Mill House Podcast

Dr. Lloyd Wruble is a successful, retired oral and facial surgeon by trade, and one of the kindest people you’ll ever meet. He’s a soft spoken man with a passion for fishing, not just fishing, but backcountry, Everglades fishing in South Florida. He has fished the nooks and crannies of the Everglades for decades. It’s a labyrinthine waterway of creeks, black mangroves, bays, cypress trees, pines and sable palms that weave in and out and around forever and ever. Inside its world of salt and brackish water swim snook, redfish, tarpon, bass and a multitude of other species. It’s beautiful and pristine, a sacred sanctuary! This is where Lloyd has given his soul. His relationship with the glades was initially cemented with the late pioneer, Herman Lucerne. He took Wruble deeper into the unknown and became Lloyd’s mentor and great friend. Herman showed him this remote country like only Herman could, as he knew it better than anyone else...

When Herman died in hurricane Andrew, Lloyd was crushed. He’d lost a brother, then devoted much of his time to preserving the life that Herman lived.

On today’s podcast, Lloyd Wruble speaks of many things few people has ever seen or know about.

Bill Bishop grew up the way we wished we all could, in the woods surrounded by nature, with a supporting, loving family. Over the course of his life, Turkeys and Tarpon would became paramount for his adventurous heart. His father had a lease where family and friends hunted deer and gobblers. At a young age it was soon obvious, Bill was born a hunter & gatherer at heart. He learned how to speak to the birds like no one else. Bishop was extremely gifted with everything he touched. Not too long ago, Flip told me that he was the most talented person he’s ever met. He’s an artist, angler, business man, author, and "that guy" that can fix anything or build anything like his own boat, which he did. The very first fish artwork that I bought was a tarpon, that Bill had painted...

Yes, he paints beautifully. His three books are from his deep-rooted life in the woods and on the ocean; High Rollers, Double Haul, and Cracker Jack. These tales take you on a wonderful ride with all images drawn by our guest today. But, with his grandchildren calling him, “Poon," it's evident that chasing Megalops was his favorite quest.

Bill Bishop is 75 years old with the energy of a young deer. On todays podcast, he lets us into his extraordinary journey which gets better after surviving a heart attack...

Huey Anthony Cregg hit it big in the early 80’s with his band named "Huey Lewis and The News." Many of their songs went large on the Billboard hits, but you can’t get any bigger than the bands #1, Grammy winning song, "The Heart of Rock and Roll!” In 1984, his “Sports” album was a number one seller, a year when Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson and Prince were all over the airwaves and MTV was in its prime.

Huey is 72 now - He was traveling, singing, and performing 75 shows a year until 2018 when Meniere's Disease stole his hearing in a matter of seconds at an event in Dallas. It was lost for good. Gone was the music, but also too was the greatness of sound itself. Hearing loss became a war he’ll most likely wage for the rest of his life. Today's podcast is a human interest story that not only shares Huey’s life in music but the great evolution of music in America. How Jazz, the blues and rock evolved profoundly through legendary black singer-songwriters like Chuck Berry. But, more importantly, we understand how fishing has kept this music giant in the game of life now that he can no longer perform.

Few have seen the evolution of tarpon fishing in the famous Boca Grande Pass as Frank Davis. In the early 1960’s, his family moved there and as far back as he can remember his Dad used to take him tarpon fishing. Pass fishing for tarpon began in the late 1880’s and by 1910 Boca Grande was booming. Over the next hundred and thirteen years Presidents, athletes, and movie stars were there to capture this prized fish and a photograph of a dead tarpon hanging next to them.

In his teenage years, Frank worked on a harbor pilot boat, eventually becoming a mate on a 60 foot Hatteras. At age twenty five, he captained a boat that won his first marlin tournament - cashing in a hundred thousand dollars. But his heart was alway with the fish that swam in the pass where he caught his first silver king. Thirty six years ago he started guiding his home waters and has witnessed first hand the abuse by fishermen there by poor etiquette, pressure, snagging, tournaments, and greed. He championed the ban of jig fishing and the deadly Professional Tarpon Tournament Series.

Frank Davis is now regarded as the voice of reason for fishing the fabled waters of Boca Grande.

Benny Blanco is one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet, but under his skin, his blood runs hot. In 2015, his life pivoted becoming a devout conservationists after Florida Bay lost over fifty thousand acres of his favorite fishing grounds. These grass flats were decimated by a large algae bloom cause by poor water quality and lack of fresh water. Joined at the hip with Captains for Clean Water, Blanco has been hand in hand with fellow guides and anglers alike on the footsteps of Tallahassee demanding change. The decimation over the years hasn’t just been in Florida Bay but throughout Florida (Indian River Lagoon, Mosquito Lagoon, Everglades National Park, Caloosahatchee River, etc..). The main culprit was the lack of fresh water as it travels south through the Everglades. 2022 was a critical year when a passed Bill (2508) was on the desk of Governor DeSantis for a possible veto which was successfully executed. Those waning hours were critical. Captains for Clean Water and Benny’s army were called upon and the “Rally in Tally” was a power play demanding to be heard, and they were.

Benny Blanco has been a sought after fishing guide for over two decades. But his popular fishing show, “Guiding Flow TV” tells the conservation story from the poling platform of his skiff. Saving the Everglades is his most important work, and his voice has become one of the most powerful and respected in demanding Florida Legislature to clean up its act!

At 74 years young, George Copeland still has the fire in his belly to chase the snook tide late into the night. As a young man of 8, he found a passion that would drive him deep into the fishing abyss. On his bike, similar to Steve Huff, he'd race around Ft. Lauderdale looking for snook and tarpon that would regularly be found in Tarpon Bend, New River, and all the canals in the center of a rapidly growing town.

He would soon partner up with buddy, Steve Kantner, and spend much of his time bridge fishing where he also met likeminded snook nut, Tommy Greene. These three would refine snook fishing to a religious art form. People would seek them out, bewildered by the size of their trophy fish. They were renowned and eventually became professionals: Copeland and Greene store owners, Kantner a popular author and guide.

Before settling into what he'd do for the rest of his life, George tried his hand at guiding for tarpon in the Keys. A prized possession was a boat he purchased from Little John Emory a few days before he passed. He fished with Ralph Delph and other legendary guides, and at 32, he purchased the famous T&R Tackle in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

Today, 42 years later, he's still outfitting some of the biggest and best offshore boats on the billfish circuit. So as we follow up with the history makers of our sport, we'd be remiss without the "George Copeland Story!"

As a fifteen year old tenderfoot building boats, Ansil Saunders would’ve never believed he’d one day become a national hero. Stemmed from Scotland, his extended family of boat builders would eventually build the most sought after bonefish skiffs on an Island in the Bahamas. Five generations later, Bimini’s Saunders was not only working with local wood to build skiffs, but he too started to guide and eventually became legendary by catching the all-tackle world record 16 pound bonefish (which still stands today) with angler, Jerry Lavenstein. But there was a daunting cloud that always bothered him, people treated him differently because of the color of his skin. Bimini’s “Big Game Club” wouldn’t serve black people, and at twenty one years of age he walked in and demanded equality. For forty days he was turned away and on the forty first the tide turned and black men and women were finally welcomed.

Saunders, Nelson Mandela, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. all had the same dream of an equal playing field for the black man. Dr. King went to the Bahamas seeking a peaceful place to write his Nobel Prize acceptance speech. It was Ansil that took Dr. King to Bonefish creek to write his legendary oration. Years later he would return to write his striking sanitation workers speech. Four days later Dr. King was assassinated.

Saunders’ was the Chairman of the Progressive Liberation Party for fourteen years. Bimini declared Independence in 1973. He also started the Boy’s and Girls Club in 1969. His goal was to educate the younger generation so that they too may continue to “Level the Playing field!”

Ansil Saunders is a National Treasure. It was a special honor to get to know him and have him and his son, Tyrone, in my home. And it’s perfect that we bring you his story on Dr. Marin Luther King Jr. Day...

At 49 years of age, Russell Kleppinger has found himself as one of the all time greats in the tarpon fishing world. He was consistently catching around a thousand tarpon a year before he stopped counting. Last year in 2022, he caught three fish over 200 pounds. (based on measurements)

Fishing was all he can remember thinking about. When he was five days old, his Dad ran the family to the Bahamas. His Dad was a terrible fisherman who ran aground all the time on the inside flats of Biscayne Bay. Running in the dark with no GPS, he’d find himself high and dry with his 52 foot vessel, and it was during these occasions Russell would catch his first bonefish.

At eighteen, he got his captain's license. For five and a half years he was a mate on the boat, “Big Time” before becoming a captain. He was good in the blue water, but his fishing savvy was refined closer to shore. He became a tarpon wizard no doubt, but is being too good at something bad?

On today's Podcast we talk about how Russell thinks on the water. We examine how he finds and catches the poon like no one else, but as important, we talk about the pressure he’s putting on this valuable resource, shark predation, and the future of our sport.

Rick Ruoff's infectious personality could calm the roar of a lion. The first time I met this gregarious man, I knew instantly he was my kind of people. I'd see him every morning at the Lorelei restaurant similar to a seawall egret greeting everyone who passes. He's tall and lanky - always sporting a grin under a herculean mustache. Ego and vanity are foreigners to this man's easy going demeanor. He's the type of person who understands the greater aspects of life and how we should all conduct ourselves. Rick is a man younger guides and outdoorsman aspiring to make a living on the water or in the woods should aspire to emulate.

Ruoff has been a fly fishing guide in the Florida Keys since 1970. He was the 19th skiff guide in Islamorada. He was among the early pioneers who refined the art of saltwater fly fishing. He wasn't (and still isn't) comfortable with chasing world records or tournament wins. He is overwhelmed with competition and those who have fished with him know he doesn't need to prove anything to anyone... Rick is one of the greats of our sport! As a marine biologist that has pushed his skiff 16 feet at a time for 50 plus years, it's safe to say this guy has seen a thing or two.

Many also know that Rick flocks to Montana when the summer heat in Florida becomes unbearable. He is an avid trout fisherman and upland bird hunter who can be found sleeping on the river bank or picking vegetables in his garden to accompany the Hungarian Partridge for supper. Rick is an old school, traditionalist - a true classic gentleman in all aspects. It's an honor to know him and a privilege to call him a dear friend.

Tom McGuane is a giant among legends across all continents and countries. His boundless heart and endless determination tackled dreams only he could’ve accomplished. Tom’s extraordinary writing is in the record books and for the rest of time he’ll be remember as one of the greats. His literary spectrum includes ten novels, five screen plays, and countless short stories. His work has received a page full of awards culminating with his induction into The American Academy of Arts and Letters. But then there’s the fishing, the hunting, and the HORSES; cutting horses. Tom McGuane is a savant of many talents!

Although he was born in Michigan, his heart ventured west. As a young man he worked on a ranch in Wyoming where he first got his boots dirty. After the success of his book and movie “Sporting Club," he bought a ranch in Montana and property in Key West. His life on a horse became extremely important to him and he became a great “cutter” often beating the best in the world and eventually was inducted into The Cutting Horse Hall of Fame.

But it was in Key West where Tom McGuane caught fire. It was there, when his writing was young and his aspirations were as vibrant as the blistering sun. Literature, fishing, and adventures after dark took on a life of its own. It was there, where of a handful of friends, all writers too, became a brotherhood that challenged life’s offering to its fullest. Jim Harrison, Russell Chatham, Guy De La Valdene, Jimmy Buffett, Hunter S.Thompson, and Kurt Brautigan did what the rest of the world wished they could do. They had more fun than the law allowed and were brilliant with everything they touched. Each would become extremely successful and famous. But as much as anything else, they loved to fish. What most the fishing world doesn’t know is that these guys put Tarpon fishing on the map. And they made a movie about it called, "Tarpon." This production showed what a magnificent, beautiful, ageless fish it is. It loves to eat flies, it’s big and jumps majestically.... It's the most perfect fly rod fish one could ever have the privilege to catch.

As much as Tom McGuane has accomplished, his greatest success is having Laurie Buffett as his wife and their daughter Annie. And fathering two other children, Thomas and Maggie with former wives, Rebecca Crocket and Margot Kidder.