ESPN Outdoors "On The Coast - 6 Days from Pensacola to Venice"

[highplainsdem]

5/29 - Fishing Good, Business Not
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/saltwater/news/story?id=5230433

5/30 - Orange Beach Marina
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/saltwater/news/story?id=5233792

5/31 - 'Support Billy's barrier reef'
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/saltwater/news/story?id=5235585

6/1 - Phenomenal Fishing
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/saltwater/news/story?id=5237928

6/2 - Ground zero
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/saltwater/news/story?id=5241927

Last night I caught up with Capt. Mike Frenette at his fishing lodge overlooking the Venice Marina. Mike has been a driving force in promoting Venice fishing over the years, one of the leaders in turning this place into a top-notch destination for anglers from across the country.

Over the past few weeks, Mike has been a common presence in media coverage of this disaster. He has appeared on NBC's Today Show and numerous other national broadcasts. Just yesterday afternoon, he spent nearly half an hour discussing the disaster and its effect on fishing with Diane Rehm on National Public Radio. As Mike and I talked for a couple of hours last night, he spoke several times with a producer for CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, another show that may call on Frenette's perspective in the coming days.

-snip-

Mike said he lost more than $25,000 that his charter business would've grossed this past weekend alone. And that's just one weekend. When you consider that he and other captains in this area just finished rebuilding their businesses and lives after 2005's Hurricane Katrina, this is a smack in the face and a kick in the private parts that no one saw coming.

"I took an ass whipping after Katrina," Frenette said. "But if you've got the guts and the fortitude, you can rebuild. It's not easy, but you can rebuild. I thought that was the most difficult thing I'd ever done. But this is."

To be perfectly honest, my head is swimming right now. Everything I'm hearing from Mike is so different from what I've been hearing, even what I was hearing just a few miles up the road yesterday.

More than anything, Mike wants to go back to work in a safe environment. He wants to chase fish and make a living. He wants his life back.

[MineralMan]

1. Yeah, fishing guides and charter outfits are going to be among

the hardest hit from this thing. That may seem inconsequential to a lot of non-angler DUers, but it's a huge part of the tourist industry in that part of the USA.

[ixion]

2. "that no one saw coming"

Yeah, right. :eyes:

... who could have ever predicted... :puke: