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Rusty Chinnis

Rusty Chinnis

March 7, 2017
Rusty Chinnis is The Sun’s Outdoors columnist.
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January 30, 2019
By Rusty Chinnis

Reel Time: Clams restored to Manatee County waters

Sarasota Bay Watch capped a two-year clam restoration effort in January. Despite windy conditions and a choppy bay, board members and volunteers placed 7,000 pounds, or about 52,000 clams, at two sit…
January 22, 2019
By Rusty Chinnis

Reel Time: Push poles – a must in skinny water

Push poles are as essential as rods and reels to anglers who stalk the flats. They have evolved from wooden poling oars hewn from solid timber to technological wonders of carbon fiber, Kevlar and gra…
January 15, 2019
By Rusty Chinnis

Reel Time: A new direction for Florida’s marine environment

At a press conference Jan. 10 at Mote Marine Laboratory, Florida’s new Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, announced some sweeping changes to the way his administration will handle Florida’s mounting…
January 8, 2019
By Rusty Chinnis

Reel Time: The miracle of Matlacha

Matlacha is a piece of Old Florida that has been spared, in large part, because it isn’t situated on the Gulf of Mexico. That may be important to a lot of snowbirds, but to anglers, it’s situated in…
December 11, 2018
By Rusty Chinnis
reel time Seagrass

Reel Time: Sarasota Bay seagrasses take a big hit

I don’t have to remind anyone of the devastation the red tide wrought in our bays and Gulf. Images of dumpsters stuffed with fish, dead dolphins, manatees and sea turtles have filled the news and bee…
December 4, 2018
By Rusty Chinnis

Reel Time: Kids for Clean Water

All of us who live on the Gulf coast have been impacted by the recent red tide and the unprecedented death of dolphins, sea turtles, manatees and fish. It’s easy to get overwhelmed and jaded at the p…
November 27, 2018
By Rusty Chinnis
Lefty Kreh

Reel Time: Master your knots

Fishing tackle and techniques become more technical with each passing year, but some components of the angling experience have never changed. You can own the latest tackle, employ the most refined te…
November 20, 2018
By Rusty Chinnis
reel time Clam Drop

Reel Time: Sarasota Bay Watch clams survive red tide

Sarasota Bay Watch (SBW) is excited that the clams they introduced into Sarasota Bay this past summer survived the recent red tide outbreak, an outbreak that included the highest concentrations of Ka…
November 13, 2018
By Rusty Chinnis

Reel Time: Preparing for fall fishing

Fall is here even though it may not feel like it. We still have the windows and doors closed and the AC on, but the light and the cool mornings are teasing us with the promise of change.  The golden…
November 6, 2018
By Rusty Chinnis

Reel Time: The Zen of fishing

The ancient word and concept of Zen have been co-opted to refer to things as diverse as a nail salon and a burger bar. The term comes from (massively oversimplified) a form of Eastern Meditation that…
October 23, 2018
By Rusty Chinnis

Reel Time: Yaz Crossing

The Gulf and flats that surround Anna Maria Island were just a day’s drive to the south, but they felt a world away as we made our way down the steps at Yaz Crossing to the banks of the Chattahoochee…
October 9, 2018
By Rusty Chinnis

Reel Time: Reflections

While fishing might seem challenging to the average angler, there are definitely some bright spots in what has been a perplexing season. Seasoned guides like Captains Scott and Justin Moore and Capta…
October 2, 2018
By Rusty Chinnis

Reel Time: Sarasota Bay Watch active during red tide

Sarasota Bay Watch (SBW) is committed to the health of the bay and has been working tirelessly to help people find ways to feel invested in working on improved habitat and water quality. Their work t…
September 25, 2018
By Rusty Chinnis

Fly fishing the Deschutes

The sky was just beginning to lighten as my wife Christine and I crossed the high desert from Bend, Oregon on our way to the Warm Springs Indian Reservation and a rendezvous with our guide Elke Kirk…
September 12, 2018
By Rusty Chinnis

Reel Time on the road: Fishing the South Georgia coast

While on a recent trip to St. Marys and Cumberland Island, Ga., I had the great pleasure of being introduced to the area’s fishing by Captain David Edens from nearby St. Simon’s Island. I found Edens…