[00:04:30]>> Mhm.

[00:04:31]>> But could never really get it.

[00:04:33]>> Exactly.

[00:04:37]>> Woo.

[00:04:38]>> Good job, bro.

[00:04:39]>> Yeah, that's that's the game.

[00:04:45]Seems like every time I'm down this way, it's like that's what you're doing. As soon as the water gets high enough, >> they just tighten to the bank.

[00:04:54]>> Then you got to have a an extraction utensil.

[00:04:58]>> Exactly.

[00:05:18]Chris and I met, you know, because I'm down here so much, and this is prior to Flats Class Television, that's been going on for 20 seasons. That's how long we've known each other. Uh, this goes back to fishing tarpon tournaments in Boca Grand Pass, uh, Flats fishing tournaments at Red Snook Series. Now, I'm going to tell you right now, when I thought about Wild Man on the tour, I always always had to put Chris Whitman in that conversation. Um, but you would never know it today. Now, he's a father.

[00:05:54]He's a respected guy in conservation, super wellspoken. People are begging him to come and speak to groups about what's going on with our water situation. He's just he's an he's turned into an amazing guy. Um, and it's it's fun to watch it all happen for him because uh I would have never guessed 20 plus years ago that he would turn into the personality and and figure that he has meant to clean water and conservation today. It's just it it sometimes I I look back and I was like, "Wow, we all take a different path." the path he's taken worthwhile.

[00:06:40]>> In in the spring of 2016, we were just getting ready to to fire off our tourist season here in South Florida.

[00:06:50]We were already catching tarpon. We were catching our first tarpon on on New Year's Day. And so, all the fishing guides were really excited that this was going to be just an incredible um season for us. And it wasn't but a few weeks later that the Army Corps of Engineers uh was forced to open the locks um to lower Lake Okachchobee. It had been driven up way too high and once those locks were opened and it sent billions of gallons of fresh water into our estuary, it started having devastating effects. you know, we had a a small red tide bloom that was present here, but once once that polluted fresh water made contact um with that red tide bloom, it was like pouring gasoline on a natural forest fire and it just blew up and um it it literally shut down our tourism.

[00:07:41]you know, not only were the fishing guides out of work, but the restaurants were empty, the hotels were empty, and that was really the catalyst um that that resulted in the formation of Captains for Clean Water. It was a group of fishing guides um and citizens that just recognized if we keep going down this path, the Florida that we all love and the reason we live here is going to cease to exist at some point in the near future.

[00:08:26]The main goal we're trying to accomplish with uh captains for clean water is to advance Everglades restoration, stop the damaging discharges from Lake Okachchobee to the east coast and the St. Lucy River to the west coast and Kousah Hatchee River and restore the the flow of clean fresh water back to the Everglades back to Florida Bay where mother nature intended.

[00:08:51]We operate in a couple different ways.

[00:08:54]One is is proactive and that we are constantly advocating for Everglades restoration. are advocating to advance these solutions, build these projects as quickly as possible, get the funding from Washington DC and Tallahassee to those agencies to make sure they have the resources they need to execute Everglaze restoration. That's the the proactive work that we do. The reactive work that we sometimes have to do, unfortunately, is fighting back bad policies or or threats to Everglades restoration. And that's happened a few times in the past. The the way that we fight those is we have a very powerful engaged army of people of fishing guides, of business owners, of everyday citizens that when we light the bat signal, when we say the time is now, we need your voice. We need you to cancel your charters, get in the car, drive for 10 hours, and go to Tallahassee to speak in one of these committees. These guys do it time and time again. They show up in numbers. They make their voices heard. And we have now proven multiple times that their voices are powerful enough to change policy here in Florida.

[00:10:34]It's been 10 years. We celebrated 10 years at this year's Restore. That just blows my mind. and all the things that have been accomplished from the EAA to, you know, protecting the right to free speech, as simple as that sounds, you know, uh 258. I mean, just so many things that could have been disastrous for the state if it weren't for captains.

[00:10:58]>> Yeah, we've seen quite a lot in a in a you know, fairly short time period. 10 years seems like a while, but goes by in a blink of an eye.

[00:11:09]>> Sure does.

[00:11:10]>> And you know, we've seen significant water policy changes.

[00:11:17]Um, you know, the Lake Okachchobee system operating manual, we're seeing >> massive reduction in those damaging discharges to the coast. We're seeing more water flow down here to the Everglades.

[00:11:31]>> And look at this water. It's beautiful.

[00:11:33]>> It's beautiful.

[00:11:34]>> It's gorgeous.

[00:11:36]>> We've uh you know, I think that the the big if you look at the the big picture 10 years ago, we started Everglades Restoration had zero of the 68 projects completed and it was past the halfway point of what what uh you know was anticipated to take. And now in those 10 years, because of so much public pressure, we're seeing Everglades restoration move at lightning speed. We're seeing, you know, billions of dollars invested by the federal government, the state government, and as a result, over 60 of those projects, you know, I was just at a at a a press conference yesterday where the agreement agreement signed between the state and the federal government to expedite the EAA reservoir um from 2031 or 2035 up until 2029.

[00:12:33]>> Wow. So >> almost full six years shorter >> um sooner. And that's the type of uh progress we're seeing happen because of people getting involved and using their voice and that voice creating public pressure and ultimately political will to do the right thing and restore the Everglades.

[00:12:58]Well, it feels good to me to be a part of it. Really does.

[00:13:03]It's very satisfying seeing change being affected finally.

[00:13:18]I'm going to use one of these Pro Bullets and I'm going to just bury the hook in the bait.

[00:13:29]That's the best part about Zman is you can literally bury the hook in the bait >> and still get a good hook set.

[00:13:38]And that way you don't got to worry about playing the let's go in there and get it game.

[00:13:49]>> Hit this bar as we go by. There's a bunch of bait. Oh, there is. Oh, nice.

[00:13:55]>> I just said, you know, you got to You bury that hook in the bait.

[00:14:02]Just said that.

[00:14:06]There we go.

[00:14:18]All right.

[00:14:20]Well, you need to find a big fish to throw a fly to for you.

[00:14:31]I seem to catch the fire out of the fish this size.

[00:14:38]They are beautiful though.

[00:14:42]Pretty >> pretty fish.

[00:14:49]Everglades staple.

[00:14:52]>> This is one of those baits that when people ask you, "What's your favorite lure?" It's hard not to pick this one.

[00:15:01]>> Tried and true.

[00:15:02]>> It's tried and true. It catches fish. It allows you to decide. A lot of people say a paddlet tail, but the thing with a paddlet tail goes in and out of the strike zone so fast, and this one just hangs and lingers.

[00:15:13]>> Well, and you can do a lot with a bait like that. You can bounce it off the bottom real slow, tick it, you can swim it, you can, >> you know, twitch it real fast and get it up on top.

[00:15:23]>> And with TPE, you don't have to skin hook it. You can just put it in the middle of the bait, you still catch the fish.

[00:15:28]>> Totally.

[00:15:29]>> You know, so you can throw it on anything and it just won't get hung up.

[00:15:35]>> Sometimes I'm asked, I'm sure Chris has been asked a million times, do you get tired of of this fight? It just seems like it's such a hard battle to win. And I think the answer that is redundant for everyone that's involved, we would all tell you the same thing. We do not want to see something go away that was so precious to our, you know, how we came up through the ranks. We want it to be there for our kids, for our grandkids.

[00:16:09]We want to h let them have the opportunity to have these same experiences. And without men like the ones I just mentioned, it just won't happen. It It's not going to happen. And for a long long time, uh, no one did anything. And now in the last 10 years, there's been some people step up and they've inspired others to step up. And I think that's where Wittman's real calling came in because we all look up to him. So we all fell in line. We all got behind it. We know that he wasn't going to do something that wasn't the right thing. And here we are 10 years later and we are affecting change. We really are. And the future even brighter. There'll be even more change because now we've got some traction.

[00:17:19]It's deceiving when you're playing the tide game in the park because you can cover so much ground. Now, when I got down there and we were going to run around, I didn't have that many hours on my Hell's Bay Professional, we put literally like 3 hours on the engine running around. And that's because you're playing the tide, you know, height game, if you will. If you run this far south, you get ahead of the tide in this direction. And then just as soon as you start, you know, running out of fish or running out of water. Well, if we run 90 minutes back this way, we'll be at the top of it again and we'll get the benefit of that. I I don't It's almost overwhelming the way you play the game, but I wouldn't change it one bit. It makes it that much more fun, and you get to see that much more of the nation's biggest park.

[00:18:16]Most of them I saw were going up the right side, so I'm going to try to hold you off a little bit. There you go.

[00:18:26]It's a little better fish.

[00:18:29]>> Little backhand cast.

[00:18:32]>> It's a good fish.

[00:18:33]>> That's a really nice nice little fish. And he was just posted up right there.

[00:18:42]>> Right on this hump where it gets to be about 3 in deep.

[00:18:48]back with barely cover.

[00:18:57]When you catch them six feet from the boat, they stay pretty pretty spicy.

[00:19:02]>> Yeah.

[00:19:03]>> Stay pretty spicy.

[00:19:07]>> Yeah. Nice fish.

[00:19:08]>> Nice fish.

[00:19:09]>> Big tail on it. Healthy. Healthy Everglades red fish.

[00:19:13]>> Yep.

[00:19:15]His blue about matches the blue color on your skiff.

[00:19:19]>> Yeah, it sure does. Look at that.

[00:19:21]>> That's cool.

[00:19:22]>> Pretty cool.

[00:19:32]All right, that's a nice little surprise in a creek on low tide.

[00:19:38]And he just appeared. You were calling out the other shot and I looked down. I was like, "Well, there's one right here."

[00:19:43]>> Yeah. And you see there's this high spot in the middle of the creek and he was sitting right on the back side of it about 3 in of water.

[00:19:53]>> So much of my time when I spend it with wit now is is all about captains for clean water. So it's usually business first. And I think because Chris and Daniel started this 10 years ago, people forget that Chris was such an accomplished outdoors personality way prior to this. So to get to spend the time on the water with Whit in this way where I could see the old Chris Whitman coming out where he's dead serious about catching fish and pushing every limit.

[00:20:27]It was a lot of fun because it it got us out of that office culture, out of that culture that we have to be professionals at and we could be ourselves the way it used to be in the old days.

[00:20:38]>> You know what's cool about down here?

[00:20:40]So, we were saying earlier about how just like vast it is and it seems like it should all be good at some point.

[00:20:46]>> Mhm.

[00:20:47]>> And like the Everglades is a place that makes you work for it.

[00:20:54]And I think that in itself makes it that much sweeter. But it it's a place of like constant what if like what's around the next corner.

[00:21:06]>> Yeah.

[00:21:06]>> What's in the next bay? What's in the next river?

[00:21:09]>> Your personal best could be right there.

[00:21:11]>> And you just Yeah. It's like it's like it at the root of it. That's why we hunt and we fish.

[00:21:19]It's it's the it's the mystery of >> the mystique. What could be >> definitely the mystique >> Everglades offers that better than any other place that I know.

[00:21:31]>> It was awesome to get back on a skiff, especially with CA in, you know, one of my most treasured places in the world, the Everglades, and to get down there and just enjoy uh together what what we're fighting so hard to protect. So, it was it was a great couple days and much needed and, you know, leaves me longing for the next time we get to get down there. Hopefully, you're catching the 20th season right here on ESPN 2 Waypoint TV. And of course, you can watch it anytime you want on FlatsClass YouTube.