Allison Delashmit is the executive director of the Lower Keys (Fishing) Guides Association, which includes more than 100 vetted guide members and 150-200 angler members. Her goals include protecting and maintaining the organization’s integrity, helping to protect and preserve the Keys fishery, and providing a voice for future fisheries management in the Keys.
Naturalist, eco-guide, photographer-writer and paddling guidebook author Bill Keogh, a 44-year resident of Big Pine Key, operates Big Pine Kayak Adventures. He provides kayak and low-impact motorboat excursions and private motorboat trips to the Lower Florida Keys’ remote wilderness of the National Key Deer Refuge and Great White Heron National Wildlife Refuge.
Big Pine & the Lower Keys, home to two national wildlife refuges, part of a national marine sanctuary and a stunning state park, is an ideal place to unwind, recharge and reconnect with nature’s beauty. And no visit is complete without encountering the tiny endangered Key deer, found only in the Lower Keys.
It’s called the No Name Pub, and it’s billed as “a nice place if you can find it.” But the out-of-the-way location doesn’t keep people from discovering the quirky eatery — or becoming captivated by its historic “Old Keys” charm, world-class pizza and ramshackle décor that includes interior walls papered with dollar bills.
The Florida Keys are putting Earth Day in the spotlight with activities on and around April 22, the globally commemorated “birthday” of the modern environmental movement. Of course, every day is a reason to celebrate the beauty of the planet in the Keys, home to spectacular natural wonders on both land and sea.
Captain Frank Betz began fishing the Florida Straits in 2005 while working for the Boy Scouts of America at the Sea Base Camp on Summerland Key. Today he shares his passion for fishing the Florida Keys’ blue waters as a guide, offering Folklure Charters fishing trips from Summerland, Big Pine and Key West.
Florida Keys fun fact: Years ago, during an action-packed confrontation between Arnold Schwarzenegger and a pack of dastardly villains, missile strikes blew up the Keys’ Old Seven Mile Bridge. Okay, that isn’t STRICTLY factual, but it’s based on fact — one of many offbeat facts that give the island chain an engagingly colorful vibe.
Fred the Tree, the Florida Keys’ thriving and resolute “celebri-tree” that grows improbably on the historic Old Seven Mile Bridge, is debuting as a movie star in the remake of “Road House.” The beloved Fred is also memorialized in a song and a children’s book — and his Facebook page has 34,000 followers!
Roughly 18 years ago, the March Merkin permit tournament was born in the Florida Keys. One of the longest-running permit challenges in the world, the fly-fishing tournament is hard to fish and hard to win. Guest blogger Allison Delashmit provides a look at the angling event, and ways people can support it.
From special animal encounters to meeting sea turtles in their own hospital, the Florida Keys & Key West offer family-friendly activities to captivate visitors of all ages. Families can explore unique aquariums; lush botanical gardens; nurturing facilities for dolphins and wild birds; or a wildlife refuge that protects tiny indigenous Key deer.