Reel Time: Successful fishing trip planning

Planning any fishing trip can be a challenge given the peculiarities of weather and the idiosyncrasies of fish. Add a few thousand miles, a...

Reel Time: All about pompano

Pompano range from the upper eastern U.S. coast to Texas, but the most consistent action is encountered from the Carolinas to Texas. Although they are...

 Reel Time: Anatomy of a Fishing Rod

Every angler’s fishing rod, be it a spinning rod, a fly rod or a casting rod, is constructed in a similar way and has...

Reel Time: If we don’t do it, who will?

Red tide; two words that nobody wants to hear but everyone needs to understand. The term is just the common expression of the much...

Reel Time: Oyster River Ecology moving restoration forward

I first met Damon Moore at a Sister Keys Cleanup in 2010 when we were introduced by Ann Hodgson of Audubon. Moore worked in...

Rusty Chinnis

Rusty Chinnis is an avid fly fisherman, a photojournalist and a retired building contractor in addition to being a passionate defender of the local environment's importance to the health and economy of the area. A 42-year resident of Longboat Key and Manatee County, he is chairman of the board of Suncoast Waterkeeper, a founder and former co-chairman of the Sister Keys Conservancy, and founder and chairman emeritus of Sarasota Bay Watch in addition to being The Sun's Outdoors columnist. Email