Captain Dave Dant - Short Bio

At age two Capt Dave’s destiny was set. His Grandfather (a passionate fisherman) put a fishing rod into his grandson’s hand and Dave hasn’t put it down yet.

It is true. Before he could barely walk, he would sit on the pier in the back yard (usually with a rope around his waste that his grandfather tied to keep him from falling in) and would fish for hours. It must have been in the blood because his younger brother did the same thing. His parents said that it work so well that it was amazing to have a 2 year old and a four year old boy both sitting on the pier fishing. . Not running around, not losing attention, just fishing.

By age 8 Capt. Dave was proficient at throwing artificial lures and a 6 foot cast net

As he grew his passion only seemed to grow. He started taking himself, carp fishing, then largemouth and smallmouth bass fishing then surf fishing in Hatters. In his late teens he started to work on offshore charter boats, traveling the east coast from Florida to New Jersey pursuing Marlin and Tuna.

Before the age of 30 he purchases an offshore sport fishing boat with a couple of friends and started

 tournament fishing.

He was well know as a strong offshore fisherman/mate /captain but at age 30 he had paid for a trip to the Florida keys to Tarpon fish with his brother to celebrate his brothers wedding and was introduced to sight fishing . . Catching big fish had always made him tick but now he realized that you could find big fish in super shallow water were you could easily see them and get the full experience of seeing them clearly, making a good cast, watch the fish turn and eat the offering and battling that fish to the boat. For the last 10 years this has consumed him. With the desire of sight fishing came the desire to do it with a fly rod.

He had learned to throw a fly rod in his early years pursuing largemouth and small mouth bass and picked it up again while pursing stripers along the beaches of the mid Atlantic but sight fishing with the fly rod was the complete package.
He has always said that the first time you watch a giant tarpon eat a fly, your life will change.

Capt. Dave now spends close to 200 days a year on the water pursuing all species in Tampa bay and the near shore waters of the Gulf of Mexico. When he’s not fishing he is usually at his fly tying desk working on new patterns or stocking up for the next season of fish.